Tuesday morning, Lori, Matthew and I got our families ready and headed out again for the beach. God blessed us with beautiful weather and with Oak Island being primarily a privately owned island (no high-rise hotels in sight!), the beach was never crowded at all. After returning to the house for the kids' afternoon nap, we all got ready and went to dinner at a great seafood buffet restaurant.
My family under the cabana.
Hannah enjoyed "swimming" in the ocean. Too cute!
Hannah and Philip enjoyed their meals together at this small table. Grandma Mary had gotten this made for Mollie and Paul as small children and it was so thoughtful for Elise to bring it for our little ones.
Tuesday night, the two of them began acting SO silly together and had all of us adults just rolling with laughter.Wednesday was Lori's last day at the beach so instead of getting sandy on the beach, we all drove up the road a bit (actually cutting an hour off Lori's drive time home) to tour the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial. It was a fun excursion but just a little tiring especially since Lori had Madeline and I had Braewyn strapped to our chests in baby carriers. Those steep ladders/stairs are a bit more tricky to maneuover with infants in tow. Philip however thought this was the BEST playground he had ever encountered. Half-way through, Grandma, Elise, Arden, Lori, Kelly, Hannah and Madeline decided to go back to the snack shop area, but I followed Matthew, Paul and Philip who just kept trudging forward. I thought we would meet back up with the rest of them in just a few minutes, but instead I felt like I would be in the bowels of this ship forever and never see Braewyn again (Elise was holding her for us!). Matthew says we were in there for only 30 minutes but all the twists and turns made it feel much longer to me. I do feel a renewed appreciation for our military men and women who have served on such battleships. I was there for about two hours and cannot imagine living in those quarters for months at a time.
Philip and Paul are in the bottom right both wearing blue shirts.
Philip loves to pretend to drive anything with a wheel.
"Look at me! I climbed up all by myself." I told Kelly that people probably thought she and Paul were Philip's parents the way they helped him through the boat. Thanks guys!
After returning to the house, Matthew and Philip walked out onto the dock. Throughout the week, Philip enjoyed spotting the boats and jet skis going down the Intercoastal Waterway.
Here's the view from our back porch. If we lived here, I would definitely want to own a jet ski.
Thursday morning, Matthew and I headed to the beach with our kids for the last time. Paul, Kelly and Arden joined us for a little while after lunch. It was such a nice time. I forgot to mention Philip's priceless comment about the beach which he said on Monday. Philip: "Mommy, I want to blow bubbles in the water."
Me: "Honey, I don't think you will want to. The water is kind of yucky. There is salt in it."
Philip: "Mommy, there's salt in it? Is there pepper in it too?"
Matthew and I were blessed to have a date night on Thursday evening. Grandma, Elise, Arden, Paul and Kelly kept the kids while Matthew and I drove to the neighboring town of Southport. We found a really picturesque restaurant called Fishy Fishy Cafe. Here I am while we were waiting for our table.
As you can see our food was wonderful. It was a really nice time to be alone with Matthew just being tourists without having to chase a toddler or comfort a fussy infant. We stopped at a local gift shop to buy Philip an Oak Island t-shirt before returning to the house.
Friday consisted of packing and cleaning the house. Renting a house is definitely my new favorite way to vacation at the beach. Cooking our own meals during the week made it much more affordable and everything just seemed more relaxed with having the space to just hang out. However, we were all ready to go home. I love looking back at Philip while he watches movies in the car. It's a chance to see my always-on-the-go toddler looking quite peaceful.
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