Ruby Beach with the crew

So once during the time we are at the ocean we always go to Ruby Beach and have a hot dog cookout and some great fun!  We were hoping for some great weather and it ended up being wonderful!!

 

This was my first look at Ruby Beach, it was a little foggy to start with but not nearly as foggy as it was the last time we were there.

 

The first thing we have to do is gather wood for our fire.  Since we were the first ones down because Al wanted to get to fishing, we picked the spot, gathered the wood and started the fire!

 

After that a little rest for us before everybody came down.

 

AJ decided he wanted to go and find the fishermen (Al and Uncle Craig) so we started trekking towards them.  We found some pretty neat forts along the way.  This one had names carved in it that AJ was reading.

 

I LOVE the beach so much and so do the boys!!!   I love his smiles!!!

 

Al finally gave up the fishing pole so AJ could fish a little.  He didn't get a bite within the first five minutes so he was done.  :-)  But at least he tried!

 

AJ exploring the beach as we walk back to our spot.

 

The kids found some clay and were making clay pots by the fire.

 

Cooking time - I think a hot dog tastes the best when roasted over a fire!!

 

Kaitlyn and AJ making the trek in the river, it was cold but not as cold as the ocean.

 

Mom and I enjoying sometime down at the beach taking photos!  Love my mother daughter time!!!

 

One thing we always did as kids was find a log to ride, well they kids found this one way back in the river.  So wonderful Uncle Craig swam this log back to where it was a little more shallow for the kids to ride!!!

 

I even got in on the action of riding the log.  Though I think Al and Craig were trying to throw me off. :-) 

 

Our group - it turned into such a beautiful day!!  The guys caught ten sea perch, the kids made clay pots and played in the river, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire, what better day could you have?  It was Fantastic!!!

Beach Day

So on Wednesday August 6th, we had such beautiful weather that we had to head to the beach, full on and quickly in case we lost the sun.  It was one of the first really nice days and AJ had been bugging me for days to go and fly a kite.  So we were going to try and accomplish it all in one day.

 

AJ finally getting  to fly his kite!!  He was very excited about it.

 

Michael's turn to try.  The only problem with buying a kite from the dollar bin, they only lasted about 3 minutes.  Oops, I learned I needed to spend a little more on them.

 

So instead they started working on a sand fort.  They brought bigger shovels so they could really get in there.

 

This is Destruction island and we were finally able to see it.  It had been hidden in a could of fog for the last five days.

 

Here is their sand fort they made.  Each one of them has a chair with a back to sit in and AJ is flying a kit while sitting there.

 

Then it was time to  hit the waves.

 

 

I braved the really, really, did I say really? cold water to try and help them with the boogey boarding.  Gabby didn't want to go out deep where AJ and I were and AJ gave up after one wave took him under a little bit.  But that is ok.  Maybe in another three years they will be ready for the bigger waves.   :-)  Michael didn't even want to go in the waves he said it was too cold.  I totally agreed with him!!

 

After some hard water playing Michael decided to sit in his "chair" and have a pixie stix.

 

Poor Michael is always the one to go get whatever somebody needs, he has such a good heart and gladly helps other people.

 

So since I bought them such inexpensive kites that broke so quick, I hiked back to the trailer and got my dad's good stealth fighter kite out and AJ LOVED it!!!!  He flew it forever!!

 

Michael was ok with this water because of the indentation in the sand, the water stayed there during low tide and it warmed up a little bit.  They used the boogey boards more for flotation devices than the waves, but that is ok, they were having a great time!!!

 

And to end a great day at the beach, of course somebody has to be covered completely in sand!  We spent hours and hours of great fun down at the beach.  It was such a great weather day and we all completely enjoyed the beach!!!!

Beach 3

The boys, big and small, wanted to go fishing.  So we hiked down to our old fishing grounds on Beach 3.  That is where we do most of our perch fishing.

 

This is our rock as we call it.  We have fished at this rock since I was a baby and maybe before.  It is really neat to see how it changes over the years.  Last year I was told that there was four more feet of it showing than this year.  It is crazy what the ocean and weather can do.

 

Digging in the sand, for what I am not sure.

 

Michael found a little cave in our rock - he thought it was so cool!

 

AJ talking to Uncle Al about fishing.

 

Off to play with the rocks and practice throwing them.

 

AJ finally was able to get one of the poles away from the big boys.  It was cold and nobody was getting a bite so everybody was about to pack everything up.  I figured AJ would hold the pole for about five minutes, get bored and then we could go back to camp.

 

But no, AJ had to go and catch a fish in about four minutes.  So everybody had to throw the poles back in and try and catch a fish.

Michael wanted to show me some tricks off the big rock - he was getting pretty good at his 360s.  After another thirty minutes of no more bites we were finally able to pack it in and head back to camp.

 

 

Al was showing them how to clean a perch.  Check out their faces, I don't remember which part this was, but love their expressions!!!

 

Michael checking out the fish cleaning.  I am not sure if either were as impressed, but they stood and watched and helped clean up the tools at the end.  AJ was so excited that he was the only one to catch a fish that day!!!  He told many, many people about it!

Ruby Beach

On Sunday Kaitlyn wanted to go down to Ruby beach so we said why not.  We normally only go there once, but we figured the kids would have a great time down there.

 

One of our favorite things to do down there is skip rocks.  They have the best rocks and also with the river it is smooth so easier to skip rocks on.

 

Grandma trying to show Michael how to skip rocks.

 

This rock is one that my brother and I played on at that age and younger!!  It is so wonderful to see my boys climbing all over it!

 

Checking out some of the sea life.  They saw a big sea star along with many other sea life.

 

As you can see it was foggy again that day.  Also this beach has some nasty undertows so only up to their ankles on this one.

 

Here is a picture showing the amount of fog.  It was kind of cool looking though.

 

My mom and brother enjoying their time at the beach.

 

Uncle Craig started a new game called sink the ship.  They threw out a big log and then threw rocks at it to try and sink the "ship."

 

Kaitlyn and Michael out trying to float on a "ship"

 

The kids found a cool fort on the beach - it looked like somebody put a lot of time into.

 

After that we headed back to camp and off to the store.  We used to get about a dollar to go spend at the store.  Now things cost a lot more so we go for ice cream.

 

Grandma with the grandkids and their ice cream!  I think this might be their favorite part of the day!

 

Uncle Craig messing around with the kids while they are finishing their ice cream.

 

AJ really wanted to learn how to play cribbage this year, so who am I to say no.  Grandma was helping teach AJ.  He actually became really good at it!

 

Dinner time - we do it family style there.  Each family or two take a night and feed everybody which was 31 this year.  Al and I did the first night, which was really nice so we could relax the rest of the week.

 

After dinner let the marshmallow roasting begin!!!  Michael doesn't like smores, but he does like marshmallows.  AJ could go either way.  There is nothing like finishing a great day at the ocean with smores.