Shade, sand and no surf

For some ironic reason, the main attraction in our backyard since we returned from the beach is the sand box. Nevermind that we were surrounded by one of the world's biggest sandboxes the entire time we were there -- and spent more than a few hours trying to vanquish said sand from our shoes, clothes and house. Sand, sand, sand for our whole vacation. Now we are home, and both girls have passed hour after hour sitting in our sand box playing with the exact same toys they played with at the beach, only with about one-billionth of the amount of sand.

They have also made a new discovery, which is much more understandably fun from my point of view. Peanut discovered what the girls are now calling "the tent" in our backyard bushes during a game of hide-and-seek. Leave it to clever Peanut to locate a parent-free private play place. It is the perfect little alcove, and the girls retreat there regularly (when not engrossed in the sand, of course) to sing, pretend and just generally hide out. You may be able to tell from the faked smiles that they were less-than-pleased to have me near "the tent," let alone photographing them in it.

Now I know what people mean when they say that fun is only as far away as your own backyard. What were we thinking going all the way to the beach?