Well, a lot has been ton in the last few days. We left Charlotte Friday to drive half way to Carolina Beach. Near the half way point the girls were being so goo that we canceled our reservation in some town that started with an L and drove all the way to the beach.
Along our drive it became apparent that North Carolina loved one thing...and that one thing was Bojangles. They are on every corner it seems. Sarah and I have now coined the phrase "Holy Bojangles". You are to use it when anything awesome happens or when you get frightened. We have also noticed that businesses in NC that only sell one product are doomed. The "Carpet Store" and "Wallpaper Store" were both out of business, but others like "Carpet AND Rugs" were still thriving...just goes to show how great diversification really is.
Anyways, our drive down was pretty uneventful. Verity slept most of the way and the other 2 should have. They took small naps, but not enough to get actual rest, so they resorted to fighting over the arm rest. That all stopped when I punched them in the necks of their necks. (J/K - I only threatened)
As we neared Carolina Beach the girls were getting excited and just FREAKED when they finally saw the beach. We pulled up to the Marriot to see if they had room at the Inn...they did and it was expensive, but I didn't care because our view was amazing and the girls loved it. We were only staying for a night anyways while we waited for our condo the next day.
So after a quick unloading of items, we went out for some late night ice cream to thank the girls for traveling so well. We danced a little at the country band and then headed back in for the night. Before falling asleep a storm started rolling in on the ocean. We sat out on the patio and let the drizzle hit our feet as we counted the seconds between lightning and thunder...the things that make our children happy. That storm was so beautiful and relaxing...I almost fell asleep in the slider doorway with the wind hitting my face and the sounds of the stormy ocean...oh man that was awesome.
We woke up Saturday morning and while I ran to Target Sarah got the girls ready. We checked out and went to Kate's, which was a cute (Verity calls it "tchoot") little restaurant. The 5 of us crammed into a booth and waited for our food. Sedona took pictures with our camera, Jolie crushed her styrofoam cup of milk while drinking and it all poured out onto her lap, and Verity did magic tricks. It was eventful to say the least. (I probably would have said more had I not said the least...man that saying is dumb...forget I even used it)
After breakfast we walked around window shopping at the stores and then jumped in the car. we drove further south down the coast and it was just amazing. Sarah and I have made it a life goal to own a place on the beach. We had made that promise before, but on Saturday the 6th of June, we bumped knuckles on it...making it officially official. The smells, the atmosphere, the fun...it's all just so relaxing. We drove past the sign that said "road ends 500 feet" and turned around. I wasn't in the mood to take the ferry to the mainland, this island was good enough for me. I'm sure we'll be traveling down there more as the week goes on because there is the Fort, aquarium and fun places for the kids to play. More on those when we hit them up.
On the way back from the end of the island, we decided to see if we could check into our condo early. Jackpot!!! WE WERE!!! Yeah, finally got into the condo and feel like we're settled now. The older girls LOVE their bunk beds and we all love opening the double slider and just hanging out on the deck (where I am now) watching the waves crash on shore and the pelicans fly overhead.
My sister and her family arrived (drove down from Chicago) at their condo a few doors down shortly after we did and met up for the first time in a very long time. We've never seen their youngest until today (he's 2) and they haven't all seen our youngest. Fun times seeing everyone and getting to know little Griffin.
We all went to "Big Daddy's" for an early dinner...that was a bit eventful because of the 5 kids being exhausted from traveling so much. At least we're settled into 1 place now and they can all get on a "schedule"..if there is such a thing during vacations. Then it was on to the BEACH!!!!!!!
The girls couldn't nap it was so late in the day that the next best thing to having quite kids was having kids that were ecstatic! The beach has a funny way of making that happen. We went the 100 ft to the beach armed with our buckets, shovels and swimsuits. We started off just digging around and Sedona trying to find shells. Then everyone fell into doing what their personalities have always told us.
- Jolie was startled by the big waves and cried a little. So then she just stuck to digging by herself and filling her bucket many times over...all with her tongue sticking out like Michael Jordan going in for a dunk. She's our little artist.
- Verity started digging and throwing some sand, which was expected and then she realized the danger and awesomeness of the waves. She wanted to be in it, so Sarah held onto her and let the undertow pull her legs out from under her about 500 times. She was turning blue from the excitement and cold. If we didn't hold her she would have run out and tried to dive in with the waves.
- Sedona, like the others, started digging and then remembered how much fun she had a few years ago running from the waves. The both of us would run out to the edge of the water and then run as the waves crashed in. That turned into me going out into the waves and attempting to body surf. I would pretend to need help getting back to shore and Sedona would run out to get me and try her hardest to save me and pull me to shore.
We had so much fun!!! We were all covered with sand...trust me, "covered" doesn't explain the places we had to shower the sand free.
We were going to go grab ice cream again after getting cleaned up, but my sister's kids were about to crash and they needed the rest. Verity passed out in her pack-n-play, so I ran out and grabbed some vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. Of course, Verity woke up for that and then she was awake for a bit. So, we decided to all run out for a much needed grocery store run. That made Sarah happy because now we had everything we needed for the week.
Here we are eating breakfast and gearing up for another fun day...what does it hold? Who knows, but we know it will be fun.
Till next time,
Wade and the fam
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