Beautiful Day at the Beach

My friend, Kim, and I packed up our three boys this morning and headed to Cape Henlopen for some sand and surf. It was an absolutely perfect beach day, temps in the 80's and a nice breeze coming off the ocean to keep us comfortable! The boys had a great time. Colin, the 6-year-old, played in the waves and made some new friends. Garin and his buddy, Cooper, who is 2 months younger, mostly wanted to wander the beach and take up with other young families who had cooler toys on their blankets. Kim and I got plenty of exercise chasing them. Garin also found the sand to be a very tasty snack and would not stop licking it off his hands. I couldn't decide if he actually liked eating the sand or if it was the only way he could think of to keep his hands clean (one of his OCD things). Either way, we'll have an interesting diaper tomorrow, I'm sure! We were all exhausted by the time we headed home.

The most exciting part of our adventure happened just after we arrived this morning. One of the things I love about Cape Henlopen (besides the fact that it's beautiful and much less crowded than the more commercialized Rehoboth Beach) is that I have never been there in the summer that I didn't see dolphins. This trip was no exception. I have loved dolphins for years. I always thought they were cute, but I got to pet one at Sea World on a weekend college trip to San Antonio, and I was in love. They are such social animals and seem to be so fond of humans. I recently saw a story about a dolphin that saved an injured surfer from a shark that was incredible. At Cape Henlopen, it seems that they enjoy swimming with people. They stay very close to the beach, jumping, playing and, it seems, watching. Today there was a large group of dolphins getting closer than I've ever seen them there. They put on quite a show! And there was one little bitty one that came completely out of the water on the video. I don't know if you will be able to see it, as I have to shrink it and sacrifice quality for uploading, but watch closely. If nothing else, you'll see lots of backs and fins coming out of the water!

The hot mama in the red tankini is my friend Kim. Cooper is the cutie in the askew cap and green shirt walking up the beach with Garin's boogie board. And, yes, Garin has a nasty bug bite on his temple. He got it Saturday night in our backyard kiddie pool.

Busy week coming up! Tomorrow afternoon, we'll go the Wing Picnic here on base. Tomorrow night, our squadron is roasting a pig for Saturday's squadron picnic. We'll hit both of those too. We are saying farewell to our awesome squadron commander and his family this week. :-( There will be a golf tournament Monday and a spouses' dinner Tuesday, also. Plus, Karl has a deployment exercise to oversee Monday through Thursday. And, as if he weren't busy enough, they may have to put him on a mission leaving Sunday, as they are crazy busy right now and in need of an aircraft commander. How many places can one man be at once??? Stay tuned, and I'll keep you posted! :-)