Summer: Thurs., 7/26 (Bethany Beach)
We had another very full, very fun day today. I went to beach yoga in the morning (this is the ideal time for a yoga class--right at 7am, before anyone else wakes up) and then we headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day, despite predictions of clouds and unpredictable rains. We didn't have much time, since we had our Sandbar Exploration boat trip at noon, but it was nice hour and a half or so.
After lunch, Mom and Dad headed for a walk on the boardwalk and the rest of us drove to a nearby marina for our boating adventure. It was just the six of us on the boat (me, Andrew, Lucia, Greta, Molly, and Luca), plus the captain. He drove us out into the bay to a crab pot he'd set earlier in the week, and reeled it in. It was full of about ten crabs. He took a few out and explained various features, and then offered them to the kids to hold and then throw back. Lucia and Greta both held one.
Then we continued across the bay to a large sandbar--not just a sandbar; it was more like a beach, with tidepools and grasses. Captain Tom anchored the boat a little way from shore, and we waded in. On the shore were dozens and dozens of dead horseshoe crabs--a veritable hellscape of dead horseshoe crabs. Some were sticking straight up in the air, their tails piercing the sand. There was also a lot of different kinds of seaweed. Captain Tom led us all around the sandbar, finding and helping us find various sea creatures along the way. We saw a huge variety of creatures, and the kids got to hold or touch almost all of them:
crabs
lady crab
horseshoe crabs
spider crabs
fiddler crabs
hermit crabs
snails
sea squirt
minnows
terrapin eggs
conch shell egg cases
stingray egg cases
jellyfish
pelicans
It was a super fun trip. We all loved it.
We got back to the house around 3pm and, after a snack, went back to the beach. The kids really hit their stride with the crazy wild waves, playing on their boogie boards at the very edge of the surf. They were knocked down many times. (So were we.)
It took a while to get everyone showered and ready for dinner, and by the time we were ready for dinner, there was a wait everywhere. Luckily, the wait was fairly short at a pizza place called Pie, so we went there. Then we went to the boardwalk so the kids could pick out their dessert (ice cream for Luca, funnel fries for L&G--after yesterday, they're funnel-cake obsessed).
We're all exhausted after so much activity. And very sorry that tomorrow is our last day.
After lunch, Mom and Dad headed for a walk on the boardwalk and the rest of us drove to a nearby marina for our boating adventure. It was just the six of us on the boat (me, Andrew, Lucia, Greta, Molly, and Luca), plus the captain. He drove us out into the bay to a crab pot he'd set earlier in the week, and reeled it in. It was full of about ten crabs. He took a few out and explained various features, and then offered them to the kids to hold and then throw back. Lucia and Greta both held one.
Then we continued across the bay to a large sandbar--not just a sandbar; it was more like a beach, with tidepools and grasses. Captain Tom anchored the boat a little way from shore, and we waded in. On the shore were dozens and dozens of dead horseshoe crabs--a veritable hellscape of dead horseshoe crabs. Some were sticking straight up in the air, their tails piercing the sand. There was also a lot of different kinds of seaweed. Captain Tom led us all around the sandbar, finding and helping us find various sea creatures along the way. We saw a huge variety of creatures, and the kids got to hold or touch almost all of them:
crabs
lady crab
horseshoe crabs
spider crabs
fiddler crabs
hermit crabs
snails
sea squirt
minnows
terrapin eggs
conch shell egg cases
stingray egg cases
jellyfish
pelicans
It was a super fun trip. We all loved it.
We got back to the house around 3pm and, after a snack, went back to the beach. The kids really hit their stride with the crazy wild waves, playing on their boogie boards at the very edge of the surf. They were knocked down many times. (So were we.)
It took a while to get everyone showered and ready for dinner, and by the time we were ready for dinner, there was a wait everywhere. Luckily, the wait was fairly short at a pizza place called Pie, so we went there. Then we went to the boardwalk so the kids could pick out their dessert (ice cream for Luca, funnel fries for L&G--after yesterday, they're funnel-cake obsessed).
We're all exhausted after so much activity. And very sorry that tomorrow is our last day.
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