Sand + water = fun

I still don't understand how I came to grow up in land-locked Oklahoma.  I am indisputably a water baby.  I love the water.  I grew up going to pools and lakes, but the ocean is just so powerful that I am still entranced by it every time I see it.  I even went to sailing camp for three years in a row as a kid, with my best friend.  I remember going to Hawaii with my parents when I was 7 and being amazed at the clarity of the water.  It was like liquid glass, sparkling and completely clear.  That was my first brush with the ocean and I've been drawn to it ever since. 

The beach was fun.  We went to Virginia Beach, which is soft and sandy, like beaches should be.  It was quite uncrowded, being fall and late afternoon, so we had a great spot.  The oldest two had never been, and the baby didn't remember it from a couple of years ago, so it was like a whole new experience for them all.  We did all the "beach" things: play in the ocean, dig in the sand, find shells.  Horseback riders trotted past occasionally, and seagulls darted in and out. We got there kind of late so we only stayed for a couple of hours, but really, that was enough. 

 Just as we were talking about getting ready to leave, Soldier spotted a dolphin not too far from us.  So we stayed and watched awhile longer and it obligingly jumped up several more times, along with a friend.  I tried to get pictures of them but my little camera has no telephoto lens and thus cannot focus 500 feet out over the ocean. We left at sunset and drove through a tunnel that went through the ocean, which would have been a smidge unnerving for anyone afraid of the water.  But we thought it was nifty.

My middle son decided it was necessary to chase a seagull.  At some point, I'm sure, the next time he goes to the beach, he will get pooped on.  

Because all I have is a point-and-shoot camera, I could just barely capture this incredibly cool sailing ship at sunset.  I desperately wish I had a telephoto lens because this would have been going up in a frame if I'd been able to get a closer shot.