ocean isle 2011

Must blog about vacation before it's a distant memory. We had a great time spending a week in Ocean Isle, North Carolina with Lamar's family.

ALL these folks vacationed together. (Actually were ALL there simultaneously for about 24 hours, but most of us were there for a good portion of the week.)

The view from our condo. I took this right after we arrived Saturday evening after travelling for about 12 hours. I don't enjoy car trips as much as I used to, especially since Luke learned to whine about being bored and wanting be there.

But it was so worth the drive. Luke checking out the balcony with Maddie. We had a great balcony with lots of chairs. We spent many hours sitting, talking, and listening to the ocean. Some of us spent a lot more time on the balcony than others (grandparents).

Shortly after we arrived Luke needed to head to the beach. And surprise, surprise, several cousins were more than happy to accompany him, even though they'd just returned from the beach. Here Luke's making his first walk to the ocean as a 6 year old.

Luke, Maddie, and Haley enjoying the ocean.

Luke LOVED the ocean right away this trip. And wasn't the sunset sky pretty?

Back at the condo we had some dinner (Try just throwing dinner together for 16 people.) and then some of the kids played some BINGO.

Luke suggested everyone "act out" the prize they selected from my prize bag. (Luke's pretending to write in his notebook.) I really hope Jonathan is still taking good care of his finger puppet. You might note the teens had their phones easily accessible during the game. They are such good multitaskers.

Luke and Maddie in the pool, and maybe some more cousins behind them. I can't tell. Or maybe the man that Caitlin bear hugged when she was "it" while playing Marco Polo. Whoops. He was not a cousin.

The cousins at Sharky's. Love the kids' table with big kids to help the little one. At Sharky's I had some seriously good crab cakes. And Luke had a hamburger. I think the love of seafood skipped a generation.

Luke and Haley modeling the wares at Waves or one of those beachy shops. Grandma insisted on purchasing some boogie boards for the kids. Guess which kid enjoyed it the most.

Lamar was the champion wave rider.

Me and my boy at the beach. I convinced him to pose with me for about 10 seconds, but he was off again having so much fun with all his cousins. It was so nice to not have to be the playmate for a few days. I got to just enjoy being mom.

The kids at the Giggling Mackerel. I had the grouper sandwich. Yum. Luke had chicken fingers and onion rings.

We saw this fiddler crab on the beach. He looked like a cartoon character, especially when he scurried across the sand.

Luke, Lamar, and Maddie jumping some waves. Luke was so brave in the ocean. And he wanted to hang with his cousins, even when the ventured pretty far out. The surf was really strong. All our swimmers got really tired riding the waves. And I was just exhausted from sitting in my chair and handing out snacks and drinks.

Luke's looking pretty pooped here from all his wave jumping. And I think that's Lamar and his trusty boogie board behind them.

On Wednesday we took a little break from the beach and headed inland for some mini golf. Serious fun. Luke is actually pretty good at mini golf. We also went souvenir shopping. When leaving, Jonathan thought he found our van and opened the door and discovered a bunch of strangers sitting inside. Wrong van. Another favorite memory.

Thursday morning we went back to the beach and then out for lunch and ice cream. Luke had his first ever double scoop: mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream. Can't argue with his flavor choice. My two very favorites. This ice cream eating nearly ended in disaster as keeping up with two melting scoops was more than his tongue could handle. We restored order in his world with a cup and a spoon.

After ice cream, Luke really wanted to play mini golf again, this time at the small course on Ocean Isle. Not everyone shared his enthusiasm. But Lamar, Luke, Maddie and I were up for a game.

Luke got his first hole in one. He thinks he got a hole in one on two different holes, but actually one had a little help from a foot when Luke wasn't looking. But he did have one legitimate hole in one with no assistance.

Totaling up the scores. Very intense.

What fun is a beach trip without forcing everyone to take family photos? This was just before we headed out and maybe my favorite picture of the night.

The Fields got some precious family pictures. We got a few I liked. Luke asked for a crazy face picture.

2011 Christmas card

Another outtake from family photo night. Love it.




Another favorite photo.

I love this one too. He just absolutely adores these girls.

So because we love our families so much, Donna and I decided to drag the kids down to beach a second night for individual photos. Luke wore his new souvenir Sunset Beach t-shirt. We actually went to Ocean Isle Beach. Whoops. Need reading lessons from Luke.

Since we were doing more photos, why not try for another family photo? It was a little windy, so we tried a few different angles so my hair wouldn't be blowing in my face.

Ta da! Definitely not blowing in my face. Makes me laugh every time I look at it.

I don't have photos from when 14 of us went crabbing (mostly because I spent a large portion of time driving back into town to find a restroom--and a diet coke.) Crabbing is not really an event suitable for 14 folks, half of whom are less than enthusiastic about the adventure. But we made memories, like when one of the two crabs they caught pinched Lamar's finger and Luke cried when he saw the blood.

What a great trip, until I pulled my back packing to leave on Friday. Thankfully we planned to split the trip coming home and had hotel reservations. I spent hours in bed alternating heat and ice. Getting old is hard.

We had a super week. I was really touched to see how much all the cousins enjoy each other's company, young and old(er). I think Luke's strong sense of family togetherness is definitely an inherited trait.