(Drippy) Castles Made of Sand

Today's Wonder of the World is...Sand Castles!
The drippy kind!

I had never thought of making drip castles until I watched my dear hubby make dozens of them on our vacation.

Usually he makes more conventional castles with the boys.
Big ones.

Don't you love our high tech sand castle building implements?

But with Todd's drip castles, all you need is fingers! See?

He made dozens of drip castles last week. Children we didn't even know would wander up and join in.

I love those drip castles. They look very avant garde to me.

And they make me remember this.

Do you recognize it?
Here. Look at a view from farther away.

It's La Sagrada Familia, the cathedral in Barcelona Spain. La Sagrada Familia is definitely a World Wonder. We visited it back in 2002 when we lived in France. The kids thought it looked like a giant sand castle and I have to agree. It was stunning from far away, and even more beautiful close up.

They started building it in 1882 and they're still working on it. It was designed by Antoni Gaudi, who worked on it for forty years and dedicated his last 15 years solely to its construction. I love what he said about why it was taking so long. "My client is not in a hurry." How about him?!

Barcelona is full of Gaudi's work. I'll have to show you more of his wonders in another post.
(Ever wonder where the wordy gaudy comes from? It's from him! Gaudi=gaudy! He's definitely over the top, but in an amazingly creative way!)

Here is Sam playing at a park right across the street. With all the construction work going on, touring it was a little tricky with a toddler. Todd took the boys to the park while Sarah and I walked around inside.

People seem to either hate the design or love it. I find it very inspiring.

Plus it makes me think of the ocean. The sand and the waves always bring me closer to the divine. (Unless I'm trying to swim away from jellyfish!)

So there you go, another Wonder of the World: drip castles and a sand castle cathedral!

Now, a little housekeeping. Recently I was tagged by two lovely friends, Stitchinbythelake, and The Stone Rabbit. (And I wasn't even running!) Each of these ladies has a really fun blog--you must go see for yourself! I'm a little shy to fully join in the game, but I'll be a sport and give you the five random facts about me. (As if you need to know more useless information about me!)

So here goes...
Five random things about me...
1. I always drive stick shift in my dreams but I can't seem to do it in real life.

2. I have the bizarre capability to drink extremely hot liquids. I can also bend my fingers back in a witch-y kind of way.

3. When I was little I used to puff up my cheeks every night in hopes of getting rid of my dimples.

4. I once worked in an AIDS research lab but part of my job involved killing bunny rabbits. I cried every night until I quit.

5. When I was in 2nd grade I used to pray every night (while puffing up my cheeks?) that God would make me need glasses because I thought it would make me look smart. In third grade I got glasses and now I can't even see the big E on the eye chart.

So yey! Now you know even more useless stuff about me!

Also, I was recently bestowed a fabulous prize by my friend Barb at The French Elements and Denise at Couture de Papier. That just makes my day! Thank you ladies! You're so sweet!
Their blogs are really cool. Click on their sites and see what I mean!

Have a Wonder-full Thursday y'all!
Love, Becky

And thanks to kefi2927 for the close-up flickr picture of the cathedral, and to magic eye for the far away view. Great pics!