Another "first"!

Yet another "cousin" day . . . this time, we spent the day with Auntie and her three children: Kyle, Ryan and Katy. We headed to the beach . . . which was another "first" for Lael and Jaden -- the first time swimming in the ocean. (We've been to the beach many times, but always in the off-season when it's just too cold to swim.)

So we had all kinds of fun climbing over rocks

(New England beaches are often more rocky than they are sandy)

. . . wading in the ocean

(it was a cloudy, cool-ish day so they kept their shorts and t-shirts on for some extra warmth)

. . . looking for crabs

(we found them under almost every rock we moved)

. . . and trying to catch waves with a net (or maybe an unsuspecting sister)

Jaden thought this rock looked like an alligator sticking his nose up out of the water!

We saw lots of periwinkles and barnacles too.
The littlest of the cousins on this trip, Katy was fascinated by all the little stones and shells on the path -- I'm just amazed that her little feet could handle walking on the rough surface (I guess I just have tender feet!)

Isn't she a cutie!

We enjoyed a picnic lunch -- playing in the ocean works up quite an appetite! Then it was back to Auntie's house for some playtime -- dress-up, GeoTracks, and just hanging out together!

Finally everyone plopped on the couch to watch some LarryBoy cartoons; by that point, they were all worn out!

Lots of fun had by all!