Assateague Island

We went camping at the beginning of July to an island that is off of the Maryland coast. Many people have either heard of it or its Virginia partner Chincoteague. There are protected wild horses and a beautiful beach. It happened to be a very hot few days when we first arrived and the sun was really intense, but we were at the beach, so who could really complain? Christopher spent a lot of time collecting tons of shells. He had piles and piles, but we only let him bring home 3. Alex is great and always gets in and builds sand castles with the kids. They love it and even helped decorate with a bunch of the shells.

The water was a perfect temperature and Anna wasn't intimidated at all. The waves were very mild...perfect for kids.

I think we were in the middle of digging a big hole as the kids liked to make "pools" to sit in. We found all kinds of sea life from ghost crabs to horseshoe crabs to watching the dolphins circle the fish and eat in the water. It was perfect!

We had heard that the bugs were terrible and probably would have been for us if we had camped on the grassy area of the site...

But, we were right on the sand. So, hardly any bugs and a constant ocean breeze. The drawback was that we were right on the sand and could never fully keep it out of the tent and food.

This is a picture of the span of the beach.

We saw the horses several times. You aren't allowed to touch them, but it sure was fun to watch them. This time they were just moseying down the beach.

Mark just being goofy.

The kids in one of the many "pools" we made while there.

A beautiful rainbow after a light rainstorm.

What a beautiful earth the Lord has given us! We were grateful to go and enjoy it.

Fourth of July

We have lived in DC for 3 years now and had never been to the National Mall for the Fourth of July. So, even though it was really hot and Alex was worried there would be unbearable crowds, we headed down and plunked ourselves in front of the Lincoln Memorial and we were so glad we did. I made a picnic of good old fried chicken (a buttermilk recipe that really turned out excellent) and pasta salad and even some dessert. We got there a bit early but were glad we did as after the picnic the crowds really did come in. Anna was really enjoying her chicken!

Our spot in front of the Memorial.

The sun getting lower in the sky with the National Monument and Capitol Building in the distance.

In case I haven't mentioned it before, Christopher is our budding photographer. He absolutely loves to take pictures and I have to admit that he isn't half bad. He has read a couple of books (from the children's section at the library) and tells me things that I had no idea about.

One of my favorite pictures of the many that Alex took of the fireworks.

The Lincoln Memorial at night.

Everyone stayed awake and had a wonderful time. We even got them up early the next morning for our 4 hour drive to go camping. The kids didn't even complain!