south padre end-of-summer trip

Most of the picture credit goes to Sarah, and of course also to the apocalyptic clouds on our second morning at the beach. We had a great couple of days with family -- a nice break from this extremely stressful season of life. We took some deep breaths and now we're back home, getting ready for Jane's birthday tomorrow and school starting next Monday. And at some point I'll need to clean the sand out of the car... 

laguna madre

Jane was in a float and she held onto the rope on Chase's kayak. Nearly as thrilling as water skiing. 

Chase asked Wren to put her own sunscreen on. 

Benjamin suffered the indignities of sunscreen and a lifejacket with less grace than his sisters. This photo should probably be captioned "J'accuse!"

Cousins staying up late and chatting on the balcony in their PJs. 

Wren says this was her favorite part of going to the beach -- swimming in the bay with all her cousins.