Beach fun!

A few weeks ago we finally got to the beach! I went with my mom, sister, Grady, Libby, Cate and Drew. We stayed in a townhouse at Pine Knoll Shores in Atlantic Beach, NC. Every summer growing up we stayed in one of these townhomes for a week with another family. Now, this is a 2 bedroom, 1 full bath, 1 half bath townhome so it was always tight, yet cozy. It wasn't any different this time either! I stayed with Cate and Drew in one bedroom, while Beth, Grady and Libby stayed in the other. My mom slept on the pull out couch downstairs. I became really good at changing diapers in the complete darkness so not to wake Cate when Drew woke up! We really had a great time and the weather was great.

I bought this Kids Sun Dome for Drew to stay in on the beach. I let him take a morning nap on the beach...what a life, huh?


My mom is the queen of building sandcastles and enlisted help from Cate, Libby and Grady. Unfortunately, Cate was a bit of whiner the first 2 days on the beach. She was a bit afraid of the ocean which limited her ability to enjoy the sand. She warmed up to it, though, and would help decorate the sand castles with sea shells we collected.




Libby discovered the little sand crabs (not sure that is the proper name) that burrow into the sand at the water's edge. She is showing me one in the above picture but it isn't visible. I tried to entice Cate to the water's edge to find some for herself, but no dice.

What Cate did love was the pool. I bought her an inner tube float and she became so brave. She jumped off the edge into the water with her tube and swam around the pool in it. It was a nice break for me, too, not to have to hold onto her at all times.

One afternoon we went to the aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. It was really neat, but Cate didn't enjoy it because it was a little too dark for her (at least I think that is the reason). Here is a picture of everyone. Grady made a friend at the beach, Drew, who came with us...just in case you were wondering who the other little boy was.

One night we went out to eat, too, at the Sanitary Fish Market. Afterwards, we were walking along the boardwalk looking at the big fishing boats that were docked there. We noticed a big crowd gathering along one of the docks and so we went to see what everyone was looking at. Well, about 5-6 big fishermen were pulling a 6-7 foot bull shark out of the water that they had just caught!!! I don't have any pictures because my camera's batteries had died, but my sister took some good ones. Check out her blog, listed in my favorites (Hildebrands) to see pictures of that shark. Thankfully a local man was there who had his pet parrot on his shoulder which served as a great distraction for Cate and Libby who didn't care for the shark!!

Anyway, it was a great trip. I need a beach fix at least once a year and it was satisfied! From this beach, I drove to Georgetown, SC with Drew to have a reunion with my dear college friends. That was a great time as well.

So, I think I've caught up now! I'm looking forward to getting into more of a routine and schedule now that preschool has started.

Happy weekend!