Sandcastles and Storms

Dan slept great last night with little pain. He woke up with less soreness than he expected and is able to walk pretty well! It's swollen, but hopefully will heal within a couple of weeks.

Steph, Eric and I took a long walk this morning and bumped into friends along the path. Such a small world to see friends from Utah here in Florida.

This afternoon we had sandcastle lessons -- a bucket list item for me -- and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND (per my TripAdvisor review 😜). We all loved it!

Important sandcastle building tips: 

1) The smallest and lightest sand flecks are at the back of the beach -- the wind blows them there. The biggest are closer to the water. The smaller the better, so choose a good interim spot to build where you can get smaller sand, but don't have to haul water too far.

2) Create a sturdy foundation. Instead of digging a hole, move around your sandcastle building site and shovel the top of the sand to create a large mountain. Add water and walk on top to make it firm.

3) 5 gallon buckets with the bottoms cut out make great forms.

4) Shovel, water, mix, tap. Shovel six inches of sand. Add water to about 2 inches above. Use your hands to mix the two. Tap the outside of the form to release all the air bubbles. Repeat. When you get to a couple inches from the top, add wet sand, then tap. When the water settles, the sand inside the form turns hard like cement. Amazing. Then you can remove the form.

5) Small cuts with small tools carves the sand away to make shapes rather than large digs.

Our creation caught the attention of every child and family from all around. (And it was pretty sad to leave it behind when it was time to go home and get ready for dinner!)

It was hot, hot, hot today and by the time our lesson was over, we were ready to jump in the freezing cold water. Felt so refreshing. The waves were pretty constant though. Seemed like all of Rosemary were out today enjoying the beach and water. 

Tonight the adults rode bikes to dinner at George's in Alys Beach and the kids were thrilled to stay behind and ride bikes to Barbacoa. We had a lovely dinner and didn't mind sitting on the grass out front until our table was ready. 

But the minute we finished eating and walked out the front door, it began to downpour. We considered waiting it out, but after 15 minutes realized it wasn't letting up. No ubers were available. We considered having Nick bring the car. We could have all ridden home in the rain, but it would have ruined mine and Stephanie's nice dinner clothes. Then Dan decided he could just ride home and get the car. Eric was happy to go with him. They took off their shirts to spare them from the mudsplash and before we knew it they were back with the car. 

They'd changed into bathing suits and exercise shirts, had us take the car home and they made the bike trip a second time with the other two bikes. We actually made it home about the same time! Heros!

Game night tonight was Cover Your Assets, Gnoming Around and Trivial Pursuit. With a VERY un-pinterest-like charcuterie board. But we weren't trying to be fancy, just enjoying playing games and hunkering down inside while the storm raged outside. 

When the rain finally stopped, Will, Nick and Millie went to the beach to see if there was anything left of our sandcastle. Just a heap of sand. And quite possibly some children/teens had fun jumping into before the rain got to it. I liked knowing that the rain had destroyed it anyway so we weren't disappointed by it getting crushed by humans.