Kure Beach: Day 3

On the third day, the morning was cloudy and rainy, so we decided to head to the nearby Fort Fisher Aquarium.

We had to hook the kids up to some cartoons so that we could all get ready and out the door in a timely fashion.

The aquarium was really fun, especially since Simon could be fully engaged. He's been coming along with us on outings like this since birth, but it's only now that his verbal skills are fully online and he seems to really know what's going on.

Simon loved watching the tortoises run around. I think turtles are Simon's spirit animal. (-:

Alice was afraid I would put her in the petting tank. In a book of hers, that I brought on the trip, a kid falls in the petting tank and comes out with an octopus on his head. Maybe that's why she was nervous.

After we had looked at all the sea creatures, we went to the outdoor area, that has a little playground for the kids.

We were lucky on our timing at the aquarium, because it wasn't too crowded when we were there, but as we were leaving, there was a giant line. We headed back to our condo for lunch and naps. Zac and I actually had an hour or so to sit on the deck and read books. We both marveled at the moment; we hadn't actually expected any time to relax on this trip.

Eventually all the kids woke up, and we played inside for bit, then had an early supper.

After supper, we headed back out to the beach for the last time. All weekend, we'd been giving the kids popsicles as they headed out the door. It was great way to give them a special treat and not have to worry about the mess, since they just ate them on the walk to the beach.

The last evening on the beach was beautiful. I was actually glad it was a cloudy, drizzly weekend, since I hate the summer sun.

This picture, below, is just to remember how Simon loved playing with the shells in the pot of this fake palm tree, but he kept dropping them on his toes.

Kure Beach: Day 2

First morning at the beach. Alice and Grayson welcomed the day full of energy, and enjoyed jumping on our king-sized bed.

Breakfast with all the kids. It was heartening to know that our kids weren't the only ones who had to be prodded to consume calories in the morning.

Eventually we were all suited up and headed to the beach. Alice and Grayson were in search of treasure, while Simon and I enjoyed the view.

Our kids didn't want much to do with the water, although Simon consented to being held while I stood in the waves.

It was windier on the second day and the surf was more intense.

Back to the condo for lunch, naps, and some playtime. Alice took a really long nap, probably because she was so sick, so Simon actually woke up before her. But this child is easy--just give him some wheels and he is happy.

For the afternoon, we suited up and headed to the pool that was in the parking lot between condos.

Alice played in the pool for a long time, but eventually got worn out and was quite droopy again.

After supper, we headed back to the beach. We didn't have direct access from our condo; we had to walk past one building to get to the beach access. But it was a short walk, and on the way back it was always useful to shake a bit of the sand off the kids.

It sure seemed like we took a lot of of stuff with us each time! But it was worth it to keep the kiddos occupied.

It was another beautiful evening in the sand, and Self 3 was having a great time!  Thank you selves 1-2 for doing the work to get us here!

Beach Trip: Day 1

Friday was beach day! We planned to leave for the beach around 11am, coordinating our drive time with Lindsey and Brent, so that the kids could nap in the car on the way there, rather than leaving early in the morning and arriving right at nap time.

Of course, both kids had come down with bad colds the day before, and Alice was especially droopy. Here I am feeding her applesauce laced with ibuprofin while she watches Daniel Tiger, a combination that finally managed to bring an end to her crying every two minutes.

By 11:30 we were finally on the road. Alice fell asleep almost immediately, and Simon was soon dozing, when Zac realized he needed a rest stop (because our other travel curse, in addition to the kids being sick, is that something is often wrong with Zac as well). When we pulled into a gas station, Simon came to, and started announcing, "Here we are! We're at the beach!" over and over again, causing Alice to wake up. So much for the nap.

Although the drive to the beach is only two and half hours long, we had to stop at another rest area. This one at least provided plenty of entertainment for the kids, as the trees had cicada shells on them. Alice gathered five in a baggie and brought them into the van with her. Both kids also dug in the dirt under the tree, "planting seeds" and got all muddy. It was great.

Simon eventually took a real nap, but Alice never did. Around 2:30pm , we finally arrived at the beach!

Our plan was to meet Grayson's family at the Carolina Beach boardwalk, and get donuts from the famous Britt's donut shop for the afternoon snack. This was a perfect plan.

Energized by the donuts and happy to be freed from their car seats, the kids ran around and went bonkers for quite some time.

After stopping at Food Lion for groceries and going to the rental office to pick up the keys, we finally headed down to Kure Beach and arrived at our beach front condo. The view was great!

We settled in a bit, had a quick supper of lasagna (that we'd made in advance) and headed down to the beach. I didn't bring my phone, so that part is completely undocumented. But it was a beautiful evening. The waves were really calm, so we were able to coax Alice and Simon into the water up to their knees, but that was all. They were both pretty wary of the waves. Grayson was much braver, or more ignorant of his mortality, and frolicked in the waves.

Around sunset, we headed back in, took baths, then had watermelon for a bedtime snack. The kids probably should have had another bath after that, but oh well.

The kids were supposed to all sleep in one room, but Grayson was the weak link and kept coming out of their room. Eventually, one of his parents just took him to their room until he fell asleep then transferred him back to the kids' room. All the kids woke up a couple of times that night for various reasons, so it was a bit of a rough start to the weekend.