Enjoying the moments

Wednesday offered brilliant blue skies the entire day, resulting in yet another fabulous beach day for this family.

But first things first:  a morning trip to Duck Donuts!

The line for donuts was LONG!  In fact, when we ordered we were #72 and the count for pick up was # only 32.  Luckily, there was a refreshing breeze and beautiful view of the sound to enjoy while we waited.  

But the end result was certainly worth it!

In the meantime, there was baby entertainment

And a mystery that involved bananas

which is yet to be solved.

And even though the weather was definitely hot, we finally managed to get this little one settled under the canopy, having some fun.

With a smile to prove it!

And she even offered me her shovel to play with!

How cute is that?

And, speaking of cute, her sister was certainly entertaining playing peek a boo with her sunglasses!

While all this cuteness was happening, the sand castle construction was underway.

Perfect for relaxing under!

We managed to put in another full day before coming back to the house for dinner and, of course, lots of evening fun! 

There were Pina Coladas (non-alcoholic, of course)

And a delicious dinner!

(Unfortunately, I cut off half of my son-in-law in this photo!)

Some outside inquisitions (involving a banana, I think)

And games that lasted late into the night.

Yet again, another perfect day!

Relaxin'

Tuesday was another beautiful day, just perfect for relaxing on the beach!

And plenty of baby entertainment as well.  This little one absolutely loves hanging out under the canopy!   Set out some shovels and she's as happy as a clam.

Her sister,  however, has not been as amenable to the sand, surf and sun, 

but she'll get used to this in a day or two, or so we hope!  In the meantime, we have Aunt Amy to help with the entertainment.

These two made themselves busy digging a cozy spot to sit and enjoy themselves. 

And after some relaxation, they went to work to build an even larger sand castle, which, unfortunately, I never got the chance to photograph.

And, with the weather getting steamy, it made sense to relax by the waves in the cool of the ocean. 

Back at the house, entertainment continued well into the evening, watching the little ones pull themselves up and work their way, step by step, around the table to retrieve some puffs.  

which resulted in some very happy babies.  

And, when babies are happy.....we're all happy, right?

Well.....I certainly am!

Walking on Sunshine

Does that title get you singing?   I'm walking on sunshine......oh oh.....

Well.....that's what is happening here at the beach!

How lucky is that?

Standing on the deck this beautiful morning, looking to the left, you can see the bay.  

To the right is the ocean 

And, just across the road stands this pond

Which, at night, brings the tune "Jeremiah was a bullfrog"  to mind, as the croaking gets SO loud, I could hear it through the bedroom door!    

There's been a lot of entertainment already:

There was the making of the donuts:

Of course....they were delicious!

And leave it to Aunt Amy to bring some surprise fun:  An inflatable bowling set which is that and so much more:

Now, how's that for fun?

The beach access is relatively close, but just a bit more of a challenge than I was used to.   The town of Duck is undergoing a beach renovation project, and, luckily (I think), our development section has been completed. But our gravel road does not lead to a wooden deck access as we are used to.

requiring us to climb up the soft sand

Leading to an extremely HIGH dune!

resulting in the longest beach front I've ever seen, other than one we visited in California many years ago.  

Far in the distance you can see our blue beach tent.  As I told Marty, the house might be significantly closer to the beach access, but the distance, on sand, to the beach front,  is certainly the furthest that we've ever had to hike! 

But that didn't keep us from enjoying the day!

The water was a bit chilly for me, but it didn't keep the rest of the gang from enjoying it.

Marty tried his hand at some morning fishing with no success, blaming the beach project on his lack of success, stating that the "channel" that had run along the shore was now gone.  I reminded him that he never caught any fish in that channel anyway.  And, as if to taunt him, as he relaxed under the canopy, we all watched an osprey dive straight down into the water, directly in front of us, and come out with a large shiny fish!  

So, apparently the channel theory has been disproved.

The ongoing beach project certainly offers some interesting views: 

But it hasn't been distracting, and all of that activity hasn't kept the dolphins away as we could see schools of them jumping in the distance.

We had a delightful evening, with plenty of in-house entertainment:

How could you NOT have fun with all of this excitement in the house?

Especially with the king of selfies amongst us.

It just doesn't get much better than this!