The first week of August we were finally able to make it back out to North Carolina to spend some time at the beach with friends. It started out a bit rocky, but ended up being a great trip and nice mental break from Covid and all the craziness in the world!
When we started our trip, we new there was a hurricane headed towards the Carolinas, but we decided to press forward and hope that it would go away or change course. It didn't do either. We got to Raleigh on Sunday and were supposed to head to the beach house on Monday, but Hurricane Isaias was supposed to hit Carolina Beach Monday night so we opted to stay another day in Raleigh and hopefully get out there Tuesday.
Monday, during the day, we were able to go visit our friends the Findlay's from the Quad Cities, who had just recently moved to Holly Springs. It was so fun to see them and their new house! Being around good friends is so therapeutic, even if its only for a little bit! I wish we would have gotten a picture here but I forgot! After our visit with the Findlays, we drove to Fuquay Varina and drove around our old neighborhood and showed the kids where we used to live and go on walks. It was pretty rainy so we didn't get out of the car for much of it, but it was a fun walk down memory lane! On the way back to our hotel we got our favorite Hibachi Chicken from Hibachi and Co in Fuquay. So yummy!!
After getting the "all clear" Tuesday morning from the Suttons (who had decided to ride out the hurricane in the beach house) we headed to the beach! As we got closer, it was easy to see the effects of the hurricane that hit- just hours earlier. There were down trees, branches, and power poles all over the place. Traffic lights were out in several places. At one point we had to divert our route because there was a giant tree in the road. Thankfully, we were finally able to make it to the house and see our friends, the Suttons and McDonalds! We love those guys!
The week was amazing and tiring and just what we needed. We spent lots of time playing on the beach and the weather held up pretty well for most of it! The first couple of days after the hurricane the waves were pretty rough, but we all still managed to have a great time. We had a couple of perfect (mostly calm) ocean and those were wonderful.
Highlights:
Katie and Colton got to stay up late one night and go fishing in the dark with Jason and his boys. They thought that was awesome.
I got to go on a walk one morning on a trail near the beach house with Lindsey and Krissy and we saw a real alligator in a pond we passed! Bucket list item checked off! Later that morning we took the kids to show them and they all were so excited!
One of the nights before we left we walked down to the beach and just enjoyed the sunset and letting the kids run around and play in the sand.
I went running on the beach one morning and loved it! It's always a bit tough to run in sand but the atmosphere is worth it! I also found some good shells and saw a crab on my run.
Katie spent a lot of the time at the beach collecting shells. She got so many!!
Colton, with help from Lindsey, was finally able to find a shark tooth. He also really loved all the chances to fish or watch the others fish. He was thrilled to see the alligator!
Madi did not like the water very much, the first several days but warmed up to it right about when it was time to head back home. She did enjoy being "in the water" if I was holding her.
Zach loved digging in the sand and making big holes and playing in the waves.
We had lots of great conversations with our great friends and can't wait until our next get together!!
