Once Upon a Time We Went to the Beach...

... and I took five-million photos. That is, perhaps, a slight exaggeration... but not by too much... lol. Last Sunday afternoon, Jenna and I loaded the kids up into the Schick's brown van and headed to Bahia de Kino for a mini-vacation at the beach with the house kidlets... and it was great! Two doctors from Tucson have generously offered the kids from the orphanage the opportunity to rent (at a very low price) this house right on the water... and it was a blessing!

Here are some of the photos that got taken, as well as a few anecdotes from our journey... (testaments to the fact that we managed to make it back safely without the protection of a man, dear director Bill... ;) But, thankfully we had the protection of our Father in Heaven!)

Above: Photo time on the beach at sunset...

All seven kids walk along the water's edge - giving Jenna and I photo opportunities...!

(Left to right): Ezequiel, Candi, Aaron, Poncho (behind), Diego, Julissa, and Jazany.

While Jenna and her kids headed to the pier one morning, the five of us stayed on the beach and took sand photos... :)

There's something interesting and unique about creating sand art, since it is so quickly demolished... and it was quite fun getting the kids to lay down next to their names before the waves drenched them!!!

More sand art...

Jenna and I at sunset on the beach... I was thankful to share this experience with someone who likes to laugh and cry just as much as I do... ;)

Some of my favorites: (top left) Candi's first experience getting sand inside her swimsuit... she was not a big fan, and protested... LOUDLY. (top right) Diego posing after he sprinted toward the water, and then biffed it big in the wet sand... lol. (bottom left) Aaron is such a little stud... am I allowed to say that?!? He would stand out in the waves, letting them crash against him, trying to retain his balance and giggling like mad afterwards! (bottom right) Poncho poses with one of the "life-savers" on his head... ;)

The kids - for the most part - played really, really well together. They built sand castles, buried all kinds of treasures, and hunted seashells for hours and hours. Sometimes the ingenuity of children amuses and fascinates me... their ability to be entertained and to entertain!

(left to right) Candi, Poncho, Julissa, Aaron, and Diego pose with more sand art... :)

The house we stayed in had framed photography from the same artist on all the walls. Unfortunately for me (a perpetual picture-straightener), almost every single frame was crooked. However, after some rearranging I was able to sleep at night... ;)

The mural (above, left) was also part of the decor. (Above, right) Jenna and her three kids walking down the beach at dusk.

The older kids did a great job of watching over Candi... and taking her for "walks" to collect seashells. Above, Candi and Poncho made countless journeys back and forth along this stretch of sand to bring me their discovered treasures...

The "shower" at the base of the steps leading out to the sand got quite a bit of use... and provided a lot of extra entertainment for the kids! For some reason, they felt like they needed to stand above while others were showering and drop things on top of them... like dead bugs... :)

And speaking of dead bugs... or live ones, in this case... there were (not joking) more than 25 cockroaches that ran out of our downstairs shower drain... all my kids were afraid to go into the bathroom by themselves... lol. Candi couldn't remember the word for "cockroach," so she would come running to tell me there was a "spider" every single time... lol.

(Left) Poncho, Diego, and Aaron brave the waves with the inflatable "boat"... this quickly became the favorite beach toy! (Right) The first afternoon, we apparently went into the water at prime jellyfish time... Jazany got stung quite badly, and the rest of us also experienced the "joys" of jellyfish stings, though not as severely.

So... we were careful to keep out of the water at "prime" jellyfish time, from then on. A lady came over and helped with Jazany; she told us about the main times when jellyfish come out... and guess what she poured on the sting? Windex... that's right... Windex.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding, nada... lol.

So... all in all, it was a great time. Tiring... but a lot fun, and worth it for the memories we will have... :)