Best week of the year

 So we all woke up early on Saturday and drove up to College Park to pick up Lily and Curtis from FSY. They both had a really great time and told us some stories as we drove to NC. Curtis said his counselor was super cool and he aspires to be like him and he really liked everyone in his company. Lily told us about some of the classes and they talked about the teachers and they both loved the food so the whole experience was very positive--hooray!

We drove a long 95 where we don't usually drive and it was so slow and that was annoying but we grabbed some breakfast sandwiches and didn't stop again until the grocery store on Emerald Isle. We got all of our food and showed up at our house five minutes before check in. We had a little trouble finding the key box but finally did and get everything in and put away and then we went to the beach for a few hours before coming home and having a late dinner. 

The house was older but it worked. It was just a half mile down the road from where I used to stay as a kid and so it all felt extremely nostalgic to me. There were three bedrooms in the main house where the kids stayed and then Josh and I had the apartment over the garage, which was very nice. It was so great to have our own bathroom and some privacy; certainly a first for a family vacation. The only annoying thing was one morning we forgot to take the key with us so we were locked out of the main house until Brandon woke up and unlocked the door for us; it would have been nice to have a better way to get in. Lily had a king bed and Curtis a queen and Emma and Brandon shared a room with doubles so everyone was in a bed bigger than what they are used to and it was fun. I wasn't a huge fan of the kitchen; it was a bit tight and therefore hard to work together. The house was so close to the beach but because the road curved a bit, it was the only one that didn't have direct beach access so we had to walk a bit to the public access, but when we got down there it was super quiet. One day Josh and I went for a walk and went half a mile before we ran into any other people. It was great to have so much space! 

I just love the beach. I love watching the waves and the birds, especially the pelicans when they dive in the water and the sandpipers as they run from the waves. I love swimming in the waves and sitting right where the water comes up on the sand and playing with the wet sand. I love watching my kids dive through the waves and boogie board. I enjoy taking walks with Josh along the beach. I love just closing my eyes and listening to the waves and smelling the salty sea air. I love the feel of the soft sand and the ocean breeze. It is so wonderful to be all together on the beach but everyone can do their own thing. I think it is the perfect family vacation. 

Sunday morning we went to sacrament meeting at the Morehead City ward and they just happened to be getting a new bishopric so that was kind of fun to crash such a special Sunday. Then we went back and as we got ready for the beach some rain came through but then it was fine the rest of the day. The weather app said it was going to rain all day but that was the only rain. We all got a bit sunburned that day though because we didn't bring the canopy in case we needed to make a quick exit. We stayed at the beach until almost 7pm and then went back, everyone showered and Josh grilled us hamburgers. We had an outdoor shower and that is where I showered all week; I LOVE me an outdoor shower after a day at the beach. 

 

 

 

 

Pretty much every day we slept in until about 9 or 9:30 and then made a nice breakfast. We had egg croissant sandwiches, pancakes, French toast and egg burritos and then pretty much just repeated that schedule again. Then we would sunscreen up and pack up food and drinks for the day and head to the beach. We stayed until 6 pm most days and sometimes until 7pm. The weather was great except Tuesday was really cloudy and rained a bit here and there but we would either just stay under the canopy or go in the water and it didn't matter if we were getting wet from the rain. It never stormed though so that was nice. Thursday and Friday were absolutely beautiful beach days though and the perfect sunny weather. 

 

 

Let's see we also went shopping one morning that it was supposed to be rainy; I think that was Monday. We got some beach toys because somehow a lot of ours have disappeared and then some shirts and I got a hat because I forgot to bring any. Thursday morning we went to Beaufort and went to the new bookstore and the general store and got our fudge. The rest of the time we were at the beach and it was great. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone got a long really well and was happy and there was great sibling bonding time. Emma and Brandon had fun sharing a room. The boys dug some big holes and would play baseball or catch and the girls went in the water a lot together and went for some walks. Lily and Brandon would swim together a lot and Emma read a lot and Curtis did a lot of boogie boarding and Josh did some paddle board surfing and we talked a lot. Curtis had fun flying his new kite. At night we would have dinner and then most nights we would play a game and then do scripture study, send Emma and Brandon to bed and then we would watch a show. One night after dinner we all watched Cars 3 and of course, every night we had ice cream or brownies and ice cream or ice cream cones. 

 

It was a really wonderful week and I'm so grateful we were able to go and have that special family time together. We packed up Saturday morning and then went down to the beach to take a few pictures and say goodbye and then we were off. We had a pretty easy drive home except for some traffic coming over the MD bridge and made it in time to drop Lily, Emma and Curtis off at the movie theater to see the new Spiderman movie.