A Break from Winter for Beach Photos!

I am taking a quick break from winter reminiscing to share some photos from the weekend.  We had a wonderful beach weekend, spending much of our Saturday and Sunday at the beach.

Saturday morning Nick woke up early and hit the lake at 7:10 to paddle 15 miles (3.5 hours) from Ashland up past Washburn to land at Friendly Valley Beach.  The girls and I went to the farmer's market and a sandwich shop on our way to the beach to meet Nick.

The before photo

Lilly has become a fan of stand up paddle boarding too.  She and Nick took the board out a bunch of times on Saturday, he'd hold on to the leash and she'd paddle all herself.  The girl loves it and was eager to try again on Sunday.

Having to do everything her sister does, Greta "paddled" too

Enjoying lunch on the paddle board

 The girls were amazing at the beach (our first trip of the year for actual swimming).  Both put their faces in the water at some point and more than once.  They also did quite a bit of actual swimming in the water, not just running around.  It is great to see their comfort and confidence in the water grow. 

After a few hours at the beach, we headed up to Erickson's Orchard in Bayfield to pick strawberries.  At this point the girls were hot, tired, and fairly crabby, so we didn't pick many strawberries.

We went home, enjoyed some air conditioning, quiet time, and TV and all seemed to be right in the world.  I ended their quiet time a little early after hearing giant thuds from upstairs.  Greta had piled up her blankets and pillows and was jumping off her bed onto the pile.  Not so much quiet time.  Since it was so hot, we set up the swimming pool in the backyard and the girls played outside.  We recently acquired a fun new playhouse in the backyard and it was their last day with the box before we set it to be recycled.

Sunday morning the girls played quietly together while Nick and I were able to doze, hearing their fun.  Eventually we all made our way downstairs and Nick made us all breakfast.  After breakfast we lazed around, Nick and Lilly playing a game of chess while Greta just hung out, every now and again moving Nick's pieces per his direction, but mostly just wiggling near him and accidentally kicking him frequently. 

Then it was time to go to the beach.  After some squirrelly packing up and getting ready, we headed back to the beach.  We were going to go to Bayview Beach, our usual beach, just down the road from Friendly Valley.  However, when we got there, the road was completely empty.  Not a single car parked on the side, no one at the beach.  It was in the mid 80s, so we were worried.  Nick went out and stood on the beach because the sand flies can be pretty bad at times, which would explain why near lunchtime the beach would be empty.  He said it was hard to tell, but some flies did come to find him after he was there for awhile.  So, feeling adventurous, we turned around (after getting the food out of the trunk and getting our lunch set to eat in the car) and headed to a beach we have never been to with the girls and Nick and I don't think we've been to since we first moved to Ashland, the one in Cornucopia. 

It was quite busy but we found our own little spot on the beach and set up for the afternoon. 

We brought our underwater camera.  Lilly took this of her feet.
Greta suggested they take pictures of their booties.  Sigh.

 I just love this photo.  It shows how vast this lake really is.

While eating their apple slices, the girls watched the other kids play at the beach.  I was very curious as to what was going through their minds.  So much so that I asked Lilly this evening when we got home.  She simply said, she just likes watching other kids play.

Nick and I both paddled some by ourselves.

It was too windy to let Lilly go out on her own, even with Nick holding on to the leash, and she handled the disappointment well.  Nick did take both girls out for rides though and shortly before leaving, Lilly even jumped off the paddle board and didn't need anyone to catch her.  She also, amazingly, put her entire head underwater.  Four times.

As so often happens in small towns, even when we drive 30 minutes to get to a beach, we still run into people we know.  Some friends of ours showed up at the beach when we were about an hour or so from leaving.  It was fun to catch up with Jen and Dave enjoyed photobombing this picture.

All bundled up and ready to go after a fun day at the beach.

We packed everything up and headed to the car.  There was a little park at the beach, so of course the girls needed to play a little bit there.  Luckily everything was pretty hot, so they didn't complain too much when it was time to leave.  Then home for baths and dinner using up the broccoli from our garden.  A pretty awesome weekend.  But it can cool down now any day.