Another year, another beach sand sculpture!

We recently returned from our annual visit to Maine.  My son and his girlfriend joined us for the weekend, and helped build the annual beach sand sculpture!  We are not sophisticated sand sculptors; we bring a couple of shovels and try to do something large and silly.  That's it!

 Last year, my son wasn't feeling well, and without his help, the project was a big flop.  We needed to redeem ourselves this year!  So we built this rather large silly fish named Gladys.  As you can see in the photo below, she had a barrier moat surrounding her, which protected her from the incoming tide.

My son, his girlfriend, and my husband did all the digging, while I took a walk on the beach (and found kelp for her lips!).  Then, when the pile of sand was big enough, I began the structure.  My son and girlfriend helped a lot at this point, too,especially in shaping they eyes and tail, and cleaning the area around her.  It is definitely a collaborative effort each year! 

 When we left the beach, some kids were climbing on it.  I was sure between the kids and the tide, there would be nothing left the next day.  We did return the next day, and the moat was gone, the logs had moved, but there was still a large pile of sand, where kids played throughout the day!!

I have other photos from the trip to Maine I'd love to share, but I'll save them for another post!  If you'd like to see some prior beach sculptures, check out these posts from 2014, from 2013, from 2012, and from 2011.   And here we are, below, the whole low-tech beach sculpture team!