Beach Trip and Man World

We had the awesome blessing of going to the beach last weekend. We packed up the BRV and strapped numerous floating devices to it inside and out. Jake was a wise man and volunteered for duty on Thursday. Duty shifts are 24 hours without much sleep which meant an early departure from work on Friday am. We were able to hit the road sometime after lunch time. We splurged on 9-chick-fil-a sandwiches, 1-three strip chicken and 5 medium fries. We took a stop at Man World along the way. The other, less brilliant name for Man-World, is Bass Pro-Shop. After suffering in the parking lot watching all manner of men and gear parade in and out of the World for an hour, Jake and our young-man crew re-emerged and we hit the road again. Thank God! 

We arrived at Dam Neck around 6 something.. I think. We were vacationing and the clock was optional. Dam Neck is a Marine Base. I bet you couldn't guess that. Our cottage was right on the water. I kidd you not. $150 per night and we were there. On the beach. Free access to one of our favorite places on earth, a beach! We were so pleased. The cottage was equipped with a kitchen, a full living room with a fire place, 3 bedrooms and a huge bathroom, plus laundry room. Crazy goodness. 

I am going to try to explain to you the debacle my cameras have put me in. The one on my iphone has completely fried. Colby dismantled the phone and tried to fix it for me. Then my nice camera is freezing up and refusing to focus. I can manual focus. But, for some reason the camera is now absorbing all kinds of light if I use it outside. So the pictures I took were white.. like lightening. I had to add the dark filter to even recognize who was in my shots. Some of the photos look kind of neat, but all in all they are a sad reminder to me that a camera purchase is lurking in the future. 

 I used my long lens to take this of Jake. You can see how close our stairs to the water were. 

 Our cottage had an outdoor shower.. all for us!

 That's the cottage behind Jackie. Not the best shot, but you can see how nice it looked.

 There's my stud! He had so much fun riding waves. I was so pleased to see him so excited!

 Some of my sweet babies. 

 Seriously. I nearly split my bad rib rolling at the lump of coal in Libby's swimsuit. The swimsuit is one that Jackie wore and Louisa wore and you get the point. It's old. Libby managed to gather some sand back there. Funny.

 This is where the camera goes wild. Cool effects, but not what I was hoping for.

 Hey Haze!

 She loved the sand and the freedom I gave her exploring the beach.

 Nothing like a slow dance with daddy on the deck.

 Rocking chairs to nap in. We were in an earthly paradise for sure.

 I kept wondering why Jake was wearing a shirt with the plural of Van on it. Was he sending me a message? Is there more than one red van in my future? What does this mean? 

 This is what Hazel really looks like. She's not a black and white cartoon.

My sweet and crazy boys. The youngest and oldest. I am so blessed to have such troops in my home!

The beach was fun. Man World required a second visit on our way home. This time I went in to check out the store myself. I couldn't believe the things I saw in the store. It was like a zoo. Creatures mounted all over the place. Weapons abounded. Men up and down the aisle. The girls and I were wandering around trying to find something pink. We discovered a bottle of spray that was called.. Deer Sexual Attractant. Brings the Buck to you!. We were super weirded out.  We then fled and found a small jewelry stand. Intentionally placed near the check out counter. You know, for the man who has filled his buggy with weapons and odd sprays, the man who's hoping to not have to return all of those odd man items once he gets home. He can easily spin the jewelry stand and choose a pink stone bracelet to add to his cart and all will be well with his sweet little lady. She won't question his purchase, she won't care what that odd smell is, no she will be swooning over her new pink bracelet!

Man World... Strange World.