Sweethearts on the Hill

And so he sleeps… Anywhere… he… can!

Oh what fun two little boys can have swimming, digging, paddling, and diving in the ocean. They were enamored by scraping back the sand, exposing tiny clams and watching them dig their way back under when the water would wash over them. Completely enamored. It was very clear after our first day on the beach that we needed some boogie boards for the boys. They definitely paid off. Sam and Charlie spent hours paddling out, riding over the waves, and finding their way back to shore.   Sometimes it's even fun just to see if you can beat the waves back to shore. This next series of pictures are probably my most favorite from the whole trip. I smile really big on the inside seeing my little buddies have a blast together. One of life's special gifts.   That is some intensity right there! I could relive this 5 minutes of my life every single day  and never get tired of it.  Brotherhood is...

  Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go. You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."  With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street. And you may not find any  you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town. ~ It's opener there, in the wide open air! You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step, step with care and great tact. And remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexter...

  I sit behind you and observe ~ watching in awe as you caress, study, and inspect every morsel of sand lying beneath you.   The water that touches your toes slowly sinks your feet deeper and deeper into the earth. It is completely calm and gentle.  Until it's not.   You see God everywhere you look. Only His greatness can create such vast beauty. Power. Depth. Perfection.   You become an artist as you build. Design. Create. Move the Earth. Dig into its surface and discover new creatures, moving, breathing, surviving.   Minutes pass by.   Hours.   New creations are built up, and torn back down.   I sit amidst the silence of the crashing waves and powerful breeze thinking to myself, "This is going to be a perfect day"

One of the activities Charlie and Sam were most excited about in anticipation of our beach trip was to bury, and be buried, in the sand. Who knew how much fun (and how much work!) this could be? So we buried… and buried… and buried… until we couldn't possibly bury any longer! And then after that, we buried one more time! Until finally, we had our masterpiece.