Looking for perfect rocks

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No, not diamonds - perfect beach rocks! Beautifully rounded, polished smooth. How is it that I find myself on the beach on a cold winter day looking for rocks? It all started when I decided to use a very lovely wedding gift that was intended for bread (and never used for such) as a rock display on my dresser. "But why Momma, why, why, why are you putting rocks there?", asks my son. So I explain to him - they are pretty, they look nice and most important of all, they remind me of all the happy times I've had at the beach with him looking for them. "They are happy memories?" Yes, happy memories.
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Well, don't you know, the very next day it actually warms up to about... 7C (45F) which is really feeling tropical considering we've had -11C (12F) during the days lately, dropping all the way down into the -20's at night. And yes, our pipes froze - including the septic line, but everything is all fixed now, phew. Anyway, back to my story - the tropical part - the 7C day. Nice day means outdoor play time. I ask Little Boy what he wants to do. He wants to go to the beach and look for more rocks.
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Here is a photo of our favorite rock picking beach, not to be confused with another beach that is more sandy where we look for sea glass and not to be confused with another beach where we like to find periwinkles. Each beach is a favorite for its very own special reason. At this beach we arrive way over where the trees are and walk the entire length to where I took this photo.
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So, we put on our warm winter clothes, pack the thermos of hot chocolate, unearth the beach pail from the summer gear (to carry the rocks once we find them), find a suitable bag for Elmo to come along in - Little Boy is ever faithful to Elmo and don't you know, Elmo would not be happy at home all by himself missing out on the fun. And, no - we can't just put Elmo in the pail because some rocks are bound to be wet and we don't want to have to w-a-s-h Elmo's blanket. Oh, and EXTRA mittens in Momma's pockets (along with tissues) because we all just know that at least 1 pair is going to get wet, right? Alrighty then, we are off! Don't you love the walking stick?
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We walk to the beach through the woods, all the way along the beach carefully selecting our rocks as we go -we have to be picky because Momma will only carry 1/2 a pail - these little rocks get HEAVY as you walk along. Little Boy wanted me to be sure to tell you all that he also found a little piece of sea glass this time around! We go down to the boat ramp where we sit and drink our hot chocolate and then home along the road. Walking across the rocks is sometimes tricky so we tend to do the "loop" instead of going back the way we came. Here are some photos of Little boy picking his way along the easier rocks headed down to the water - at the section of larger rocks I hold his hand as they tend to roll a bit when you step on them.



















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If you are looking for us - we are out collecting more happy memories!