Beach Trip - Part 3

We were at the beach for just a couple of days and it's taking me 3 times as long to write about it. Funny, ain't it? So this is the last post about our mini-vacation on Corolla. And it's going to be mostly pictures (at least that's the plan now; we'll see how well I can stick to it 'cause you know, I loooove talking).

We took a few group pictures while on island. Of course, one of us is always missing, having to operate the camera. I guess we'll just photoshop that person in later. I like this picture above of gals only + the little kids (A. was swimming with her dad).

This picture is not bad either. Vadim is missing from it 'cause he was behind the camera.

Then there's this one, taken on our last day as we were all returning from the beach. This time Masha was taking the picture. No worries, we'll photoshop her in later, I guess :)

When it comes to pictures of myself, I usually don't have many. I generally don't like being on pictures 'cause my hair is never right, my weight is never right and having fun posing for a picture is just not something I know how to do. But seeing Masha and Irina having so much fun being photographed, I decided to give it a try. The result is above. See what I'm saying?!

Photographing others is fun though. Here's my super-sexy hubby enjoying the surf.

Now, before setting out on our trip, we made a list of things we wanted to do while at the beach. Kite flying was one of them. So on the second day of our stay we went to fly kites. It was so much fun!!! I just wish we had the time to make our own kites instead of buying them. But we'll leave this idea for another time.

Another thing we wanted to do was to go out to a restaurant. It wasn't even that we wanted something special to eat. But we hardly ever get to go out and so the experience itself is pretty special to us. We took M with us even though it was pretty late and he was going to miss him regular bed time. But you know, it's just so much fun to take him along. Plus the restaurant we chose was very casual and had this little pier jutting out into the Sound with a little boat house at the end of it. So there was plenty for M to explore while we waited for our appetizers. Something I completely forgot to put on our "beach to-do" list was to dig a giant hole in the sand. Fortunately, we were reminded of it on our last evening there by a family that dug an absolutely enormous hole. Seriously, it was more like a mini-crater than a hole. Very inspirational. So M wanted to dig one just like that. And he wanted to do it all by himself. No fair! It was my idea in the first place!
Fortunately, as he got about mid-way through it, the hole became too deep for him to dig from the outside and he needed my help widening it without crashing the sides in. And then we decided to keep digging until we hit water (although there was a brief discussion of how awesome it'd be if we hit oil instead).
Finally, the giant hole was dug and all the little ones wanted to climb into it. Preferrably, all at once. All except for baby Jake who just wanted to pour water into the hole 'cause that's what he is into.

I honestly planned on getting up early at least once to see sunrise. Every evening I made plans for it. But then, around 5:30 every morning I'd wake up briefly and think "no freaking way" and go back to sleep. Sunrises are tough for me. Sunsets are much better. Except we didn't get to see sunsets either. We tried once, but were late by maybe 2 minutes. No matter 'cause it was beautiful anyway. BTW, Chris is NOT chocking me (this is his manly hug) and he is NOT in the Navy (the word "Old" in "Old Navy" is obscured by my big head).

Did I mention that the house my cousins rented came fully stocked with like everything? Down to board games! So our second night there we all played Life after all the kids went to bed. I'd never played this game before and I wish I did. I almost won too, taking the third place (out of 6). I think nobody noticed that for the first half of the game I wasn't supposed to draw any salary (being a substitute teacher). I didn't notice that for sure, being busy drinking wine.

Like father like son for sure and so adorable!
M was very upset that we had to go back to Raleigh. He wanted to stay for longer. So to soften the blow and help him (and selves) with the transition, we stopped by an icecream parlor in Kitty Hawk on the way back. M got an ice-cream cone, looked at us (we didn't buy any for ourselves) and asked "как на счёт вы вдвоём купите себе мороженое?" [how about the two of you buying yourself some ice-cream?]

Daytrip - Part 2 - On to Wilmington

It was still very early when we left the beach, just around noon. We wanted to see the Historic Wilmington and especially Battle Ship North Carolina. And so we drove on, closely avoiding a traffic ticket for passing a state trooper on the right on a very wide shoulder (Chris was driving, but in his defense, the tropper wasn't in the clear either, attempting to turn left in the no-turn zone plus the shoulder turned into a right lane just 10 yards ahead of us).

We took the Market St to the riverfront. At first it wasn't too interesting at all, typical coastal sprawl. Then it got fun. Are we the only ones getting amused by simple things such as a Sticky Fingers BBQ right next door to Hooters? Dunno, it just looked very funny, but maybe it was all that sun and ocean air. Then it got really beautiful as we drove by some historic homes.

Finally, we were on the riverfront. M woke up and seemed to be very excited to go see a "big boat". We took a water taxi to the battleship, which was fun except that M wanted to stand on the benches and apparently it wasn't allowed.

