Flack Beach Trip (Part 2)

Thursday morning, we started off easy. Uncle Day Day was coming up in the afternoon so we wanted to wait and go to the beach with him. We lounged around the house for a little while.

The boys enjoyed stuffing their faces with banana. :)

Of course, mornings seem to start sometime between five and six every day, so we had a lot of time to try and fill before we got to lunch and nap. The kids started to get a little restless, so we took them out to walk up and down the pier.

The boys enjoyed walking all the way to the end of the pier and they loved looking out at the ocean. They also liked looking through the planks to see the ocean down below them. I thought they would be more interested in the fish that some of the fisherman had caught, but they could have cared less. It didn't take long for them to lose interest though and be ready to move on to the next thing! Michael and I took our kids to get some ice cream/italian ice and then back to the beach house. Gramma bought kites for Lucy and Harper to decorate which they enjoyed. 

After lunch/naptime, it was time to go to the beach with Uncle Day Day! Lucy had been excited all week about this!

Uncle Day Day and Aunt Lauren dug a big hole for the kids and they had a great time climbing in and out of it. Harper like to slide down into the hole and Lucy loved to jump in when a wave would come up and fill it with some water.

Lucy enjoyed playing mermaid in the water.

 Uncle Day Day is not as cute a mermaid as Lucy. . . . 

 After all our beach fun, we came back and Uncle Day Day cooked us a huge dinner. I wish I had a picture of all the food that was covering the table, but we were all too busy eating!

There were thunderstorms happening when we went to bed on Thursday night. Around 4 AM, there was the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard. It woke everyone in the house up . . .except for my three boys!! The thunder even caused the smoke alarm in our room to sound its test so they slept through all that beeping too! When we got up in the morning, we realized that several of the breakers had tripped and that the cable box downstairs as well as the TV no longer worked.  So what do you do when there's no TV? Read a book, of course!

Charlie wanted to read Pappy's book!

Uncle Day Day had to leave to go back to work . . . 

We took the kids to the beach that morning, but they were so tired after our eventful evening and just not really in the mood to play for long. Michael and I took the kids to Wings so that the could have a change of scenery. We let them pick out a small toy to play with - they were very excited. Lucy got a shell bracelet, much like the lovely beach jewelry I used to get as a child. Alex picked out a blue monster truck and Charlie got a yellow VW beetle.

After Wings, we drove around looking for a playground. We didn't find one, but we found an amazing deli called Archibald's. MMMMM!!! We came back to the beach house and had a little dessert before naptime.

We quickly found out that due to the storm the previous night, the air conditioning upstairs had quit working. It became unbearable upstairs and so no one was able to nap. The air conditioning repairman came to save the day though so we would be able to sleep that evening. While he was working and we were waiting to leave for dinner, we took the kids down to the beach to take our Flack Family of Five feet picture.

I wanted to take a picture of all three, but with no nap, this is the best you are going to get! ;)

We met the Thrifts for dinner that night in Calabash. It was a yummy meal and good to get to visit with everyone, even if it was such a short time. Lucy had a good time talking to Nathan. I think they would be good buddies if we lived closer. As we were leaving, we saw the giant shrimp outside and reenacted a photo of Lucy and her Daddy from when she was little. Here is the one from our trip this year. . .

And here's the one from when she was 3 months old. . . 

We had a great time. Lots of good food, lots of fun activities, and lots of quality time with family.  :)

Flack Beach Trip (Part 1)

Alright, make sure you get comfy, because here comes a LONG entry!!!! This past week, we went to Holden Beach for a week of Flack/Hout fun! Gramma, Pappy, our five, Aunt Lauren, Uncle Joe, Harper and Rosa all under one roof! :) Lucy had been so excited since our last beach trip - this little girl loves the ocean! :)

We got to the beach on Saturday afternoon and settled into the beach house. We unpacked, went to the store, and just hung out together. Of course, it didn't take us long Sunday to be ready to head out for some fun in the sun.

