Sights of Summer

Like this type but am unclear about the "sun" object which appears a bit flat and kind of looks like a plate. Perhaps I should never make that connection because it does have the word "summer" right in front of it! I feel that the sand background is actually holding this piece together and that it might be a bit "flat" without it, but of course it really can't be a part of the logo as it's used now. Maybe there's some other treatment that cold bring the sand into play in a better way? Perhaps (and this may be awful), perhaps as a partial fill in the type? Half sand, half blue. Or maybe ditch the sand altogether and add some depth to the sun element to make it pop a bit more...