wrightsville beach

{a quick jump back to the beginning of August}
We came home from Lake Powell, R had work for a few days, and miraculously had what is called a "golden weekend" where he didn't have to work at all! Wow, we got lucky for sure. AND it just so happened that his birthday and our wedding anniversary fell on that weekend. So we celebrated by going to the beach - complete spur of the moment kind of decision and it was awesome!

We stayed in a cute town of Wilmington, NC. Crazy rush-out-the-door-forgetting-things stories occurred, and our first full day there required us to buy a new swimsuit for Ry. As he's in the store, the kids and I in the car, it starts raining. Hard. Mind you we were literally on our way to the beach, dressed and ready (sans R).

He runs out to the car and jumps in, looks at me and says, "It may take some work, but we are going to enjoy this." I burst out laughing, and that phrase was repeated countless times throughout our short trip.

We were able to enjoy the beach on both days, and loved it. Both days were cut short by crazy thunderstorms and lightening, but we had a great time. Here's a photo recap of our journeyings.

I have surprised myself by my love for sand on kids. I know at times it may be annoying, but while we're at the beach it is just so classically perfect that I fall in love with staring at the grains of sand on my little loves.  

 

By far the best guy in the world. Oh how I love him.

 And spending the morning at the beach as a family was the best way to celebrate our anniversary! 

Happy 7 years to us!

 We ate a late lunch and had a quiet time with a show for the kids at the hotel while R and I watched the Olympics. Go USA!

 The weather was a bit sketchy in the evening, so we opted to walk along the riverwalk in downtown Wilmington. L-man loved staring at the battleship across the river. 

 Sweet Lady-LE just loved running around. 

 We found a really yummy place to grab some dinner. The kids were fantastic, and R and I loved sharing our seafood plates. Hooray for celebrations! 

It was forecasted to rain, plus it was Monday night.  So we practically had the riverwalk to ourselves. 

 Lady-LE loved pushing L-man around ... until there was a slight hill in the way and she got stuck. R reached down to help her push up the hill, and this upcoming series was her reaction:

 Threw her body on the ground screaming. I told R to just let her be (since there was hardly anyone outside with us), and we had a good laugh watching her be so dramatic. 

 Eventually she looked around, and saw Daddy a little ways down. She stands up, and in her sweet, soft, sing-songy voice says, "Daddy! I coming!"

 And runs to R as if nothing ever happened. Oh that girl. She is getting way more opinionated for her own good. 

 We grabbed some delicious ice cream as a treat, played a little bit longer, then went back to the hotel for late bedtimes. 

 Tuesday morning we woke up, packed up our hotel room, and went out to breakfast. Then we hit up the beach again, and had a crazy weather morning! I'm not near good enough with my camera to know how to adjust everything manually for the crazy lighting we had, so a lot of the pictures from Tuesday are a bit sketchy. But I'm putting them up here in all their imperfect glory. It's all part of the learning process, and I still find them cute. Of course it's because my kids are the focal points, and I love that. Someday I'll have all the details of my camera figured out. Until then, I still love taking the pictures!

 The dark storm clouds were starting to roll in, but lucky for us we got a family picture in! Hooray!

Oh boy I love the men in my life.  

 Isn't it funny that my kids have the exact same hair? Strawberry-blonde. I wished so hard for the bright red hair that I think is so darling. But they both have a little bit of everything - blonde, light brown, and bright red - all mixed in with beautiful highlights. Silly observation, but I love it. 

 Lady-LE was not a fan of the water in her mouth. Cute girl. 

Happiness. 

 Oh we miss the beach already. 

The storm clouds came in, as expected, and it was in sane. We got drenched as we had to wash off, get dressed into clothes, load the car, and drive home. But it was so worth it. 

"It may take some work, but we are going to enjoy this."

Yes, we definitely enjoyed it.

Thanks for an awesome anniversary trip R! Love you more than ever.