Camp Week: Walks at Sunset

Just about every day at the beach ended with a slow and leisurely walk along the beach at sunset. Camera in hand. Charlie often with a freeze pop from courtesy of our camping neighbors and good friends, the Sherwoods. Life doesn't get much better. The beauty of sunsets at Southwick never cease to amaze us, even after years of being in awe of them. Each night is just a little different and spectacular in its own way. Here are a few pictures from throughout our week. Enjoy...

Camp Week: Big Wheels

One of the best things about camping at that the super fun outdoor toys are always ready and waiting to be played with. This year, Charlie brought his big wheel (handed down from cousin Emanuel) and had a great time riding all over. There was also of course lots of time for frisbee throwing, ball bouncing, bubble blowing, tee-ball hitting... :-)

This is the look I got when I said

"Charlie, show me your cute face!"

riding big boy style :-)

Camp Week: More Beach Time

Another day, another beach picture...

And another nap on the beach :-)

Camp Week: Sandcastles and Sunshine

We all managed to escape our week on the beach without a single sunburn. That does not mean that we didn't get to fully enjoy some sunshine and beach adventures. Charlie's newest infatuation this year - SANDCASTLES! He wanted nothing more than to fill buckets with sand and dump them into simple little castles over and over and over and over. :-) Filling buckets with water and bringing them back to where we were sitting was also a big hit. It is safe to say that he thoroughly enjoyed himself and playing on the beach.

Taking a very quick break from his work to say

"Cheese!"

My little engineer/architect hard at work

The end result of all that hard work:

A nice nap on the beach

(this was almost a daily occurrence)

Camp Week: Playground Fun

Charlie LOVES playgrounds. Pairing a week at the beach with being able to wake up and go to the playground first thing every morning made this a week in heaven for him. There were no "baby" swings at this playground, but Charlie loves to swing more than anything else and was willing to brave the big boy swings in order to get his swinging time in. The only down side of that is that swinging tends to lull him into a very relaxed state - this does not bode well for hanging onto the big boy swing without falling. Luckily we avoided any disasters!

Who wouldn't want to do this every morning?!

A visit from Abby was not complete without some

playground time as well. In fact, I don't think any

visitor we had managed to escape without

some time spent on the playground!

Camp Week: Let's Go Fly A Kite

We had some REALLY windy days while we were at camp last month. Charlie has been interested in kites lately, so we thought it would be a great time to go kite flying. Didn't go exactly as planned and we learned that kite flying can be extremely hazardous to your health... BUT it was a good time and we had a good laugh about it all! After many, many failed attempts and more than one close call involving kites crashing to the ground forcefully very near to innocent bystanders, we called it a day for kite flying. There is such a thing as too much wind when attempting to fly a kite, so we will have to try again some other place and time.

This was probably taken after the kite had come

crashing to the ground - it happened more than once

in the course of our kite flying adventures!

SUCCESS - as short lived as it may have been! :-)

There is no one immediately present in this picture,

but I would be willing to bet that it came crashing to

the ground scaring the bejeezus out of at least one person.

Camp Week: Getting Settled

Last month we spent a week at Southwick Beach as we do every summer. Charlie thoroughly enjoyed himself and would have been completely satisfied staying even longer if given the opportunity! It was a really good time spent with people near and dear to us. Life doesn't get much better than beaches, campfires, good food, and special people!

Charlie helping put up the screen house

(He is sporting a super nifty outfit put together from diaper bag

remnants after taking a dip in the lake while wearing his clothes.)

:-)

Bedtime stories by flashlight with Grandma

On our way to the camp store in search of hot cocoa

(No camp trip is complete without a rainy hot cocoa day!)