Seagrove Beach (Part 2)

Jason, Laine, and Katie make their way to the sandbar while Adam digs another hole

Todd and I getting beat by some high school girls

Katie and Nini watch Derek skimboard

Derek in action on his skimboard

My sister Katie and her cajun boyfriend Todd

Adam checks out Mommy taking our picture

Derek returns from skimboarding to help Adam fortify his castle

My sister Kelley and her boyfriend Paul making dinner while Adam looks on

It's story and nap time after a long day at the beach

Scrabble, puzzles, and Tetris (Nini's addiction) were favorites

The weather cleared nicely on Monday and we had a long day at the pool and beach. The boys really enjoyed the heated pool. Adam maintained that he only wanted to go to the pool, but didn't seem to mind playing on the beach for hours. Derek liked the pool, but he was mainly interested in skimboarding. There's a saltwater lake just down the beach that's fed by runoff from the ocean and Derek spent most of his time skimboarding there. The lake water didn't look very inviting, but it was warm and very popular with all the kids.

Todd used his cajun charms to work he and I into a volleyball game against some high school girl volleyball players. It wasn't really close - they took it to us. Todd also used his charms to endear himself to various neighbors and just about got us all invited to a cookout as we were all headed to the beach to take pictures on the last night.

Kelley and Paul were sick and spent most of the week resting. It sucks to be sick, but if you're going to be sick it might as well be at the beach. They didn't make it to the beach as much as they would have liked. Then Katie got sick. Kelley claimed there was no way that Katie could have gotten sick that quickly from Kelley and Paul. Katie wasn't convinced, but Katie agreed that she probably caught it from Todd who was sick the week before. Katie ended up going to the doctor while we were there and was diagnosed with strep throat. So far, we haven't gotten sick, but Helen's always teetering on the verge of sickness and sometimes the thought is enough to push her over.

Kelley and Paul gathered up enough strength to make a delicious dinner on Monday night. They made Vietnamese rolls with shrimp, pork, and fresh herbs. We dipped the rice wraps in warm water and then filled them to order. It took a lot of time to prepare and everyone was very appreciative of the effort given their sickness.

The kids were usually worn out after the beach and didn't mind story and nap time. After naps and dinner we played games and watched movies and Jason kept us going with his mixed drinks. Margaritas, fuzzy navels, and bushwackers were favorites. He bought some pina colada mix, but we all agreed that the coconut smell in pina coladas remind us of suntan lotion and we don't really want to drink suntan lotion.