R.C. got home VERY late last night (actually Sunday morning). Since the boys had not caught a glimpse of him since Thursday we had to come up with something fun to do as a family. After lunch we headed to the boys new favorite park and then we made our way to the beach. It was chilly walking along the beach, but it was beautiful, as always. The boys enjoyed finding the biggest rocks they could lift and throwing them into the ocean. Maxwell was taunting the ocean waves by yelling, "come and get me", and then running to safety just before the water got to his shoes.

We usually fill our pockets with various types of shells, but today we found about a dozen "mermaid purses". These are the egg cases of the skates, sharks or rays, that have dried up and washed on shore. When they have washed up on shore they have turned to a black color, but have a really neat shape with tendrils coming off each of the 4 corners. A few were brought home so we could take a closer look at them.

We had one final "summer time" treat as we were heading home. A few miles from the beach is a GREAT ice cream stand where we had our (I assume to be) final ice cream cone of the season. The last time we stopped here we had ice cream dripping everywhere within 3 minutes of them handing us our cones. Today we opted to sit in the car with the heater going while we ate our cones. Good-bye summer!

Hello winter. We passed a Christmas tree farm along our drive today. I was shocked to see a dozen cars parked outside and people walking in the field of trees looking for the perfect one to take home. I was also shocked to find that there are 3, yes 3, radio stations who are now playing Christmas music nonstop. I am not too thrilled with all this, but the boys love Christmas music and R.C. felt the need to please them and let them listen to it. I must admit thought, that when the Mannheim Steamrollers came on I could not suppress my Christmas spirit any longer. I admitted to R.C. that I could not be upset when I hear that song, and he seemed pleased. Admitting this was a big step for me. I will not, I repeat WILL NOT, be purchasing a tree before Thanksgiving though!

As I sit here typing R.C. is whistling a Christmas tune. I guess it has finally entered our home. I have been beat.