Later we ventured into Rockport where we did a little shopping and were treated by Mario and Rory to ice cream.

Jeanine braved the chilly water and then relaxed on the beach with a book.

Maya demonstrates her water tossing accuracy and total lack of fear.

Think ice cubes.

The boys also spent quite a bit of time on the move. The threat of being splashed carried serious weight in light of the frigid water temperature.

Maya spent most of the day running in and out of the water, back and forth to get sand, and chasing after her larger cousins.

Rachel worked relentlessly on sand construction projects.

Mario, Rory, and Rachel were the only ones to eventually brave the icy waters to reach this platform in the middle of the cove.

A nice view from the beach. I particularly enjoyed this stone outlook, which was perfectly situated on a stone jetty.

Rory sporting a post immersion hairdo.

To say the water was cold would be a huge understatement. Very brief incursions were the norm. Fortunately, the sun was warm, and thawing took only a matter of minutes.

After all four boys had cut themselves on one sharp rock or another, we decided it might be wise to rejoin the girls. This beach had an extremely shallow pitch and the low and high tide marks were separated by more than 150 feet.

The abundance of life, not to mention color, in these little pools was amazing.

Mario remains engrossed in the tide pool after the other boys move on.