Beachy Things

We finally made it to the beach last weekend.  (I say 'finally', but really, we're way ahead of the game compared to last year.)  Elora asked us Friday if we could go to the beach "to get a shell for Mama", and we said, sure, we'll go on Sunday.  She then spent the next 48 hours asking, is it Sunday yet?  And when it finally was Sunday, the question changed to, is it time to go to the beach yet?  We got a later start than intended (we always do) but we did make it out there.

Did you notice that Elora isn't wearing a swim diaper under her suit?   She is DONE with diapers of all kinds, even at night and out and about!

Unfortunately, we were there right around lunch time and the sun was pretty intense.  We were all  wearing SPF 85 sunscreen, but we still got some sun.  

We did stay for about 2 hours.  Brandon and Elora were in and out of the water or playing in the sand the whole time.  Kaylie and I just stood in the surf, played in the sand, and had a snack.  (Elora was too busy playing to eat a snack.)  I wish I'd gotten more photos, like of the wall and pool that I built between Kaylie and the water so that the waves wouldn't get her, since she liked the sand but not the random waves.  They'd just wash against the wall and fill the pool.  We ended up with a few other kids playing with us, scooping out sand, and looking for periwinkles and sand fleas.  But we were too busy having fun to bother with the camera.  We did get a family photo, or at least, we tried. 

We had another beach-goer take some pictures of us all together, but one of us (me or her) managed to bump the aperture dial and it was turned waaaaaay too low. This is as much detail as I could get out of it.  It's kind of a neat picture, though.

And yes, that goofy picture on the left was the best shot of the front.

Saturday night I up and decided that I had to have a new swimsuit cover-up.  I still had my Anna Maria Horner Little Folks viole squirreled away, so I dug it out and went to work.  I didn't use a pattern, or even a tutorial, I just made it up as I went.   It's shirred around the high waist, and the bodice (such as it is) is made from 2 triangles, gathered at top and bottom. It took me 3 tries to get the bodice pieces right, and two tries to attach the straps, but it turned out ok and I even have enough fabric left to make another little sundress, one that can be worn to places other than the pool or the beach.  

PS:  Don't forget about the giveaway!  You have until tomorrow to win a custom designed printable of your choice from The Green World Shop!