Madiera Beach, Florida

Jillian's first time at a real beach on the ocean...yeah, it's the gulf side, but Brooks insists. It was a very nice day, well worth the day waiting for the rain and storms to clear. Our hotel/condo was just across the street from the beach. Very nice!

Grampa takes Jill out for her first wade in salt water.

Nana holds a sleeping Elliott.

Our first time at an ocean beach together. This is better than the dunes (except our friends aren't here to enjoy it with us--glad to have some family with us, though!!!)

Bathing beauty :)

Elliott gets his first salt water experience, too, while Jim gets some sunblock from Mom. :)

You can tell he LOVES it! ;)

Aww...my family at the beach! A dream come true!!!

Jillian gets more confident...

...and Elliott's not so sure. But Daddy's got him!

Isn't it beautiful water? The sand was great, too. Jillian found lots of shells, which came home.

The funniest part of the beach were the clams! I videoed them being unearthed by the waves, then immediately digging themselves back into the sand for refuge from the birds. That was a first for me. Overall, a great experience. I hope Brooks doesn't think I'm done with beaches yet. He seemed to like it a lot, too. :)