Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Our late Summer vacation

Thank goodness for homeschooling....we were able to take our summer vacation a little later and enjoy nearly deserted beaches. We also got a good deal on renting a house! As you already know, we went to Topsail Island, NC. We were gone a week exactly. We left around 2:30 AM Sat. Aug. 30th and arrived back home around 2:30 Sat. morning Sept. 6th. Other than the "grueling" trip, it was a vacation that I would LOVE to do all over again! I took MANY pictures of the waves, but the experiencing of the roar and spray makes the pictures seem pretty disappointing. I can sit for hours and just watch the waves....it's so incredibly relaxing. It was our kids' first time to see the ocean. Lauren immediately got in the water and loved it. It took Michael a few days to get over his fear and by Wed. Caleb would go in as long as Chris or I were holding his hand. To tell you the truth, I was thankful they were cautious. Since I don't swim, I find it a little scary to go out very deep myself.
This is the house we rented for the duration. It was LOVELY. 1st floor was parking, 2nd floor had the master suite, two bedrooms and two bathrooms and laundry. The top floor had a full kitchen, living room, bedroom and bathroom. We only had to cross the street, walk down a little path and we were at the beach. In 6 days, we went 11 times! Our stays ranged anywhere from 1 -5 hours. I was VERY thankful for the washer and dryer! It's probably still recovering!

The path to the beach.


A neat little sand castle Chris and I made for the kids to smash.


Sunday night, we were thrilled to have "Uncle Kendall and Aunt Leanna" come and join us until Wednesday afternoon. The kids were SO excited. We thoroughly enjoyed their stay with us. Chris and Kendall were brave enough to ride the waves on inter tubes and surf boards! Most of the time riding the waves was fun and was a really great idea. But sometimes, an extra big wave would slam one of them to shore. It provided Leanna and I with MANY a laugh. I even got up my courage to try it....twice. I crashed both times, so my wave riding career ended rather quickly!

One night I made one of my favorite suppers...Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo with broccoli and garlic toast. So yummy! I loved the hand painted stone wear serving bowls they had there. Although you can't see it in the pictures, each bowl had a "Italian" food on it...like Eggplant, peppers, etc. These are high on my Christmas list. This is a supper I make quite often and the dishes made it look extra special....(not that you care!)



Behind our house was "the Sound". It is also called the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It was beautiful. If we just had a boat, I guess we could have made our way to Hobe Sound :)


The bridge on the path that crosses the Dunes. There's quite a fine if they catch you on the dunes at all.


Our family........


Kendall and Leanna...........

Of course, we had to visit the "Shark Attack"...a souvenir store from which we happily emerged nearly an hour later with chintzy t-shirts, key chains, postcards, and even a 3 million old shark tooth. Seriously. We only had to pay $1.99 for it. Michael was devastated when he realized it got left behind on a windowsill at the house.


Our happiest McDonald's smiles shortly after we enjoyed a yummy treat you can only find at the southern McDonald's....hot caramel sundaes. I think there are a couple locations around Dayton that sell them, but none around here that I'm aware of.


One of the bedrooms....

The kids room. They all wanted to share a room which resulted in many giggles and some nights not enough sleep.


One night I came in the room to find Caleb just hugging and hugging Michael.


I can only imagine!!!


The living room.....


Leaving the house as Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna makes its way to the island.

We were planning on leaving the island Friday evening, but when we realized there was a curfew to be enforced that evening, we left in the late afternoon instead. There were a couple of rain showers while we were packing up to come home and leaving, but that's all we saw of the hurricane. Other than that, we enjoyed temps in the 80's every day and sunny skies.

One of our happy travellers.....


All the happy travellers. The kids were all ready to come home....I was not! I could have stayed a month I think without getting homesick. However, it is nice to be back and we are thankful for all the miles we travelled safely. It was a 12 hour drive. Lauren said she would like to live at the beach, but wanted Caroline and her cat to be there too! This morning while crossing the Ohio River from going to story hour at the Newport Library, Caleb happily shrieked, "the BEACH!!!" Yeah...I wish! By the way, Chris and I DID NOT make the sand castle you saw pictured near the top. Another family did and it took them HOURS! It mostly washed out to sea in the middle of the night!


A big thanks to Chris who worked GBS weekend security in the summer in addition to his other two jobs....just so we could all enjoy a really nice vacation together. We have a week full of memories that will last a lifetime! Thanks....I Love You!

13 comments:

Patty said...

We went to Outer Banks on vacation 8 years ago and it still ranks as my favorite one. It was the most relaxing vacation ever. Looks like you all had a great time.
By the way McDonald's around here are starting to sell camel again. So ask the next time you are there they might have it!

Jana said...

What a wonderful looking vacation!! I know my kids would be thrilled to get to be that close to the ocean/water/sand for a week!! Enjoyed the pics.!

Maggie said...

looks awesome!!! I love the ocean! Glad you all had such a nice, well deserved vacation!

Kendall and Leanna said...

Fun times! I still laugh when I think about the tubing mishaps. We'll have do the beach vacation again. :)

Kelly S said...

Looks like tons of fun! You're right, memories like that are priceless! Our kids grow up so fast!

Seeing the pics of the alfredo pasta makes my mouth water! I remember you bringing that meal to us after I had one of my babies - maybe Jacob?? We loved it!

Not too long ago I had a hot caramel Sundae at the McDonalds off our exit. They also serve chocolate dipped vanilla ice cream cones, which I didn't realize until then. I think they're both only $1.

Martha C said...

I really enjoyed seeing these pictures, and I was in awe of the sand castle you and Chris built. :-) The pillow cracked me up. I can only imagine. . .
Happy homeschooling. I hope it is going well.

Dixie said...

It looks like you all had a great time. It is definitely a great perk of homeschooling to be able to take vacation after everyone else is back in school. Our vacation started the day you all got home. We spent a week on the beach but in Massachusetts. I imagine the water was quite a bit warmer where you were compared to where we were. Have a great school year!

sankey family said...

Just love these vacation pictures - it looks like you all had an awesome time.

Lanee M. said...

Okay, first how do you blog so many pictures at once? Every time I try to blog more than 5 they disappear and won't show up on the blog. I am so computer challenged!!

I too am very impressed with the sand castle. WOW!!

Your pics were beautiful. Glad you enjoyed your time away. Let's get together soon. I might need a place to stay in a few weeks when I come over to do my recording. I'll let you know.

Lisa R said...

Nancy, that looks like a dream vacation! I'm so glad you got to go! I, too, was so impressed with the sand castle (I'll have you know I truly thought it was an original Lambeth creation till I read further down your blog!). Thanks for all the fun pics! I think my fave is Caleb with his sunglasses on, looking like he's in for the long haul home!!

Unknown said...

That looks like so much fun! Our boys got a brief glimpse of Lake Huron this summer, but they're dying to actually see the ocean! Gene and I are hoping Disneyland/Florida will work out in the next two years. :)

snakesnailsbuttonsnbows said...

Sounds like a wonderful memory making vacation!! I loved getting to see the pictures!!

Anonymous said...

Emma & Lou from our church went to Topsail Island in Sept. with their family. The entertainments had shut down early, such as mini-golf, probably due to the storm that passed through.
mom in McDonald