4th of July weekend at the beach

We decided to take a last minute trip to the beach for 4th of July weekend. We arrived midday Saturday and the beach was beautiful - no seaweed, clear sand, warm water, plenty of sun. 

Steve mastered the logistics and we had quite the set-up. We tried to keep Dottie in the center of the blanket as far from the sand as possible. She really enjoyed being on the beach and was happy to play with her toys on the blanket.

Beautiful girl ready for some fun 

She's not crawling yet but getting SOOOO close 

Ella and Steve spent lots of time in the water boogie boarding 

We had a really nice dinner at a restaurant on the seawall, listened to music, and just enjoyed being out on a beautiful night. As usual, Dottie was the first one eating and the last one finished :).

Sweet patriotic girls 

We had a great view for the fireworks that night, and we were able to see them from several different spots at once

 

Pool on Sunday morning

 

Back at the beach

Steve and Ella went jet skiing

 

Ella was really looking forward to a sand crab hunt on Sunday night. She and I headed down to the beach that night. We collected a bunch of shells and saw several really pretty jellyfish like this - fortunately we had flash lights so we could avoid stepping on any of them.

 

Ella on the "hunt"

 

We looked and looked for crabs but didn't see any. After our walk and shell collecting, we headed back up the beach toward the hotel. I was a step or two in front of Ella and all of a sudden she said "I see one!" I stopped and looked around but couldn't see him anywhere. She said "I think you stepped on him!" Wouldn't you know, she was right and the poor guy was under my shoe. Sheesh!

 

We woke up early this morning to get home in time for work and camp, and had an easy drive back.

It was such a wonderful weekend - relaxing and fun family time, really like a little mini vacation. Perfect way to spend July 4th!