Beachin' Memories...

Our big surprise was a few days at the beach.

Cape Hatteras

Our first day was a little chiller than expected.

It was supposed to be 80 but it was more like 65 with a lot of wind.

Not to cold to play in the sand

First night dinner.

The sand was so cold at night it felt like snow.

SAND! So much Sand, everywhere. 

We asked the locals what happened. 

Everyday there were bulldozers plowing the sand on the beach.

There was six feet of sand and you almost couldn't see the entrances to the hotels or restaurants. 

They had a Nor'easter storm in Feb and it brought in the beach and six feet of sand.

Then two weeks ago they had another storm.

Some of the beach houses are in the middle of rebuilding. 

Face-timing with Steven

The next day started out a little cold but warmed up.

I forgot the stool!

The boy can't poop without a stool.

*I realize he is probably going to kill me for this pic when he is older.*

Even though it was a little chilly, you have to have Ice Cream at the beach.

It started out like a nice relaxing walk on the beach to watch the sun set.

It turned into a horror film.

The crabs!

Oh. My. Gosh. The. Crabs!

This is a few seconds of what happens when my girls saw a few little tiny crabs.

Jaxson thought they were cool.

We started the next day, our last day, with a time honored tradition of early beach combing.

My Mom (aka Nana) used to get us up really early and take us out looking for shells.

Maybe not this early 5:30am but they were all willing. 

Tired but willing.

Treasure hunting.

See those little dots, that's how far they went.

They came back so excited!

Success! 

Amazing treasures!

The kids were so excited.

They found a great place with a ton of shells but their bucket was full.

So we grabbed more buckets and drove to the spot.

We climbed the sand dunes.

We can't wait to make our sea shell garden.

The first hour of driving home was just like driving in.

I had Des take a few pictures.

As you can see its sand everywhere.

Cleaning up.

As our family changes and grows, it is seldom I get this view.
Thus when I do I savor it.
They will never truly know the joy I get from this view.
Not until they have their own.

We made so many memories on this trip.
We came home full of sand (I'm still finding sand a couple weeks later).
But every grain of sand reminds me of how much fun they had.
They still talk about waking up sooooo early.
How "finding the biggest shell EVER with Sissy was so worth it."
How they cant wait until next trip.