The Beach 2011

I like the area we live in.  We live in a pretty small town, but there are some pretty big cities that are not too far at all:  Baltimore, MD; Philadelphia, PA; Harrisburg, PA.  We are also a short drive from important historical sites like Washington DC and the Gettysburg battlefields.  In the winter, you can hit the ski slope, if you're into that kind of thing.  I've actually never been skiing.  I would probably hit a tree or something clumsy, since I apparently, I can't even walk these days without breaking my ankle. 

We can also hop in the car and a few short-- Ok, an almost 4 hour drive with small children may not feel the shortest, but it's not bad. 

But it's worth it to get this..................................................

We're making our day trip to Ocean City, Maryland a yearly tradition.  Some family members are not the biggest fans of intense sun and sand.  One shall remain nameless, and the other is none other than the not-so-beach-baby herself.

Notice the raised knees and hands, because she did not want the sand touching her body.

I snapped these pictures before she started crying, and then retreated to our tent for refuge. 

You wouldn't hear these ones complaining, though.

They LOVE the beach.  They would happily make sand castles, search for shells, run from waves, and dig holes all day long.

She was much happier in the tent.

One of the highlights, and the thing that sets Ocean City apart from many other beaches.........................

the Board Walk.................................

It's a good thing it's not right around the corner, because this place.....................................................

...............................would not do good things for my figure.

We should all throw our heads back and laugh more.

We've been to Ocean City a bunch of times over the years, but we decided to try something new and go to Assateague Island.  It's an area known for having wild horses.  We drove down every rode, and we only saw two horses that were standing in a parking lot.  And for some reason, seeing horses in a parking lot was completely uninteresting and unimpressive.  So we kept driving, trying to find some horses in a more natural setting.  Right as we thought this excursion was a bust, we pulled up to an area that had a wooden walkway that led to the beach.  At this point, the kids were all sleeping, but I decided to get out and walk down to the beach to get some pictures.  Once I hit a clearing in the dunes, I saw this..................................

We dared to wake up the kids from their nap, because they had to see this. 

They were gorgeous.

It was a great day.