classic campbell: Down by the Sea

Where to start? At the beach, I suppose.

There are so many wonderful photos to show. The most logical plan would be to put all of our beach photos in a slideshow and post a link. But I chose my favorites (not a few of my favorites, all of my favorites) and stuck them in this post. So it is extraordinarily long. And extraordinarily worth it.

Here are many photos of the beach. So glad to report that the kids all loved the ocean this year. The sand and the salt and the wet and the sunscreen. No, not the sunscreen. We did manage to keep it from dripping in the eyes this year.

Here is Henry's first opinion of the very large, very intimidating, potentially dangerous ocean:

Not scared. And check out the perma-grin even when his face was full of salt water:

Speaking of water in the face:

It was great to see how much Wilson loved the ocean this year. Last year he was hesitant most of the time. This year we couldn't keep him out of the water or the sand.

Anna Jane was ready to catch a wave or two.

All of the kids enjoyed the water. I remember loving jumping waves with my dad as a little girl. There's only so long that big daddy muscles can get you up and over the waves. I'm glad that Anna Jane and Wilson haven't grown too big for that yet.

They also haven't grown too big for their bathing suits. Can you find the tee-hiney in this pic?

What about this one?

This one?

I couldn't help but laugh when posting these photos. The funniest part was that I took about 10 pics of Henry before I could compose myself enough to call Dave's attention to the two dimply cheeks resting on his arm.

Good to know Papa still has his wave-jumping-muscles!

Wilson had a great time yelling at the ocean and then running away as if the ocean was upset by the insult.

Henry had a more peaceful relationship with the sea.

I am certain that it is impossible for all three children to look at a camera with a pleasant expression at the same time. This is about as close as it gets.