While the kids and I have unofficially toured and picnic'd at several area parks to start off our summer, this weekend's trip to Lake Loramie beach marked our first check-off of our summer to-do list. And my what fun we had!! John allowed the kids to load up his pick-up truck with anything they wanted to bring for the day (that in itself was pure entertainment to watch them all scatter for essentials!) I threw together a simple picnic lunch and a cooler of drinks to last us, and soon we were heading off for the beach. It's a good thing there were twelve of us to help haul all of our things from the truck to the beach...oh my! The kids had packed buckets and baskets full of every kind of sand toys, beach balls, trucks and diggers, a couple (5, 6, 7?) beach chairs, goggles, swim towels, blankets, along with our picnic food and cooler...whew. We should have packed the wagon as well!
John and I found a table just a couple feet from the sand (and in the shade to boot) to drop all of our picnic essentials and towels. The beach chairs and everything else were spread out in the sand for nearly 4 hours! That's a record time for any one activity to hold the attention/interest of all 12 of us without complaints or whining. It was wonderful...building sand castles with moats, and rivers, digging for treasure, looking for shells (not so many) or other pretty stones (lots of those!), boys rolling their trucks across the sand and right out into the water, then back up the sand again. I think we could have stayed all day, except for a few of the younger ones who were reluctantly showing signs of needing a nap.
For you who've never been to Lake Loramie State park, it's a great clean little beach with lots of shade, picnic tables, even areas for grilling foods. The sand is clean, and apparently raked daily, the swimming area is roped off and at the deepest end was neck high for me. There are very nice restrooms, an outdoor "shower" for rinsing sand off your feet, and a very nice shaded playground. It's all maintained very well. Several times throughout our visit I saw volunteers from the campground nearby riding through on their golfcarts checking trash, etc. I highly recommend it for a day of fun if you're in the area!
