Blinding people at the beach

As promised, I spent yesterday afternoon at the beach-and it was gorgeous. Warm weather (even if it was a bit cloudy sometimes), warm water, and good company made for a very enjoyable day.  While playing in the water I kept stepping on something that was a fairly odd shape-and when I picked one up it turned out to be a live sand dollar! (or a similar animal at least) They were everywhere, but I didn't see a single dead on on the beach.



There were, however, heaps of whole shells everywhere, which must be common here because I was the only one who seemed impressed.







I was also educated about the sea-life; apparently what I've always called a "clam" is really a scallop, and clams are something else. We also found a mussel and oyster shell. This variety can be seen below, the large shell is the mussel, the top left is a clam, the top right is an oyster, and the ones in the middle are scallops (I think). I'm not really sure what the bottom right is, but it was pretty.

In the evening I went for a walk in a rainstorm to get some take away Chinese food, then I had a quiet evening home.

Today, which is Sunday (and Valentines day) here, I started the day at church, then Susan and I went to Robbie and Christine's for lunch. I also nearly died of excitement when I saw a hedgehot cross the road. (I want one so much, it was adorable!) We were joined by about 7 or 8 other people, in addition to the 6 in Robbie's family, which apparently is a normal Sunday occurrence. We had a tasty meal, then I played some card games with Katrina and one of her friends, and Susan and I headed home. I came into my room to pack (I move into my own place tomorrow), and was interrupted by a long Skype conversation with Joy, who was also joined by Kenz, Bethany, Kristina, Tanya, and Rebecca. Now Susan is fixing some dinner, so I better get going!

I'm excited to move in tomorrow, but I'm not sure when I'll have internet set up there-so don't get upset if I'm not in contact for a few days. (That is primarily directed to my mom and dad)