Birthday Party at the Beach

My oldest niece had her birthday last week, and to celebrate she wanted to have a party at the beach. The beach is basically the exposed lake bottom of a nearby lake that partially dries out every summer. But we make the best of what we've got, so we'll just call it the beach! It has sand, shells, tracks, and lots of room to play. We brought out the lawn chairs, towels, swim toys, and got ready to party.

The remaining water in the lake is a huge draw, and this time of year you can walk out a hundred meters and still be only knee deep. Henry and Desert Boy were ready to take the plunge.

Some of the cousins and their friends were already in the water, racing around, playing on inner tubes and boogie boards, and just generally amusing themselves. The water was the perfect temperature for a hot desert afternoon.

While the other kids were occupied, Desert Boy grabbed his cousin's sandal. He must be taking lessons from his sidekick Henry, who is always stealing items of clothing and running away with them. He started walking and I wondered what he was going to do with the sandal. I figured that as long as he didn't start chewing on the sandal like Henry does, we'd be okay.

Here he's tossed the sandal into the water and is watching what it does. You can see the inquisitive look on his face. I think he will take after his Daddy in trying out lots of experiments just for the fun of it.

Then he finds one of the inner tubes the kids have abandoned and decides to put the sandal into the inner tube. 

He climbs in after it and finds a nice place to sit and relax. 

Meanwhile, the other kids have gotten bored just playing in the water and have started a huge mud fight. It goes on for what seems like forever, and they don't get tired of chasing each other around and throwing huge clumps of mud.

Cousin Tractor Buddy is nearly coated with mud and seems happy about it.

Of course Desert Boy can't stay away from all the commotion and goes to check it out. Mud!? He's happy to play too and soon his feet and hands are coated in mud.

And then the inevitable--he has to taste it. Yum, mud must be good because he got quite upset when I picked him up and moved him out of the mud zone. 

We went back to the party area and he soon forgot about the mud once he began eating Cheetos and watermelon. That's a balanced diet, right? It was a wonderful afternoon and a great spot for a party.