Atlantic Beach

Yesterday the kids and I went to the beach. This involved driving 15 minutes to get to the ferry. The ferry is free, crosses the river every 30 minutes, and is lots of fun. Happy kids:

 It's a cute, sturdy little boat.

 Philip roamed around. There's a little lounge for passengers up there, but the trip is so short, who has time to sit in a lounge?

 It's a river, but it's mighty big.

 There are two ferries that cross the river and pass each other in transit. Here's the other one:

 We drove about another 30 minutes and arrived at Atlantic Beach. A sprinkling of people lay around, but it was not crowded at all. Schools don't get out for the summer until sometime in June. That makes Julia very happy, since she only has some light reading to do yet, and is basically done with her daily academic grind.
I looked down the beach one way.

 I looked the other way.

 Philip and Julia played in the water. It was chilly.

 Anna tanned herself and unwound that inner spring that tightens up over the course of a college year.

 It's so nice having older children. They require almost no care. In fact, they're starting to take care of me. So I sat here and read a book:

 Patches of little seashells accumulate along the beach. We females went hunting.

 Girly toes. Julia's are long and thin. Anna's are chubby, and she calls them her sausage toes.

 I think they're working on the end of this pier. Perhaps it was damaged by Hurricane Irene. Clean up and repair operations are on-going here from that storm last fall.

 The waves were just big enough to boogie board. A little sand-castling was enjoyed, and then we headed back. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day. I see many beach trips in our future.

Where was Adam, you ask? Well, he was at home, writing a sermon, which may sound rather unfair. We lounge on the beach, and he writes a sermon ... except that he really doesn't like sand or sun or salt water. He dislikes just about everything at the beach. I love it all :)  We did notice a Pizza Inn on the way home, so we may lure him out to the beach occasionally, to eat their buffet. But only because of the buffet!