Body Surfing Ba-bee! Oh yeah!

Well, there are probably a couple of categories of people that read my blog. At least as far as "beach" posts are concerned. Those who are genuinely interested in the details of our most recent beach day, who want to see each and every picture I can possibly post (Hi Dad!). And then those who roll their eyes ("Nice eye roll," as we say in our house) and think, I can't be-LIEVE she's posting about that AGAIN! So, for those in the second category:

We went to the beach again yesterday. THE END. There's the pulp.

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Now, for those of you who want the juice of the story...

First off, the two hour drive was lovely. We've had a very wet summer and the wildflowers that grow by the highway are in full bloom. A friend of mine once labeled them, "lush weeds." I've enjoyed them ever since, having come from the desert.

We went to a highly recommended place called Duck Lake State Park. This is an inland lake which deepens rather quickly, but also has a channel that runs out to Lake Michigan surrounded by small dunes. The water runs under a bridge and out to the big lake. I made a mistake in my last beach post by calling a SKIM board a boogie board. There's a big difference. Skim boards are used in shallow, calm water. The rider skims the board on the surface of the water and then runs to catch up with it. Once there, s/he jumps on the board quickly and rides. Elijah is enamored with these boards and is saving his money.

Duck lake in background, channel in foreground

Sariah found that there was a current in the Duck Lake channel and went for a ride.

But, here is what we found on the boardwalk:


The story I heard is that a State Park worker was in the water and fell in a sink hole. I heard that if he hadn't known what to do, he might have died. It went up to his arm pits. Needless to say, we weren't allowed over there, nor would we have wanted to go.

I asked a local lady where she would recommend we go. She suggested Sylvan Beach, just north of where we were. And as a bonus we got to see lots of boats and a light house on the channel from North Lake into Lake Michigan.

Sylvan Beach

The waves were big and so much fun. If I could go there everyday to do my exercise, body surfing would definitely be my exercise of choice.




Sariah made stone soup:


Sariah also made the discovery of a smooth wedge-shaped piece of wood. When thrown correctly, it swims through the water like a fish. It can also be used as a baseball bat! The kids each found their own sticks and played at it for a long time. We even enjoyed a game of "catch" with the sticks.

Sariah and her "baseball bat."

Nathan throwing the "fish."

Elijah throwing his stick

Brigham took an afternoon respite and I sat back myself and listened to the surf and watched the gulls.

We decided to stay for the sunset, which was beautiful. I held my breath trying to find my way back to the highway in the dark and we arrived home after mid-night. What a day!

The sun set into the clouds rather than the water!

P.S. Sariah couldn't believe we wouldn't be stopping for the promised ice cream at 10:30 at night! I guess that's on the agenda for today!