The Beach.

It happened, finally! Brian had a WHOLE WEEKEND where he didn't have to work. At all! Well, actually I think he may have checked his email a few times, but it was on the sly and didn't involve hours of isolation. So!!! We finally had some time together as a family. And it was wonderful.

We slept in Saturday morning. (Actually it was mainly Brian who slept in, since Natalie didn't get the memo, and the kids -- and I-- wake up as soon as they hear her.) We made delicious french toast for breakfast (Brian kinda missed that part too, but we saved him some). Then, we packed up a picnic lunch and went to the beach. It was lovely. And here are the pictures, to prove it.

First, here's our beach, so fun! With Long Island off in the distance...

And, presenting.... the man of the hour! Not even toting his Blackberry (at least not visibly!)...

Happy Lady. VERY happy.

Water was cold, but the sand was what the kids came for anyway...

I love her smile... She didn't even know we were taking this one, but she was just in a really good mood. (Aside, all those cute little "parts" in her hair for her twisty braids got sunburned. Ouch and oops.)

Natalie wasn't quite sure what to think of the beach.

Or the sun...

Or the sand...

She got her fill in the first half hour, then crashed out in her stroller...

Brian and the kids build a sand tower. It was going to be a castle, but that was proving to be a very tricky endeavor. So, they opted for a tower instead. Here's Brian, carefully packing the bottom layer, with Spence in the background, bringing him another bucket of water to firm things up...

And, um, I accidentally knocked the tower over before we got a picture of it. Oops. But it was cool. Looked like a three layer wedding cake, and Samantha even decorated part of it with seashells.

Then Daddy buried them.

They LOVED it!

Then Samantha helped Brian bury Spencer up to his neck.

He thought that was the cooooolest!

Until Sammie "broke his sand" and ran off like a bandit. Hahaha...

Ah, what more can I say? It was a lovely afternoon. We ate a picnic lunch, stayed until it got a little bit chilly and overcast, then packed up and drove home (5 minutes, no joke!) It started to rain just as we got home... perfect timing!