It's beginning to look a lot like summer...

Our beach has taken a huge hit by the rising lake levels this summer. Last year the sand continued a good fifteen to twenty feet beyond what it does now. See that log protruding out of the recently formed dune grass cliff? I swear that wasn't there a month ago when the kids and I walked down to play around on the beach. I know that because I had my camera with me and I know that I would have wanted to get a photo of the kids sitting on it. I know that because I wanted to do the same thing today and they would have none of it.

The water is rumored to be in the mid sixties but it felt warmer than that to me. It was very dirty though. Last week we had a ton of rain that caused many rivers in the area to swell over their banks. There is a lot of flooding in areas around us. The water was calm as well which didn't help to wash away the floating debris. Once you waded in past ten feet or so it was OK but the thought of raw sewage and swimmers itch was just kind of giving me the willies.

The kids didn't seem to mind at all. Spencer was in the water from the minute we got there until the minute he had to be physically removed from the water. He ran into some of his buddies down there and played around with them the whole time. He seemed like such a big kid wrestling around in the water with friends, trying to dunk his buddie's older brothers, and tearing down the beach at a pace that I have never seen him move at any sporting activity he has ever participated in.

Evan and Hailey are pretty content to hang around at the waters edge and make castles or look for treasures in the sand. There were plenty of "treasures" today - I was just not sure I wanted them to be touching any of their new found loot. After Evan grew tired of yelling at Hailey for wrecking his creations for about the nine hundredth time, he joined all the boys in the water and had a great time splashing around.

I am about at my picture limit with this post, but I can't get over how cute my kids are all sun kissed and brown. And seriously - Hailey's bikini - I have a serious case of clothes envy with her wardrobe. I am dressing vicariously through my daughter. Hey, she has the bod for it - my body was sacrificed by bringing them all into this world.

If you listen closely, you can hear Jillian Micheals screaming.