The battleship was very interesting. First, there were lots and lots of very steep ladders to climb up and down. Wait, that's the "not so fun" part. The interesting part was, of course, being on a real battleship and seeing how sailors lived on it. Sure, I've been on much bigger vessels, including ROROs and LOLOs. But those are nothing but floating parking garages and container yards. And a battleship is a battleship!

But going up and down the ladders wasn't fun at all. Especially since they were to steep and slippery and M refused to walk them by himself. I had to carry him! Chris carried M's stroller which we so foolishly took with us. But we still had fun, especially since very door had a big wheel on it (I'm sure there's a proper name for it) and there were all those wheels and gauges in the engine room and not one, but two kitchens. And huge blenders and soup kettles and bread-baking equipment. And that's just below deck.

On the deck there were lots of guns and a seaplane. And then there was the captain's bridge and admiral's quarters and much much more. Most of it we didn't get to see though 'cause we had to catch a water taxi back plus we ran out of water plus my legs were turning to jello from carrying M up and down the stairs.

Back on the riverfront we walked into a Chocolate and Ice Cream shop for some... ice-cream. That was a mistake on my part. I gulped down a rootbeer float (yum!) and about did myself in! Haven't felt sicker in a while. But since M and Chris were ok after their treats, we pressed on, walking around a bit. Finally, we stopped for late lunch (yeah, things are backwards with us) at a Dock St Oyster Bar.

Great place, if only I didn't feel so sick. Unbelievably, I ordered boiled shrimp which were fantastic, but only managed to eat a couple. Thankfully, Chris agreed to finish them off for me. Beer helped a bit, but I felt that it was time to go home. Which we did right after our Oyster Bar lunch.

So, next time we go, hopefully very-very soon, we'll spend even more time at the beach and then, I'll skip ice-cream and will make up for uneaten shrimp by getting shrimp and oysters.

Daytrip to Wrightsville Beach

Chris took a day off from work last Tuesday. Why? I think it was the "I need to get out and breath some fresh air" kind of situation. So we packed loads of food, a picnic blanket and swimsuits and headed off to Wilmington, NC.

Mr. M was all excited about going. He's been enjoying Berenstein Bears vacation story in which the bears go to the beach and Sister and Brother play in the sand and cover Dad with the sand from head to toe. M wanted that exact experience or as he nicely put it, "закопать папу в песок".

We've never been to Wilmington which is funny 'cause it's the nearest ocean-side town from us. Turns out, it's the loveliest one as well. But first, the beach. We chose Wrightsville Beach instead of Carolina Beach because on the map it seemed that there was a big pier at Wrightsville Beach. Piers are exciting and, in case M refused going into water or walking in the sand (like the entire last season), we'd at least enjoy looking at the beach from on high.

Well, at first things looked pretty bad. I mean, we snagged a great parking spot just steps away from the beach. But M refused to change into his swimsuit or take shoes and socks off. Then he refused to walk in the sand or sit on it or have anything at all to do with the beach and the ocean. He cried and wailed and raised hell about wanting to go home. Not even an offer of snacks helped.

I was in tears. Yet another year without even dipping our toes in the ocean! Well, maybe we could take turns and go for a very quick dip in the ocean before heading back? So Chris went first and M and I stayed in the shade under the pier.

Next thing I knew, M started crab-walking in the sand. Turns out, sand is ok! He kept walking like that for a while and then wanted to dig in the softer sand. But we didn't bring any digging tools or sand buckets. So he used his hands. Found a chicken bone (yeah, the area under the pier isn't the cleanest, I s'pose).

We then moved to the water's edge just to show him that he could draw lines in the wet sand. That worked out great. He kept drawing lines and watching them being erased by the waves. Then we kicked it up a notch by handing him a shell and playing "throw the shell and run for it before the wave gets you" game. Got him in the water alright. Except now M's jeans shorts were wet and heavy and kept falling off of him.

Finally, we pursuaded him to change into swimming trunks (he kicked off the shoes and socks even before then). Things kept getting better and better - walking into the deeper water, jumping in the ways, sitting in the sand and rubbing sand all over us (so we don't get sunburned, M said - such a thoughtful kiddo). 2 hours later, shivering and lips turning blue, he refused to leave the water and kept asking to jump in the waves just a bit more! This was HUGE!

But our parking meter was about to expire and we were getting hungry. So we left the beach, changed, got into the car, handed out sandwiches - turkey breast on a roll for us and PB&J in a pita for M - and drove off toward the Historic Riverfront. Even before we left the beachside, M fell fast asleep, still holding half-eaten pita and smearing PB&J all over his face.