A Trip to the Beach

The other day I had the urge to go see some birds. I figured the beach would be a great place to go. Of course, the nearest beach isn't what most people might envision. We'll get to that in a moment.

Hundreds of mallards like hanging out near this beach, but they took off as I approached.

The Canada geese were quick to follow. It didn't help that I had Henry with me and he likes to chase birds.

I also had the kids with me, but they were content to start the hike to the beach with a snack. Desert Boy had packed everything in a big ziploc bag.

The geese on the other side of the pond were still hanging out.

Then it was time to hike. Desert Girl had some difficulty navigating the willows.

She made it, though.

That's when I noticed she still had a juice pouch in her hand. No wonder it was so hard to get over the branches.

Desert Boy was looking forward to this adventure with a lot of enthusiasm.

We were almost to the beach!

Can you see what's coming?

Desert Girl wanted to get to the other side.

Oops, maybe not this time.

Time to try again. Obviously Henry wasn't so shy about getting wet.

Those black boots were just the right footwear for this day.

If Desert Boy was on the other side, Desert Girl had to go too.

Henry was in heaven.

He did a lot of running.

Meanwhile Desert Girl was showing me her muddy hands. She seemed a little perturbed.

But then she went back to playing on the beach. Apparently a little mud was okay.

But a little more mud was worrisome.

Or maybe not.

What's better than a late afternoon on a muddy beach? Alas, it couldn't go on forever...

Eventually that mud got a little too cold.

Well, at least we had some time at the beach! Some day maybe we'll try for a different kind of beach!