Topsail Island

We traveled with the Holmes clan to North Topsail Island this past week.  It was a beautiful place, and the home we stayed in was perfect.  The owner was so kind and helpful, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.  It was a short walk down a private path to the beach, and it had a pool, which was great!  We stayed in and cooked dinner most nights, which I liked, because going out to eat can get expensive, and of course, it can be hard work entertaining two little ones while waiting for the food to come!  Plus, it was nice to just be able to relax and not have to rush around and get everyone ready for dinner.  We arranged for a photographer to come over one evening to get some family photos done.  She was great.  So patient with the kids, and made the process smooth.  I'm excited to see how they turn out.  We also watched Hurricane Arthur roll through.  It really wasn't a huge deal where we were, although from what I understand some folks who were located elsewhere didn't fare quite as well.  We did lose power in the middle of the night for several hours, and the house was shaking quite a bit, but I'm glad we waited it out, because the next day was glorious.  We decided to do a little ceramic painting the day of the bad weather, which was a nice way to break up the day, and the kids seemed to really enjoy it.

I'm hoping that in the future Claire will enjoy the ocean a bit more.  She did not like the beach too much.  She was scared of the waves, and told me it's too loud for her.  She did ok playing in the sand, but much preferred playing in the pool at the house.  Anna of course, loves most things, and really loved putting all the sand in her mouth!  Yuck!  Claire was loving showing off her swimming skills and would jump in, swim to the latter, get out and do it all over again.  It's funny how little kids don't get bored with doing the same thing over and over again.  She was just as excited the 35th time she did it as the 1st time!

We had a great week away, but it's always nice to come back home.  Of course, we have another busy week, because Jeff has his wrestling camp, but once that's done we'll have some more time for r & r!

And here's your warning…picture overload ahead!

Claire and cousin Alaina

 Cousins Dylan and Alaina

 Just note how Claire is covering her ears!!

 Still trying to keep that ear covered!

 Once we moved back away from the water she was happy to let Jeff turn her into a mermaid!

 Bubbles on the deck with Dylan!

 This picture makes me laugh!  Of course Claire just had to climb all over Jeff just because he was holding Anna!

 Poor Anna!

 Anna on our night out to dinner

 Alaina picked a castle to paint

 Dylan picked a dinosaur

 Claire went with a kitty cat piggy bank!