Beach bum

Ella loves the beach. Benjamin is tolerant so far... we will see how he feels when he can actually move and voice his opinion. This past few days, we were at the Francis vacation home and had lots of beach time on Lake Michigan and Platte Lake. Ella had a blast collecting rocks, riding on rafts and in a tube, "flying to the sky" when Daddy threw her up out of the water and showing Benjamin the finer points of beach life. (She shares all of her important moments with him, from boo-boo's to her first time eating pizza "like Mommy and Daddy do"). Benjamin smiles his big gummy smiles at her and takes it all in as he looks like a true stud in his beach gear. I'll have to post a picture of that later on... it's too cute for words.

Most nights, we would head out to the Platte River beach (where the river meets Lake Michigan) after dinner. One night as we pulled in, Ella said, "I am so very glad to be at the beach". She is so funny. Last night, there were a couple of 16-ish year-old girls floating down the river and acting like 16-ish year-old girls... silly and a bit loud, but nothing too crazy. Ella, always keeping an eye on the other "kids" in the area, yells to them, "Hey, big kids, what's going on there?" She then proceeded to start picking out rocks for them on the shoreline -- a true sign of affection. They did not notice any of this because, in true 16-ish year-old girl form, they were pretty into themselves.

Ella needs friends. I try, but it is not as easy as one might think to schedule a playdate! Poor kid eyes every person under 8 as a potential BFF and tells me that her friends are coming over sometimes... I wish they were. I'll make it happen, honey, someday...

This vacation also include the first Girls' Night, which consisted of Jiffy Pop (it looks really cool but is a pain in the hiney to pop, isn't it?) and a Veggie Tales video in the loft of the vacation home. Girls only. Poor, poor Ella thought that this meant that there would be many girls her age and was initially rather disappointed. "Where are the kids?" she asked when we got to the loft. Sorry, El... again, I'm trying. But all in all, we had fun and it was a much-needed time together.

And in the world of Benjamin, he is smiling and cooing and his new big trick is sticking out his tongue. I got him to do it one day and my reaction must have been good because he shows off his new skill whenever he gets the chance. "See me? I'm cool!" ... and he is.