Sunset Beach, NC

It turns out that the beach is actually a great place to vacation. Who knew!? I didn't. I was a skeptical beach goer, put off by the thought of all that sand. But I trusted my brother whose idea it was that our big family vacation take us to the North Carolina coast and who said I would enjoy it. Turns out he was right.

third from the right

Thanks to his know-how, we knew what to do in order to do the beach right - get a waterfront house on the beach, stay at the less populated end of the island, stay for a week, and bring boogie boards and Bocce Ball. We also totally geeked out on this trip bringing several pieces of regional fiction, guides to the Carolina coast plant life and animals, a shell guide, etc. It was so interesting and fun.

Bocce Ball

Beach Baby

Julia did so well and seemed to really enjoy the beach, the sand, the water ... the cousins. She had a great time watching and playing. And I think the fresh ocean breezes were good for her development because she started crawling (finally!) on this trip and clapping, too.

playing Bocce Ball behind the beach house

awesome beach sunglasses

We saw a big crab and little ones while we were there, I saw a family playing Bocce Ball dressed as pirates, we saw students building huge, precise sand pyramids using levels and proper tools, we visited the famed Kindred Spirit mailbox, we saw an incredible lightning show over the ocean. We ate seafood and hushpuppies and pimiento cheese, we played in tidal pools, we checked on the tide chart and followed the waves ... And in the meantime, we picked out names for our own beach houses - "The Old Man and the Sí" (my dad), "Peace and Quiet" (my aunt), "Squid Pro Quo" (me).

the Kindred Spirits mailbox - I left a note in the notebook

And Minli, inspired by the double meaning in Hollis' name for his beach house ("Ocean Waves"), wrote a poem ...

High Tide

The ocean waves hi.

The ocean waves bye.

The ocean says go away,

before I wash you bye bye.

Minli, the ocean, and her poem