North Carolina: Part 4

Thursday included more beach time, frozen yogurt with Florence, and another beautiful sunset over the intracoastal.

Friday wasn't supposed to be a great beach day so we took the girls into Wilmington for a visit to the children's museum. We always try to make a stop there when we come down because it's such a neat little museum. The kids had a blast!

Before leaving Wilmington, we had lunch with Flo at Elijah's and then walked over to Steve-o's bar - Tavern Law. It was nice to get to check it out and see the little plaque on the bar where Pop Pop's spot is.

On the way back toward Topsail, we stopped by Suzette's house for one more visit with them. Once again, the girls had a great time playing with them.

Friday also happened to be Yusaku and I's 10 year anniversary (!) so we celebrated by going out to eat sans children. My parents watched the girls and Yusaku and I went to a nice place close by called Beauchaines. We had a nice view of the intracoastal while we enjoyed some yummy seafood.

Before we loaded up the car Saturday morning, we had to come down and see the ocean one last time! It was a wonderful vacation as usual but we were glad to start the journey back home.

 The beautiful scenery on the drive back makes all the hours in the car a little more tolerable.

We stopped in Charleston, WV for the night and as you can see, the girls were quite happy to be out of the car!

North Carolina: Part 3

We enjoyed a beautiful day at the beach on Monday, followed by a beautiful sunset walk that evening.

Tuesday, we walked from our condo to a new doughnut place on the island called the Fractured Prune. They offer delicious hot, fresh, made-to-order doughnuts. It was definitely a special treat. In the afternoon, we took the girls to play putt-putt golf. It was fun but sweltering!

Wednesday morning, we went kayaking on the intracoastal. It was pretty windy, which made it a little challenging to paddle on the way out, but the way back in was a little easier. Beautiful scenery and a good arm workout - can't complain too much! Later that night, we had dinner at Florence's house with Suzette, Graham, their kiddos, Steve-O and Charmin. It's always fun to see them and the kids had a great time playing with the boys, particularly hide-and-seek.

Natalie, Jack, and Olivia

North Carolina: Part 2

My parents arrived the day after us, on Father's Day. We had absolutely beautiful weather and spent the day at the beach before heading to Sears' Landing for a delicious dinner. We capped off the night by watching a beautiful sunset over the intracoastal.

North Carolina: Part 1

We just returned from our annual trip to Topsail Island and as usual, we had a wonderful time. Of course, one thing made this trip different than the rest as we were missing a very important person, Pop Pop. It is strange to visit Florence and be at their house and for him not to be there. We miss him very much but it's nice to visit a place filled with happy memories of him. 

Here are some pictures from the beginning of our trip:

How to entertain yourself in the car? Gnaw on your leg!

Our favorite pit stop on the way down - Taylor Books in Charleston, WV

breakfast the hotel in Winston-Salem before getting on the road

first view of the beach

ready to go check out the beach

shortly after the above picture, Natalie decided she needed
a break from the ocean back on the deck

the intracoastal

showing off his awesome dad skills by carrying both girls at once

a quick rinse before bedtime