we had a really busy summer and it almost looked like we weren’t going to be able to squeeze a beach trip in, but we had one available long weekend and managed to book a little airbnb at holden beach for an annual dose of salt, sand and sun, just before the school year starting ramping back up.
we arrived mid-afternoon and immediately dumped our stuff into the airbnb and hit the beach for an hour or so. just a little warm up.
the next morning, we packed up all of the toys and towels and books and snacks and drinks and set out for a full day. it was a million degrees, but the water was perfectly refreshing and not too cold. the waves were gentle and rolling and there was just a slight breeze. we literally could not have asked for better conditions. the girls (ike did not join us for this trip) had a great time and we all managed to avoid sunburns. mostly.
obviously, we stopped for ice cream at beaches and cream on the way back to the airbnb.
derek was supposed to go on a fishing trip the next day, so we invited our good pals amanda and ella out to visit for the day. (they recently abandoned us and moved to raleigh and we miss them greatly). anyways. turns out, derek didn’t go on the trip, but they still came. it was so good to see them. especially on a beach in the hot sun.
these two got right to work. heart.
it was another perfect day. the weather. the company. the ocean. all of it. five stars.
of course when the italian ice cart came by, we partook.
we were sad to have to say goodbye to them. 🙁
back at the airbnb, we had a lazy afternoon. i think i dozed off. i do know i ate an entire bag of granola and a huge container of pumpkin seeds. so much for my nutrition plan. haha. after dinner, it was determined that we should squeeze in one last ice cream trip. this time we hit up saltwater shanty. i got the “surf and turf” – so good. but, as soon as we ordered, the skies literally cracked up and dumped a monsoon on us, which greatly annoyed one particular lidkid.
we weren’t 100% sure if we were going to try to squeeze in a bit of family time at the beach the next morning before departing for home, so i made the executive decision to drive over for a long beach walk at sunrise. (the previous day’s walks in suburbia weren’t all that exciting).
in the end, we did decide to hit up the beach for an hour (turned three) before getting on the road. a fantastic encore performance if i do say so myself.
and then. like that. the beach was in our rear view. the summer was wrapping up. a new school year is on the horizon. and, sigh, life barrels on….