Those were the day- NO- THESE are the days!

As I mull pictures I've taken, I realize that I am sometimes so caught up in capturing the moment so I can cherish it later that I forget to get myself in to the action. I find myself behind the camera instead of in the pictures with the kids. Don't get me wrong, I love pictures and I love looking back at my little gifts from above.
When my kids were babies, I heard so often "enjoy them while you can, they grow up so quickly". I did not know how true that would be... so much so that I do find myself looking at pictures and feeling as though I don't remember them at a particular age. As I spend more time with the kids, I realize how much fun they are and how much more I enjoy them. I find myself dreading the bickering that will be done or the clean up afterwards less and less. So- I am challenging myself to be submersed IN the fun rather than just stand by and watch and wait for it to become a memory. I will continue to take pictures but hopefully I'll be in a lot of more of them also. I want my kids to remember that I played with them and had fun with them rather than them just remembering me as the one who took pictures of it and then stomped on their fun and ended it.

How can I resist fun with these two?!

We have made the venture to the beach twice since we've been here. My mom and dad live about an hour and a half from the beach, so it's a planned experience.

We have a small trek to the beach and Mamaw, April, and Wyatt showed the way... as though they had been there before!

Wy heads straight for the beach to start looking for seashells to sell by the seashore(sorry couldn't resist that one).

Then, while searching for shells and sand dollars(which, by the way, literally cover the ocean floor in the shallow waters), my mom spots this cute little critter in our plastic bag. Yep- look close, it's a tiny octopus. Isn't it cute? A little, bitty crab also made it in there and made it all the way home without us noticing... but I didn't get a picture of him. Then at the end of lunch each day, we somehow attract this crowd...

Wyatt and April can tell you how it happens. Imagine this many, about 2 more times. They like food. The kids would throw some food up in the air and they would sometimes fly up and catch it in the air. There were so many, they would knock in to each other. There was one other attempt at a beach day but were turned around by a storm. By the time we got home, the area had been swallowed by black clouds.
Something like this.

(For those of you in AZ, this is called rain... it makes things wet)

Hope you all enjoy yourselves this summer and remember to have fun! You'll never forget it and neither will your family.