First Beach Trip...WB!

Our three beach trips were backloaded this summer, which meant we had to use lots of patience waiting for them. So we were pretty excited when the day finally arrived when we could head toward Wrightville Beach! We had not been there for almost a whole year because of all the damage from the hurricane the previous September, so we were anxious to see what the renovated Sea Oats house looked like.

When we go to Wrightsville and cross the bridge onto the island, we always open all the windows, blast the music, and let that salt air whip into the car. The kids love it, and I do too. :)

The beach house looked fantastic with all its renovations. It had new carpeting, new bedding, new curtains- just a fresh new look. Once we admired all the changes, we headed straight for the beach to do all the beach things. 

Addie got into boogie boarding this year...

and Luke was finally into the beach.

The weather was gorgeous that week...the ocean just sparkled.

When at the beach house, Luke refused to take off his dinosaur pajamas...

Everyone got into the puzzle that week...especially the girls at the end AFTER Pop Pop and I had done all the work!

Wrightsville looked so pretty on this trip- I loved all the bold colors that popped when you walked out to the beach...

This tent (the Shibumi) was all the rage at the NC beaches this summer...it seemed that everyone had one of these things! The company is based out of Raleigh, and we saw them all over WB, Figure 8 and Bald Head. 

Okay- this was hands down Luke's favorite part of our beach trip...the outdoor shower. He could not wait to get back to the outdoor shower every day to play naked in the water with his sisters. They had water spray attacks, secret forts, nude dance parties, surfboard shops, etc. I don't want to see the Forks' water bill from that week, but I will say my kids had a blast playing down there. See?? 

Pajama trip to the see the sunset...

Addie is an early riser like her Daddy, so they got to see the sun one morning. Love these pictures he captured of her (and the sunrise).

We went to the south end of the island to go one swimming one day, and were stopped in our tracks by jellyfish...everywhere! No swimming for us that day, but we did admire the scenery on that different side of the beach.

Our kids do not want to go to the beach every day when we're there so we are forced to mix things up. So that means mini golf and Mexican. :) And would you believe that Luke hit a hole in one and was the best player that day? It's true!

Swimming in Lollipop Cove is a new favorite activity...but watch out for those barnacles on the dock!

Collins has figured she can go out on night adventures once her brother and sister go to bed...so here she is running wild on the beach at night. But in this instance, we were trying to out run a storm and failed. We got wet!

When we need a non-beach activity, we normally go to the park, go get ice cream, or whip out the slip-n-slide..

Soap makes you go faster. :)

Yes- here we are naked again. I'm telling you this was their favorite part!

These are some of my favorite shots from the trip. Love a Lollipop Cove sunset.

The next day, we were up with a different and fun plan for the day. I was going to finally get to go stand up paddle boarding! I had wanted to try this for awhile, and I decided to book Collins and me for a little ride. It was so much fun! It is definitely harder than it looks (depending on the tides and wind) so we didn't actually make it that far on the water. But we did make it to a little island where we waded through the water off the paddle board and found shells and crabs. Collins and I were in our own little world in the marsh, and it was my favorite moment of our beach week. 

After our SUP experience, the rest of the gang met us to go take a tour of the Wrightsville Beach fire station. We thought Luke would love this, but he was really just afraid the whole time. Which was completely unwarranted because the firemen were so nice and took a lot of time to explain what they do and how they do it. We got to see their control room and ask questions about the fire call we heard the day before at the Holiday Inn. We got to see all the tools on the side of the firetruck and go sit inside. We got to hear a story about the hurricane evacuation and how they dealt with that. It was so interesting, but Luke was having none of it!

He only smiled when we got to Tower 7, and he could wear his hat backwards. :)

I was smiling at this point too because this is my favorite meal in the world.

One last day at the beach...

Our first beach trip of the summer was coming to an end, and it was a good one. We missed having Brian there a lot because a court case messed up his vacation, but we still did a lot of cool things and enjoyed our time together. Next up? Another beach vacation right around the corner- literally. Figure 8- here we come!!!

Last Swim Meet

We were finally wrapping up the swim season, and Collins and I were not sad about it. :) It's a lot of time at the pool the first six weeks of summer- especially since the girls were not on the same practice schedule this year. BUT Addie got really into it, and watching her learn to swim and get excited about being on the swim team will no doubt go down as a highlight of summer 2019 for me. It was that cool of a transformation to watch!

But, as we walked into our sixth swim meet of the season, I think we did so with a sigh of relief because we were finally done. Luckily, it was at the North Hills club, which is a beautiful facility and where we have friends so that made it more fun. Our girls' eyes were opened when they walked into onto the pool deck- they were like, "Can we PLEASE join this pool?!?!" They were wowed by three pools, a water slide, and a nice food area- none of which Northbrook has. Too bad girls, no chance that's going to be happening! Enjoy hanging out there tonight. :)

Addie almost won her heat in backstroke! Love how confident she got over the season in this stroke. 

Collins was sad that Reeves didn't do swim team at Northbrook this summer, but I think her favorite part of the swim season was making some new friends. The 7-8 girls were a fun (and silly) group. 

Here she is hitting the wall from her final relay swim. Collins finished the season with good times, but we learned it was hard for her to compete with the year-round swimmers. Although she was right on the cusp of beating them, it was hard to do when they are in the pool so much more than she was. She got frustrated at times not getting ribbons and finishing at the top. But when I asked her if she wanted to be a year-round swimmer, she quickly answered, "No!". Whew...me either, but just thought I should check. :)

With this final race, swim team was officially over. On to the end of year banquet....

So proud of our dolphin daughters and all they accomplished this season! Brian let the girls stay for the late-night swim after the banquet and when they got home, Collins gave Addie a sweet gift. She had made her a choker (with a puffer she wanted me to add) for doing such a good job on swim team. She wrote a note to her and wrapped up the necklace, and pretty much made Addie's year! A neat way to wrap things up.