Saturday, July 19, 2008

The Last Few Days

so, i didn't really make the whole "blogging every day" commitment.    big surprise, i'm sure! not having wireless at the condo didn't help either.    ;)   but i did have a wonderful time with our family on vacation.   we're completely blessed to have family that owns a place at the beach, so we don't have to go into debt anymore when we take our beach vacation!    we always go down to Ocean Isle, and then travel over to Sunset to see the rest of the family that stays over there.    here were our favorite parts of the latter days of the trip:

- beachin it every day - at Sunset or Ocean Isle, the weather was just about perfect.    we all had a blast building sand castles, splashing in the waves, body surfing, rafting, seeing family that we hadn't seen in a while, getting covered in sand, and even catching a couple naps.   (i don't think i had done that since high school!)    

- Calabash Creamery - the other ice cream places down there just don't even compete - if you EVER are in the area, please please go get this homemade ice cream!   It's sooo good - especially in July when they make their famous homemade peach ice cream.    We love getting whatever flavor we're in the mooooood for (haha) and then rocking on the rocking chairs until it either drips all over us (if you're too small to lick fast enough) or it's all gone, and you're happily stuffed with the best homemade ice cream ever!

- going out on the raft - my dad always gets his big raft blown up (like a heavy duty boat kind of raft) and then he takes all the grandkids out on the waves for rides.    it's so fun to see them loving every minute of their time out in the water with grandaddy!    oh, and river let us know that she wants a "pink raft for her 5 birthday".   so if anyone sees one, let me know!    ;)

- Seafood Hut - now here's the best kept secret (maybe not anymore) in Calabash.   I would hyperlink, but they're too old school to have a website.   It's been there forever, and it's this little hole in the wall place that only has about 20 tables, and the same waitresses that have been there for probably 20 years or more.    But every night you'll see the line of people (starting at about 4:45 pm) wrapped around the building waiting to get their turn to eat the best seafood in the area.    It's fun to eat there, but this year we did it as take out and enjoyed it back at our place.    Still just as yummy as ever!

- Ocean Isle Pier - ok, so blast from the past - I used to walk up to the pier and check out the surfers, and hang out with friends/family, act like i was cool, etc.     randy decided he wanted to have a date with the kids one morning before anyone else was up, so he and river and asher went down to the pier and walked out to the end.   they even got to see a sand shark that someone had caught!    so then before we left today, we stopped by and went out all together.   it was really fun, and there were lots of kids out surfing.    it was fun.    they have a little diner now, so we grabbed some lunch there before heading back home.    "this is a fun new tradition", said randy as we were walking out on the pier.    he knows how i love some traditions!

- Once - we're quite a bit behind with our movie watching, and have wanted to see Once for a while.   We had netflixed it, and finally got a chance to watch it!   We thoroughly enjoyed it, and loved the soundtrack.

- Playing games - this is a must do for me at the beach.     we really like games, and this year it was particularly fun because my nephews are old enough to learn adult games, and actually be good at them.    We taught them how to play Pictionary and Yahtzee, and they taught us how to play Rubis.   So we had a good time winning and losing!

- DiDi's Kitchen - my mom in law makes the best big breakfast, and she pulled out her pots and pans a couple mornings while we were down there.   we decided her "restaurant" should be called DiDi's Kitchen.    she loves making it for all of us, and we love eating all of it!

- Sunsets on the Deck - it's so nice to be able to go out at sunset with a drink in hand, and just enjoy rocking on the back deck.   we would head out around 8 most nights, and stay sometimes until 10:30 just talking and hanging out.   the frogs start up their chorus right about the time the sun goes to bed, and we just enjoy the music that they bring.    

We had a great time and are glad to have such a fun family!    

1 comment:

Beth said...

Glad to hear ya'll are having a fun, RELAXING summer!