And more sand

Sand is not Dada's element, so I'm always grateful when he wants to join us at the beach or in the dunes. Above was an early morning excursion and we hopped up onto a lifeguard chair for this photo. I was indeed in my compression sleeve though you can't tell. I'm not in my rash guard because it was early morning sun, but I had it with me in my beach bag, fret not.

This year we made it to Jockey's Ridge. We don't always, but this year we convinced Dada to join us and we huffed our way up and down the dunes that always seem like they'll end just over the horizon... or maybe now... or in another minute... or...

Gladys turned over 30,000 miles on our trip. You go, girl!

I think these photos were the night we got to the beach. Thing One and I had to go say hi to the ocean immediately- there's no waiting around for the next morning!

 

Random beach snippet snaps

Can you guess whose sandy feet are whose?

I wonder if the crab is mad that his sun was blocked or if he was glad for a second of shade.

Fairly early morning sun on a glass ocean.

Proof of a busy beach! Check out how many different species used the same space.

The solo Thing Two beach sighting. We beach very differently!

Thing Three, with waves that were just warming up. He did get some fun ones before we left!

And Duck Donuts, because we can't beach without them. Blueberry lemon, lemon coconut, chocolate peanut butter, maple bacon, glazed, sprinkles, and cookies & cream. Of all summers to not be running, haha...

 

More beach pix

Our beach week featured a lot of calm, glassy ocean days and few clouds. Definitely my preference of ocean. Thing Three was a little grumpy that there weren't huge waves to smash into, but this was a good year for me to be calm and serene and slow. I kept my promises to my radiation doctor and have the ridiculous tan lines to prove it, but enjoyed the beach nevertheless. How could I not?!

I always forget how BRIGHT it is at the beach!

Small child sized footprint beside Thing One's. I like investigating the sand and thinking about how many critters have left their marks.

If anybody needs a road trippin' partner, I highly recommend Thing One. There's lots of singing, laughing, good talks, snacks, and carrying on whilst being an excellent, cautious driver. So proud of this kid!

 

Vacation teaser

Here's a teaser for a future vacation post. Above is this year's version of Vacation in a Bowl. This summer we skipped the angel food cake and went straight to Extreme Chocolate Moose Tracks with strawberries. Delish!

Below is one of the sunrises some of us made it to. Why is it easier to get up for a beach sunrise, especially when they involve sand? 

 

Say hello to my little friend

See my little friend in the foreground? He's come to say hello with me.

Sorry for the radio silence. School ended, Thing Two graduated, Dada spent about 10 days in Poland for work, we went to the beach for almost two weeks, Thing One stayed at said beach, and I've had some doctors' visits. It hasn't been lack of things to talk about- it's been an overwhelming amount of photos on my phone that I have to sift through. You can find me under a virtual pile of memories, missing the beach and lamenting the sand we brought back. 

Content will be arriving.

Send snacks.

 

Vacation mash up

Damon in the saaaand with diaaaaamonds

Hacker in the background and elderly Annie in the foreground

Tiny frog in the left hand window, checking out Lainie's wreath

Aunt Lainie, Hinrew & Muggin, and us

We used Damon's fourth grade Every-Kid-In-A-Park pass to check out all the new exhibits at the Wright Brothers Memorial. We hadn't been there since Liam was in 4th grade and they've added quite a bit since then. It was hot, but there was a great breeze blowing, which was one of the reasons the brothers picked Kitty Hawk to test out gliders in the first place. I read on vacation and highly recommend David McCullough's The Wright Brothers. It is excellently done and made visiting the Memorial that much better.

A certain someone was up to no good while out unsupervised. At least he didn't come home with any more wool blankets...

Getting some kisses from Hacker. Check out how hard that tail is wagging. He is such a love bug!

Jolly Roger on Jockey's Ridge

Some of you know that Dada's been bitten by the auction bug. He found the above Jolly Roger kite at an auction and we actually remembered to take it to the beach with us.

 There was a sticky moment when we were ready to head to dinner with Maudie and wanted to hit Jockey's Ridge afterwards and needed the kite... and a piece was missing.

 After searching high and low, we stuffed the kite into the car and had to leave or we'd be late for our dinner date with the birthday girl (Miss Maudie turned 87 and was taking us out to dinner!). As we pulled out of the driveway and headed down the street, Dada's eagle eyes spotted the missing support in the driveway. Amazingly, it was intact, so we popped it into the car and proceeded with our evening.

Liam was very into the whole kite-flying experience. The rest of us enjoyed the sand, the zillions of other kites, the sunset. 

(I don't remember what Lainie's shirt advertised, but the back reads, "Don't ask locals for directions... they're lost one colony already!")

Wet your whistle

 

Hello, Atlantic Ocean. It's been awhile. We missed you! Thanks for providing so much wet, sandy fun, new friends, and plenty of summertime photo ops!

 

How I wish I was there right now as the dishwasher is chugging away and the boys are bickering in the basement. *sigh*

 

Anyway, here are Care Bear and her Hinrew doin' their thing:

 

She eventually abandoned him and was doing her own thing, which is jumping waves. We liked this one because it looks like she's kneeling on a wave. To a kid who is obsessed with all things Percy Jackson and Poseidon, that's pretty cool.

 

There were tons of adorable crabs popping in and out of the sand. I had a great time just sitting in the sun and admiring the puffs of sand and how they scuttle. Dada got pretty crispy early on in the trip, unfortunately, so he tried to stay out of the rays as much as he could. He did have a good time in the water later on in the week, and I'll get to those pictures later.

 

These are especially for Aunt Sherri, who requested them specially. Which do you like better- fronts or backs?

 

And then, where else would Liam be but in a sandy hole? He found them or made them on every single beach we visited. Carrie dug a lot, and he snuck in, just like a crab!