The beach: Day 6

When we awoke on Friday morning at Ocean Isle, it was to the sound of rain. Not gentle rain; HEAVY rain. And we knew it was pretty much an all-day thing.

I suggested taking the kids to a movie, but no one else seemed to want to do that. They were all on board with just hanging out in the house. All day. All 26 of us.

So there was some reading.

There were some back rubs.

And a subset of really ambitious people who decided that one day was PLENTY of time to put together a 1,000-piece puzzle.

At the top of the stairs, several of the boys set up camp with art supplies and colored some complex masterpieces.

And the big girls helped Amelia practice walking up and down the stairs.

I was ever-so-grateful, because at home when I do it, it kills my back.

The girls, on the other hand, were quite willing to keep going for hours, it seemed.

AND AMELIA WAS QUITE WILLING TO LET THEM.

Some of the men enjoyed the storm from the comfort of the covered porch ...

Relaxing while watching the lightning flash and listening to the thunder roll.

Meanwhile, the puzzle.

The kids played exceptionally well together that day, all cooped up together inside.

Three years ago when we'd have a rainy day, it was a lot tougher. This year, it wasn't that bad. (See? Gerry looks like he wouldn't rather be anywhere else. He's having the time of his life.)

 Even my boys managed to get along all day. Love.

After supper, the rain had finally moved on, and I was desperate to get outside. I also really wanted the boys to get a LITTLE time on the beach the last night -- so we took a mile-long walk.

Not far from the house, we came upon some pretty drawings in the sand.

When we got to the one above, Jake asked, "WHAT'S THAT? CORN?" And Nathaniel said, "No, maybe a cactus." And then Jake said, "OR A BANANA."

Then Tiffany said, "Or a CROSS."

Yeah, I was gonna save that for the next Slices of Life, but I'm throwing you a bone since you've made it through all these beach posts.

I'm so glad we took this walk, because it ended up being one of my favorite hours of the week.

Although the roar of the ocean was loud and the clouds still darkened the sky, it felt so peaceful. There were just a few people out walking, but otherwise the coast was ours. Jake explored the sand crab holes ...

And we even saw several!

We came across a lone fisherman ...

And then we continued on down the beach, the only people in sight.

After it got fully dark, we ran across a dead horseshoe crab that had washed up on the beach.

I'd never seen one up close before. Or SMELLED one up close before. I can tell you with full confidence that you can go to your grave without ever smelling a three-days-dead horseshoe crab and be 100 percent comfortable with it. Truly. You can skip that particular smell.

When we got back to the house around 9:30, the puzzle was complete! Just kidding. It wasn't.

BUT. After another hour and a half or so of hard work, it was.

I say "complete," but it was actually missing four pieces in the end. But they finished it with all the pieces that were AVAILABLE. Quite an accomplishment for one day!

With that, we were at the end of Beach Week 2013. We were sad to see it draw to a close and were already talking about next year.

Oh, and I suppose this isn't QUITE the end of beach posts ... I have one little bonus post coming up, hopefully tomorrow. It will feature Amelia, Amelia of Amelia-Who-Hated-The-Beach fame.

So yeah, it's something to look forward to.