ten on tuesday (the what you can do at the beach on your husband's birthday edition)

1. You start off by picking a fairly long beach. Or the world's longest beach if you want. This one is appropriately called Long Beach. (I'm not making this up.)

2. You hold the camera just-so so you can take fun little self-portraits of your husband giving you a big bear hug (all the while listening to the waves crash onto the shore, of course).

3. You smile while you watch the birthday boy display his inner cowboy. And he's got it going on, I mean, the lean back, the thumbs through the belt loops, the tough boy look. All he's missing are the hat and the boots, which at this point, were at home in the closet.

4. You tell him to drop a quarter in the vibrating love chair to see what his love quotient is. Then you nod approvingly when the light lands on loveable, but secretly wish that it had landed on sexy.

5. You (very much like a dork) pretend to listen to the ocean in a big ol' shell. A shell that probably came from China because you'd never find anything like that on the Washington coast.

6. Then you realize you're not the only dork as you watch the birthday boy blowing a trumpet. . .???

7. Of course, you can't miss the photo op at the world's largest frying pan. He brings home the bacon, I fry him up in a pan. . .

8. You're not going to believe it, but the frying pan is right next door to the Scrapaccino store. Did you get that? Scrap-accino. Where not only can you stock up on scrapbooking supplies, you can also buy a mocha, get a tan, and enjoy a piece of fudge.

9. Then, just off the boardwalk, the birthday buoy. (I can't believe he lets me take these just so I can write a crazy blog, but he does.)

10. You look for whales and spot one. Or at least the bones of one. It beached in 2000, got buried to avoid the nasty smell of decomposition, and was unburied and put back together in 2002. Unfortunately, no live whales were spotted on this particular beach trip.