Keeping it Simple

Keeping it simple. That ought to be what vacation is all about, right?

That's just what we did today. We spent the entire morning exploring the beach while the tide fell again.

Emma found a large sand dollar.

It was fun to watch it bury itself in the sand.

Jane also found sand dollars. They were quite a bit smaller. More like 50-cent pieces, really.


And Miriam, always the brave one, nearly tackled this quick-moving baby horseshoe crab.


We saw the dolphins briefly today, but not up close. Dolphins and seagulls follow these shrimp boats. (Actually, as you can see, people do too, to get photos like these.)


We also spent some time building a sand complex. It has a high-rise apartment building, a sunken courtyard commons area, and a field of picnic tables for all its inhabitants, in addition to one modest castle.

In the afternoon we spent some time in the pool and walking on the beach at high tide. The bigger girls did some body surfing, but the little ones were a bit timid of the crashing waves.

I tried to encourage Jill by saying something along the lines of, "It's just the ocean making waves," as if it was something a mountain girl might see any old day. Miriam, always curious, wanted to know why. "Why is it doing that, Mommy?"

So, this homeschool mom saw an immediate opportunity. I launched into a discourse about the gravitational pull of the moon, the rotation of the earth, the topography of the ocean floor, temperatures, currents, jet streams... and I saw those bright, green eyes glass over. Her little shoulders slumped, and she sighed heavily. "But MOMMY," she interrupted with complete exasperation, and then, waving her little hand, "Is it saying 'Hi-yo!' to me?"

Oh. Of course. "Yes. Yes, I'm sure it is."

Keeping it simple.