What would a trip to the beach be without smashing some sand castles? :)

Even Rosa  enjoyed the beach!

Mornings at the beach house were a little wild and crazy. Charlie and Alex loved the doors in the house because they were able to open them. There was quite a lot of slamming and opening of doors. They also could reach the light switches while they were on the stairs. They could open and slam the cabinets and the oven in the kitchen. There were stools and chairs to climb on . . . they had a blast, but we spent a lot of time trying to keep them from injuring themselves! ;)

On Monday, there was a 60% chance of rain. Michael and I had done a little research before we left and found this great place in Wilmington called "The Power of Play." It was an indoor playground that had all kinds of slides and jungle gyms as well as pretend play areas like a grocery store, a fire truck, a doll house, etc. One of the kids favorite things was the little Roller Coaster ride. I think they would have ridden it all day if there hadn't been other kids waiting to ride too!

Lucy had lots of fun on everything. If you ask her, she will tell you that her favorite thing was the tricycles on the track, but she really enjoyed all of the slides as well. I don't know why, but these slides were super slippery and when she came down them, she would keep on going even once the slide ended. I think that just added to the fun! :)

Alex discovered the car and train table and he spent a long amount of time driving everything back and forth. Charlie came over and joined him and they played and played. One little boy came by and asked when we were going home because he wanted to play with it all by himself and the boys wouldn't leave! I think we know what Santa will be bringing this year . . .

Another favorite activity for Lucy and Harper was playing on the iphone/ipad. We would set the timer for them so that they didn't spend all day playing games!

Hanging out with Gramma

On Tuesday, we got the water table out.  At first, they were all excited to splash and play . . . 

However, when you are trying to entertain a 5 year old, a 2 year old, and two almost 2 year olds, it's not easy to keep them interested in one thing for very long. They quickly decided that it was much more fun to play with all the little rocks. They wanted to throw rocks, put them in the water table, taste the rocks, etc. It was a busy time!

We went back the beach again that afternoon.  Playing in the sand was enjoyed by everyone!

Lucy wanted to spend most of her time in the water!

She did enjoy playing in the sand too. :)

One of Charlie's favorite activities was being in the waves. He would come and take your hand and walk you down to the water. He wanted to just stand there and watch the waves roll  in and out. I would sit down in the waves and Charlie would sit in my lap and he wouldn't move. He was mesmerized by the ocean and I enjoyed having that time just sitting with him . . . it is so rare for him to sit still for any amount of time! 

On Wednesday, we drove down to North Myrtle Beach to eat at Uncle Day Day's restaurant, Flying Fish. We had a nice lunch and a good visit with David and Bri and then we all headed over to Broadway at the Beach to ride the Pavilion rides. We started off with the Merry-Go-Round. 

After that, we rode the boats. I remember riding this same ride when I was a child. :) I was nervous that the boys wouldn't sit still in the boats, but they LOVED it!!!

Alex wanted to play in the water as we were getting out of the boat!

There were only a few other rides that the boys were eligible to ride at their size, but I was nervous that they wouldn't stay seated, so we let Harper and Lucy ride two more rides and the boys left to go play in the arcade with Uncle Day Day. Lucy and Harper went and rode the motorcycles. (Another flashback to my childhood! Many good memories!)

Then I took the girls on the teacup ride. In case you don't know, teacups are my all time favorites. I tried not to spin too fast so that Harper wouldn't get sick. :) Both girls enjoyed helping me spin the teacup as well.

After that, we went to catch up with everyone. The boys were playing with the door to the claw game in the arcade. I think if we had let them, they would have figured out a way to crawl up and get themselves a prize! :)

Alex and Bri

As much fun as we were having, it was just too hot! Charlie just laid himself down on the ground!

When we got home, I think the heat and excitement had worn everyone out! A little lazy TV/couch time was in order!

Whew! What a fun week and I'm only halfway through it! Stay tuned for part 2! :)