Beach-o-rama

So it has been a week since we've been back, and I've gotten a few hints that I needed to post a little about our summer beach trip. It was a great trip! This was our 5th trip down to the coast, the boys 4th time, the 3rd house we've rented (best view so far), and our first time to share our trip with our dearest friends.

(The Jetty: Bubba with his Godparents... Turk, Olive, and Pigeon)

It was so nice to watch all four of the kids playing together, as if they've known each other their whole life. Also, they match... the cutest four little brown bodies running around on the beach!

We spent our mornings down on the beach, back to the house for lunch and quiet time... then over to the pool while the moms made dinner. Then back down to the beach for an evening walk! Five days on the beach!!!!

As usual we had our fair share of wild aquatic life. Down at the jetty we stood while a small pod of bay dolphins played. There was what appeared to be a mom and baby and then a few others.

Plenty of pelicans all over the place, sea gulls, and cranes. And a bizarre behavior was also spotted... a pelican on the water, with a sea gull sitting on its head... both peering into the water. I saw this happen on several occasions... it is really weird looking in person.

Down on the beach we also found several these:

We thought they were jelly fish... but they weren't like the jellies that we've seen in the past at Port Aransas... so I did a little investigating once we got home. Turns out, they are definitely NOT jellyfish, but are Portuguese Man o' War. Thank goodness no one was stung... but they were really pretty to look at from a far.

If anyone was reading this blog last year, you may remember us spotting a sting ray in the water... a small one, that hung out one morning with us... and we managed to get a few pictures of it. This year Daddio caught sight of another one... much larger, but he didn't have a camera with him at that point so no pictures.

It was such a wonderful trip. Usually when we get to see our Valley friends, it's hurried with little time to actually settle in and enjoy the others company. This trip there wasn't an agenda that had to be followed, no other family obligations pulling us to move things along. Plus being on neutral ground also seemed to help all of the kids... everything was shared, and new. After everyone had a chance to clean up in the evenings we would sit around while Daddio played guitar and we sang praises to Our Lord. Then the kids would go down for the night, and we had time to play games and talk about our lives.

I can't wait to go back...