Beach Party

Yesterday was a very busy day. We went to see a ballet in the morning, then came home for about an hour. We packed into the car again and headed for Hampton Bays for a beach barbecue with the teen club of our local homeschooling group. I had signed up to be half in charge for this event because it sounded fun, because it was in May and I had a long time not to think about it when I agreed to do it in October :), and because it was one of the few events that I could bring the younger kids to. Normally, teen club is a drop off event so that the older kids can have time to socialize without little ones along. One of the pluses of homeschooling is that usually our older kids have no problem with all ages being together, but the moms who formed this club thought that this should be an exception, most of the time.

Anyway, we lucked out on the weather--good thing it hadn't been planned for last week!--and had a warm, sunny day. We had a terrific turnout, around 40 people, and the kids and parents had a blast. The parents got a few hours to talk just about uninterrupted, we all ate great food, and the kids did anything they wanted. Some were swimming, some were digging, some were playing ball and Frisbee, some took walks down the shore, some collected shells. It was a really nice, relaxed time. A few moms and I had the experience of lighting a grill in beachy wind, but we finally managed it and made all the burgers and dogs the crew could eat.

Julia spent almost the whole time swimming (I don't know how she did it, but she was like a dolphin!) and she even found a jellyfish which was put into a bucket, examined and played with by a lot of the kids--it didn't sting, apparently. I didn't touch it (cooking!) but did watch it swim, which was a cool experience you don't see every day. She was positively blue by the time we went home, but she had a great time. Ben and Emma were in the water a bit, but got colder than Julia did, so they built castles together. Rachel was with her friends, but she did spend a little time getting wet. I knew I wasn't going anywhere near the water, and so didn't even bother wearing a suit!

So here are a few pictures I snapped when I wasn't busy chatting or grilling....

--Jen