Family Vacation- Emerald Isle, 2011
Family Vacation- May, 2011
We studied the explorers earlier this year so when I saw that Christopher Columbus’ ships were coming to our favorite beach, I scheduled our annual beach trip to coincide. We stayed at a condo in the Ocean Club Resort this year- the kids really enjoyed fishing from the pier and swimming in the pools.
Mary & Nathan fishing off the pier.
Mary, Nathan & Savvy ready to head to the beach.
Nathan, Lyra, Mary & Savvy aboard the Nina. I absolutely could not believe how *small* these ships were- they were tiny! I can’t imagine 30 men living on the deck for months and months on end. It is mind boggling when you really see how small these ships are and think about the number of people on board, out in the ocean, for such extended lengths of time. Amazing.
The Nina and The Pinta behind the three big kids.
This picture makes me laugh. Lyra HATED the ocean- there was nothing she liked about it- not the sand, the water, the wind & sound of the waves. She cried every time we tried to put her down. She spent the entire time we were at the ocean either in Kip’s arms or mine or sitting in a beach chair.
Love this picture of the big girls!
Nathan, Lyra with Kip, Mary & Savvy- walking along the ocean at sunset…
Initially Savvy was not much interested in the ocean- she’d run away & say “I skeered of de ocean”. She spent the majority of the first two times we went to the ocean up near the dunes, playing by herself, as far away from the water as possible. She did eventually warm up & come down & play closer to the water.
NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. We go here every year- one of our favorite places.
Because we went to the Aquarium on a school day, it was largely empty. Mary & Nathan got to spend lots of one-on-one time with the instructors in the hands-on water lab area. Nathan had about 1 billion and 1 questions.
Cross-section of a shell- very interesting to see the inside.
This star fish killed itself trying to eat this shell.
What would a trip to Emerald Isle be without a stop at our favorite local ice cream store, The Sweet Spot?
Making drip castles…
If you know Lyra at all, you know she crawls a million miles a minute and never sits still. At 14 months old she’s very much into the busy, exploring stage. No lie, she spent probably 2 hours sitting on this little beach chair. She was not, no way, getting off it or letting her feet touch the sand. She sat, ate her cheerios and drank her water & watched everyone else. I don’t think I have EVER seen her sit still for so long.
The view from the back deck of our condo- sunset on the sound. Beautiful!
