Last year, Dave and I decided to take advantage of Memorial Day weekend and go check out the North Carolina coast. That trip came at the perfect time, we’d been stressed out and worried about a lot of things that were going on then, and we ended up having an absolute blast. It kind of sealed it in our heads: Memorial Day weekend, we go to the beach. A new tradition has been established.
Of course, the problem last year was that Catie absolutely hated the beach. She hated the sand, and the waves, and all of it. But I’ve noticed that in the past year, she’s started playing in the sandbox at the playground, and she doesn’t seem to mind the texture of sand as much as she used to. So we thought it’d be worth another shot.
This time, we had much better luck.
Catie still doesn’t like the ocean. The waves came up way too fast for her, and the water was just a little too cold. But she had a great time building sand castles, digging big holes in the sand, and collecting seashells (most of which she threw back into the ocean, don’t ask me why).
This year we also decided to invite my brother and sister along, since they live in North Carolina too, and neither of them had ever been to Wilmington before. It’s a longer drive for them, but they took a shortcut across the southern part of the state and met up with us there.
It was great to have them there. It was a lot easier to make sure we had one or two adults on the beach with Catie, while the others were out in the ocean jumping waves. The higher the adult-to-kid ratio, the better.
Side note: At one point, Dave carried Catie out into the ocean. When she started to get a little bit scared, my brother Chris tried to make her laugh by acting like a goofball. And that’s how I ended up with this, one of my favorite photos of the weekend.
I love that I managed to get the picture of him while he was suspended in mid-air. Awesome.
So, yeah. We went to the beach, we hung out at the hotel pool, we ate a lot of delicious and fresh seafood, and we had a fabulous time.
How was YOUR weekend?
Looks like FUN!!! I think next Memorial Day weekend might be a super time for me to come visit!!! LOL #totallyjustinvitedmyself
glad y’all had such a great weekend. Catie sure is growing up!!! My weekend was spent at my parents house hanging out in their pool! Fun times!!
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@AmazingGreis, Dude, you are totally invited. Anytime. I will always welcome any extra adult to help me handle my kid.
I love pictures of sandy feet. Looks like you guys had a blast!
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@Melissa (@adventuroo), Heh. That was one of my favorite pictures too.
I’m glad you guys had a blast. And that Catie like the sand. Bet by next year, she’ll like the waves.
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@Issa, Man I hope so. I figure that comparing it to previous beach trips, this one was WAY more successful, so hopefully next year she’ll have even more fun!
Glad you had fun! Did you get to check out the downtown area? If not, next time you’re down here, make sure to hit the ice cream parlor and take your daughter to pet the horses. They have carriage tours daily. 🙂
@Lesley @Avalea, We did! I forgot my camera for that part, but I really dig downtown Wilmington. We did that last year too. We had dinner someplace downtown (the name of which I’ve totally forgotten, but it was good!), then had ice cream from Kilwin’s. (We also bought some of their sea foam candy, which is AWESOME.) Catie pet the horses, but we didn’t do the carriage ride because it was getting late.
Well walking along the waterfront is just as fun as a carriage ride anyway 😀 Of course, assuming it’s not 4 million degrees and Holy Moly Humid. Ya know?
Next time, add The Eat Spot and Flaming Amy’s to your restaurant list. Both local, both YUM! 🙂
Hannah hated the actual water until a few years ago. Now this girl swims like a fish. Maybe Catie will change her mind the more she goes. Either way, the beach is always fun with kids. They get so excited about the sand…super cute.
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