Digging holes and making a splash

It was a BEAUTIFUL day at the beach today and we took full advantage of being within walking distance of a nice, kid friendly spot to catch some rays.

Watermelon and Beach and Ryan?!?  Mal was in heaven

Mal's good buddy Ryan (and his mom and little brother) drove over to hit the beach with us this morning.  The fog has been burning off pretty late, so we have mostly been going to the beach in the afternoon, but this morning was great.  We headed down at around 10 and by the time we got settled, the fog had mostly burned off and the boys were off and running.  

Hoping to catch a break, we buried the boys.
They quickly escaped...

Mal and Ryan love to wrestle and rough house, so they immediately played a game called "push".  They basically pushed each other over into the sand.  They thought it was fantastic.  We did some digging, played catch, ate chips and watermelon and splashed in the water.  Mal also was buried in the sand for the first time.  It was a yucky mess to clean up later, but he loved being covered up and breaking out of the sand.  All the boys got in on the hole digging, and leg covering sand fun. 

"I like the water part the most," Mal declared

After a monster nap (3+ hours!), what did Mal want to do next???  Of course, go to the beach.  The rest of the house had spent the afternoon in the sun and had just come home, so Jake and Mal and I went alone while Auntie Sara watched the girls.  

Jake get's all itchy if he goes a day without digging

Jake and Mal dug more holes.  It is what they do.  Mal wanted to be buried again, and again and again and made a little friend who also went under the sand with him.  Why should it come to any surprise to me at all that Mal is perfectly happy to dig in the biggest sand box he has ever seen all day long?  I have a feeling we will be doing more of the same tomorrow.  I'm hoping it results in another 3 hour nap.