The CRAZY Beach

 I needed a beach day. So I called up my good friend and we went. Sans husbands. It was GORGEOUS and BEAUTIFUL and PERFECT. Ruth is now fried to a crisp (why do I ALWAYS forget that redheads need to be re-coated over and over again?!?!!?), but no, its just her cheeks and nose. Everything else was pretty much covered, thankfully. The water was so clear and gorgeous. There was no seaweed or anything to make it murky. It was just pure beauty. My kids went to town playing in the sand, playing in the waves, screaming at the waves, and generally having a good time. It's already been decided that this needs to happen again. Frequently. Tricia posted on insta "I was feeling jealous of everyone's fall statuses....I think I'll get over it" and then posted us at the beach. Yeah. I REALLY am missing the beautiful fall leaves and the mountains right now. There is nothing quite like it. But the beach. Man. It is pretty great. And with all the rain we've been having (torrents and torrents) it was pretty great to get outside for an entire day of sunshine! 

No filter. The water really is that gorgeous.

Oh how I love her.

Molly. Oh, little miss Molly. You are quite the little person. You think you are bigger and more in charge than everyone. Including waves. She walked right into them every time. No fear. And when they knocked her over? She grinned her devious little smile and kicked around in excitement. I'm starting to worry about raising that one.

Thanks Tricia, for all your help keeping my children alive! 

One of my favorite parts of the beach is the grassy area behind.  

Haahaahaa, Will. He had his shorts on backwards, his shirt on backwards AND inside-out. 

I just LOVE when babies squat. It has to be the cutest thing in all of creation.

Sisters.

Ruthie is a great sister and brought Molly back from the brink of death several times. Okay, that's an exaggeration because I was watching her like a hawk. But still.

 And then, the CRAZIEST thing of ALL CRAZINESS happened. We got STAMPEDED by FISH!

See all those fish crowded into that wave?!?! 

All the blackness is fish. The water was crystalline.

The aftermath.

Some of the people beside us said that the fish were probably getting away from something, possibly barracudas. RIGHT AFTER THAT (but probably ten minutes or so) there were TWO SHARKS in the water. Whether that was related to the fish or not, we are undecided. I do not know enough about marine life to make any sort of educated guess. They could be completely unrelated. But it was AWESOME!!!!! It was crazy awesome. And completely unreal. It went on and on and on. I have over a hundred pictures of wave after wave of fish. Pure fish. In every wave. Then, since we were right by the pier, they kind of just kept moving on down the beach. The swarms of people watching was pretty impressive as well. I have never seen anything like it--not even on television or the movies. It was CRAZY!!!!!

Back to beach fun. Again, look at that water!!!

My cute boy.

We saw this cruise ship head out. It honked at us (do they honk? what is that even called?) and all the kids waved and waved.

Molly and Will waving.

Bye cruise ship!

That's what happens when you leave your mouth open while being buried. 

 Then, because South Beach is awesome, we packed our stuff over the hill and rinsed all the sand off via splash pad. Which was refreshing and clean and beautiful and SO FUN. The kids loved it, it cleaned our toys beautifully, and we got even more relaxation in the sun. Then we ate lunch under palm trees. So Miami, you did right by us today. Thanks for that.

I was too busy IN the splash pad to take pictures with the kids--but that is what it looks like. The water sprays from all over the poles and at all different strengths and amounts. It's pretty fun.

The end.