Ascension Day

Yesterday was the 40th day after Easter. The day that Jesus departed
this earth and gave his last words to us...
The rest of the world goes about their business on this day, but somehow
the 'plain people' have grasped at this one more opportunity for a
holiday. Maybe it gives the busy farmers a chance to take a day off in
the midst of the busy planting season...since they probably won't get a
day off for Memorial Day...Whatever the reason- our Mennonite schools
were closed and most of the Mennonite business in this area were closed
as well. This gives us the chance to have a family vacation quickly
before the crowds descend on Lancaster county for the summer.

We chose to make a quick run to the beach. Two of our children have
never seen the waves of the Atlantic and after our experience at Blue
Marsh last summer, I was not sure what would happen.

It was a glorious day! It was worth the aggravation of sand in
EVERYTHING (including the insides of prosthetic feet) to simply watch
Faith dart around on the sand like a sandpiper. She would stand ready on
the sand, daring the waves to get her toes and then run just fast enough
to only get the foam on her toes.

The water was cold and the shells

almost non-existent (actually that is a sand flea-a source of much amusement)
but there were still some very wet pant legs and bags of broken shell treasures to bring home.

I truly hope that none of the more widely traveled class mates won't
roll on the floor laughing over the treasures that went to school this
morning. I didn't have the heart to tell them that people who go to
Florida every year have probably left similar shells on the beach as
'trash' while searching for the perfect pink shell with no missing corners.

The bigger boys even enjoyed the break...Ezekiel dug a hole to sit in

and Ben wrote his research paper on the lap top during the drive.

We saw a group (pod?) of dolphins which of course led to concerned
questions about killer whales. (if you squint you can see the fin)

We ended with supper at the 'best restaurant' in town...the one with a big M in the name...ah well this too shall pass.