Just Another Day at the Beach

Today was the first official Beach Day, and (in the words of Bryson) "it was awesome!" The boys were very anxious to get down to the beach and the pool, and sand, sun, and water didn't disappoint. We haven't done a great job since last trip of getting the boys into swim lessons, but Nathan especially is determined to learn. Funny thing is that he doesn't want us to teach him. He ends up spending most of the time on the steps, or taking turns with Benjamin swimming with me.


We've also discovered that Nathan's swimsuit accumulates sand very quickly. Unlike my suit, his has side pockets that trap and hold sand in like you can't believe. Even though we rinsed off before we came back inside, when we got the boys into the shower in the room and peeled their suits off, Nathan still had several pounds of sand in his pockets. Trust me -- it really was several pounds.

Dinner tonight was Enchiladas con Viento. OK, so we didn't actually order the wind, but there was plenty of it with each helping. I helped microwave an entire bag of chicken nuggets so Amy could put the finishing touches on dinner, all while providing comic relief, of course. The only drawback about the cool island breezes is that they tend to get quite strong just about the time we're eating. Since there are so many of us, at least 1/2 (usually the kids with a few supervisors) have no choice but to eat outside. Tonight we decided to all go downstairs to the North BBQ area. The hope was that by eating at ground level the wind wasn't be as strong. So much for that theory. :)

Our family was in charge of Family Home Evening, and we decided to do the lesson on the Creation and the beauty of the Earth. Seemed appropriate while we're here in paradise. I found electronic images of the Gospel Pictures, and then Googled around for the other images we needed. I put all the images with a few scriptures and quotes into a presentation and then tested connecting the computer to the sweet TV in Mom & Dad's room. Turns out Chris brought about every A/V cable he has, so I borrowed his S-video cable and went to work. After a few minutes I finally beat Windows into submission and got the slideshow working on the big screen. Of course, by the time dinner was done and every body was beyond ready to get FHE under way, the connection quit working. I tried for several minutes, but in the end we had the kids gather around the computer and did it the old fashioned way. Other than the technical difficulties, the lesson went great, and Jennifer had a super activity for the kids. We got (cheap, but) full-size magnifying glasses for all the kids, took them outside, and let them explore the beauty of creation.

We topped the evening off with a trip to Haagan Dazs, sponsored by Grandpa. You gotta love the Island Dazzle!