Carolina Beach

When I went to Richmond to visit Lesley, Jason, and Alder a few months ago we talked about how fun it would be to do a vacation together with both of our families. We were determined to make it work. Lesley and I searched hotels, campgrounds, and condos and started to think it might be too complicated and expensive. But, Daniel found a great website with a house that looked perfect. It was cheap, close to beach and had enough space. We were all expecting the worst since it sounded so good:) But thank goodness it was actually very nice. So we booked it for the long weekend.



The first full day we were there was a little rainy so we went to the Aquarium. It was not that great but gave us all something fun to do together. We spent as much time as we could at the beach. We built sand castles and villages (I should say the guys and little girls did all the digging), played in the surf, and took a few walks down the beach. The waves were really rough and the kids had a hard time playing in it but it was perfect for us big kids. The house had some boogie boards and we all took turns using them. The girls rode on Daniel's back a few times too and I got that on video. (see below)

Being around Lesley and Jason is like being around walking nature encyclopedias. They are naturalists. They love and know so much about insects, plants, birds and wildlife. I felt like a sponge just soaking up all the information as we talked with them and asked them questions about seagulls, bagworms, butterflies, and all sorts of other creatures and animals. They were so great with the girls and Jason brought a special craft for them to do. This was their first attempt at screen printing. I hope to get some supplies and do this again. It was really cool.





The girls loved playing peek-a-boo with Alder. They were like his own personal smiling girls. Whenever there was a free moment the girls would be talking and playing with him.


We brought all our own food and cooked all our own meals. It was so nice to be around another family that had the same values when it comes to food. We shared healthy meals and snacks all working together to cook and clean.

I am so glad we made this trip work. It was hard to justify taking a vacation to the beach with friends. We all have family that we want to be with at every available "time off" and on grad school salary it's hard to afford any trip:) But some things are just worth the effort and this was one of those things. We hope to make this an annual event!

Sorry for this next photo dump (as Jason calls it) but I just couldn't resist. We just had so much fun! Ellen dancing on the shore, Arianna playing in the sand. . . they are best friends and I am so thankful that they play together so well. Did I mention that I spent most of the beach time sitting in my chair just watching them play?!