when you have sand in your cracks...

You know you've had a good time at the beach!  This past weekend, our friends from Indianapolis came and stayed with us at my parent's house so we could have a trip to the beach.  My parents live right on the edge of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, so I grew up eating picnics on the beach, swimming in icy waters, and building elaborate sandcastles.  So of course subjecting my own children to the icy waters is now a family tradition!  We took Rowan last summer when she was just a couple months old.  She did a lot of crying while Fletcher swam and splashed.  When we took her earlier this summer, we thought she'd happily splash and play in the sand.  But, uh, no.  She was really indignant when the sand stuck to her hands, and then when she put her hands in her mouth... well, she was all, THERE IS FUCKING SAND IN MY MOUTH, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.  Except she doesn't curse yet.  But if she did then we'd have REALLY heard about it when we put her in the near-arctic waters of Lake Michigan!  Oh, the lamenting and hollering was just far above and beyond her normal lamenting and hollering. 

Long story short, we left her at home this time with my parents.  My really, really awesome parents!  Fletcher shares our masochistic love of the beach, though. 

He doesn't even mind the sand in his cracks!  We also got pretty good views of the Gary Airshow without being in mortal danger from actually BEING in Gary. 

Our friend's son, Alex, shared Fletcher's love of the beach.  He is 3 weeks younger than Rowan, but seems to have a better opinion of all the sand and water.

Our friends, Marcus and Kelly, brought lunch for us all.  Including drinks.  But of course that is not an alcoholic drink in Marcus's pitcher.  It is not allowed at the beach.  So, it's probably juice or something.  But not alcohol.  Cause we follow all rules.

Nothing sexier than a man carrying a cooler towards ME.  I like.

We did a lot of playing in the water, and pointing out planes to Fletcher.  He would hear them, but not know where to look.  It was an exercise in frustration at some points.

And once you get used to that ice cold water, it starts feeling almost nice.  Almost.

Once we were all completely worn out, we went back to a really nice dinner at my parent's.  Did I mention that they are awesome?  Thank you, mom and dad for your hospitality! 

Alex is pretty much adorable.

Doesn't get much more adorable than that.  Of course Rowan and Alex together, well, that's almost too adorable for my eyes.

There was a lot of  HEY, THAT'S MINE!  When they played together.  But I think Rowan's just jealous of Alex's full head of hair.  Her baldness is a sensitive subject.  Not to mention the fact that he is WALKING.  Hello, Rowan?  WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO WALK, ALREADY?? 

Thank you, Kelly and Marcus for making the trip up!  Hope you enjoyed the beach, and hope that you've gotten rid of all the sand in your cracks by now.

p.s. Thanks AGAIN, mom and dad!  We appreciate your bed and breakfast by the lake!