On our journey to the coast, we made a few stops along the way. First, we stopped in Greensboro to meet our newest niece, Whitlee Marie Kennedy. Darby and Goosie added #5 to their crew last Friday, July 20th, and while they were still in the hospital, we were able to meet the newest Kennedy. Both mommy and baby are doing well!
We made the final leg of the trip to Ocean Isle, only hitting traffic at the very end within a few miles of the main bridge. Emmy was a trooper during the drive and either slept, 'read', or sang throughout the trip. The Houstons and the Bakewells had already arrived at the house, so we quickly settled in and then ordered pizza for dinner. After dinner, Meg, Mom, and I set off to the grocery store armed with a fairly long list. Once again this year, we ate all of our breakfasts and lunches at the house, and we also cooked in three nights (tacos on Sunday, hamburgers and hot dogs on Tuesday, and grilled chicken on Friday). Once we were back at the house Saturday evening with a stocked fridge and pantry, it was an exciting feeling knowing we had a whole week of fun ahead. With Emmy in our room, Boomer and I woke up each morning to this sweet little face peeking over her pack-n-play.
Emmy seemed to be just as excited to be at the beach as her mommy! We had pretty early mornings each day, usually getting up before 7AM. Because we were up early, Meg and I were able to fit in a run each morning, with our hubbies joining us once or twice. Then Mom, Megan, and I would also walk a couple of miles, getting a pretty good sweat going before putting on our bathing suits and making our way to the beach. Even with storms or the threat of them, we still managed to get in some beach time each day. The last day (Friday) was the most questionable, despite it having the best forecast earlier in the week - go figure! We generally spent about two hours at the beach, which was enough to wear all of us out! Zander and Maddox loved jumping the waves and playing baseball. All three kiddos enjoyed digging in the sand and playing in the tidal pools. Last year, Emmy stayed mostly contained in the baby pool, but this year she was brave enough to go out in the sand and to the water. I didn't get to sit much, as I trailed her around wherever she would go. Luckily between the six adults, we were able to keep all of the kiddos safe and entertained - no easy feat!
When we weren't at the beach or out to eat, we lounged at the house. Mema's Place, the house we've rented the last two years, has a great living room area and also a large porch that looks out over the street and inlet. Emmy loved playing with her cousins and watching Daddy work, but her favorite thing was being outside. She would stand at the door and cry to go outside until someone would go out with her. She loved looking at the cars, birds, and people passing by.
As it should be when you are on vacation, we were either eating, getting ready to eat, or relaxing after already eating. We went out to eat three of the nights. We returned to Inlet View, a restaurant in Shallotte we went to last year, and of course we went to Dockside in Calabash, which has been a tradition since our first beach trip over seven years ago. The third restaurant we picked this year was actually on the island, called the Ocean Isle Fishing Company. While the food was great, our timing wasn't. Even though we arrived before 5PM, we got there just after a large party that filled the dining room, so rather than waiting, we ate in the upper deck bar area. The setting wasn't ideal for the three kiddos, but we tried to make the best of it. The food was delicious, but even so,we think we will keep the two other restaurants and find a third (new) restaurant for next year. My dad deemed Wednesday's dinner at Inlet View as "Hawaiian night", so all the kiddos matched Grandpa in their Hawaiian patterns. We got a lot of family photos each night. It was worth documenting us all dressed up :)
We had a few other fun outings throughout the week: ice cream at the Creamery and at the pier, a matinee double date while Grammy and Grandpa watched the kids, and sunset walks on the beach after Emmy's bedtime.
On Saturday, after packing up and saying farewell to Mema's Place, we made our annual stop at Kalawi Farms. We each had different flavors, Boomer sticking to his usual peach and me to my Nanner Pudding. Needless to say, the week included a lot of ice cream! :)
We had such a wonderful week! I'll close with a few pictures from beach weeks past, and special pictures from this year!
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