A Week at the Beach

I have been without internet access for a week so now need to catch up with my blog. This will hopefully be a brief account of our week in the Outer Banks.

We got to the Outer Banks last Sunday to our little beach house and while the kids played we unpacked everything we needed for our week stay. Bill went and bought some KFC and then after dinner we headed down to the beach for a walk. Claire and Bill immediately started walking in the wet sand while Sam and I stayed on dry land. Claire loved getting her feet wet and very quickly started running from the small waves coming in. Sam eventually saw how much fun Claire was having and decided to join her. Before we knew it we had two wet kids but at least they had a good first experience in the Outer Banks.

Monday morning we headed down to the beach around 9:00. As soon as we got down there we could see dolphins swimming near that shore. What a great way to start the week! Claire had a great time playing in the sand and especially loved having holes dug for her and letting water fill them. She said it was her tub. Sam, on the other hand, required a lot more entertaining. He played in the sand some, walked on the beach, went in the water, had a snack and then was ready to go. It was clear that he is not our beach kid. Monday afternoon, after quiet time, we went to play miniture golf for the first time. Sam loved it! Claire just had fun putting her ball in the hole and then taking it out again.

Tuesday morning we headed back down to the beach, with some resistence from Sam, and once again we saw dolphins swimming. Claire had fun playing in the sand but we had to keep thinking of things to do to keep Sam from wanting to go back to the house. Bill was able to keep him busy by spelling words in the sand but by shortly after 11 we were back at the house. That afternoon we went to the NC Aquarium where the kids loved watching the sharks, alligators and otters. The aquarium is small so we were able to walk through it twice and were done in an hour. After that we went to the Christmas Shop, which is my favorite store on the Outer Banks. I have been going to this shop since I was little and it brings back so many memories. We told the kids they could each pick out 1 ornament and from that point on Sam wanted every ornament he saw. We finally found something they both liked and then were off to dinner at a local bbq restaurant called Pigman's. From there we hit a couple gift shops in search of new Crocs for Sam but came up empty.

Wednesday we decided to skip the beach and go on a dolphin tour. We have done this before and it is fun, however, this particular day was very windy and the waves were choppy. We all ended up wet by the end of the 2 hour tour AND we never even saw dolphins. The kids did pretty well on the boat but it was definitely hard for them to stay confined to a small area for that long. That afternoon we took them to a playground on the island of Manteo and Bill watched the kids play while I walked down the quiet streets scoping the shops for Crocs for Sam. I finally found some but of course had to pay about $10 more than I would have if I had gotten them in TX. But, his other Crocs had clearly gotten too small and were hurting his feet so it was necessary to do something. That night after dinner we went out for ice cream. After bathtime all heck broke lose and Sam became a complete nightmare. He had already been a bit challenging that day but this was awful. He threw water on me during his bath and when I got him out of the tub he started hitting me and trying to kick and bite me. I put him in time out where he purposely peed on the carpet. Terrible! We had a long talk, he cleaned up his pee and the water on the bathroom floor and had to write an apology note to the owners of the house. Once he was in bed I decided I needed to take him for some one on one time. A week and a half of vacation and of constantly being with Claire was not doing anything good for him so I vowed to make Thursday better.

Thursday morning Claire and Bill went to the beach and Sam and I went back to the aquarium. It was nice to just have some time alone and his mood was much improved from the previous day. My parents arrived at our beach house shortly after Sam and I got there. That afternoon we were off to play miniature golf again where Sam tripped over some wood on a ramp at the course and busted his lip and hit his head. He was okay but it took awhile to get him calm. That night Bill and I went out for a nice dinner while the kids had pizza with my parents.

Friday we went back down to the beach, again with much resistance from Sam. Claire had lots of fun, especially jumping the waves. My cousin Jamie, who lives in the Outer Banks, came to see us with her two boys who are 6 and 3. They were in the water a lot which wasn't fun for Sam so he ended up going back to the house and watching a movie with my dad while the rest of us stayed on the beach. We all had lunch together at our house where the kids played for awhile. That afternoon my kids were grumpy so we hesitated taking them out for dinner but they final snapped out of their moods and did fine at dinner. Then we went out for ice cream and home for bed.

This morning it was rainy and we knew Sam didn't want to go to the beach so we decided to pack up early and head back to Virginia Beach. We went down to the beach one last time to feed the seagulls, which was pointless b/c Sam kept scaring them all away, but at least we got to see dolphins one last time. Funny how we saw dolphins everyday we were on the beach but when we paid to see them we didn't see a single one! We made a lunch stop at McDonald's on our way off the island and were back at my parents shortly after 2:00.

It was a fun week but at times very challenging to keep the kids entertained since they didn't want to be on the beach very long. Plus, the kids and I had already been away from home for a week by the time we got to the Outer Banks so spending another week away from home was probably too much for them. We have all been talking about going home for a couple of days now so our trip home tomorrow is much anticipated.

So much for a brief blog entry! That wraps up our week at the beach. We took lots of great pictures so will post some as soon as I can.