First beach trip of the year: Crane Beach

I knew the weather was going to be really nice this week so I wanted to make sure we got to the beach.  I called Melanie to see if she and Alice wanted to join us.  They live in Ipswich where Crane beach is (I think it's around $25 to park there if you're not an Ipswich resident or a member of the Trustees of the Reservation).  Since it is before Memorial day the rate was only $7.  I figured it was the only time we'd get to go there this year so that's where we went.  On the way up we stopped at Russell Orchard and saw ducks, chickens, bunnies, horses, goats and even played in a little playground area they have.  We were waiting for Alice to wake up from her nap at home so they could join us.  We eventually made our way to the beach.  I carried all of the gear while M&J whined because I wasn't carrying them.  It's a fairly long walk through the dunes so I was wiped by the time we got to the beach.

Right away I attempted to get their annual name in the sand photos.  I think I said last year that this year would be easier but I was wrong.  Maybe next year.

I saw a sand dollar so I was trying to take photos of it.  All of a sudden a hand came into the frame and I caught Jackson stealing it!

Jackson's and my feet.

Smiling at an airplane

Maddie just wandered around holding as many toys as she could

After a while we went for a walk down the beach.  It was so cute how they just followed me.  Jackson did want to hold my hand though which just melted my heart.

On our walk we found a perfect tide pool to play in.  I sat there for an entire hour while they ran and splashed and threw mud.  They had such a fun time.  You can see Crane castle in the background.  The movie Flowers in the Attic was filmed there and when I was in high school I went to a prom there.

While we were playing here Melanie called to say that Alice had finally woken up but it was too late for them to join us because Melanie had to go to work.