Topsail Beach, NC Trina8:59 PM 1 comments

Wednesday of last week Nana called to invite us to join her at the beach cottage she had reserved for this week.  Her birthday week.  Her 50th birthday week.  Sigh.  We had to go. 

There was some scrambling involved.  Emmanuel managed to rearrange three of his shifts at the last minute (unheard of) so that Saturday night around 10pm, we were on the road to the Seaside Retreat at Topsail Beach, NC to enjoy two full days of sand, salt water, and of course, family.

We arrived at 6:45am on Sunday greeted by Nana, Kevin, Uncle Brian, and his friend Jack.  Nana had a slew of books for Fallon to dive into (which she promptly did) and we all dove into a pancake and bacon breakfast. 

Once we were fed and unpacked, we donned our beach gear and headed down the back deck to the beautiful beach below. 

Fallon had her own chair which immediately made her the queen of everything. 

Her initial reaction to the soft sand wasn't pleasant.

But after persistent coaxing, she learned that sand could bring hours of entertainment.  For the next two hours, she made sand cakes, sand applesauce, sand cookies, and of course, sand castles.  Fallon took her sand projects very seriously, of course. 

Later Sunday afternoon, the clouds rolled in, so we headed back to the house to fire up the grill and cook up some steaks.  It was raining by the time we sat down to eat, so we enjoyed a movie and turned in fairly early (not without prayers for a sunny day Monday).

Prayers answered, Monday provided a bright sun and blue sky all day.  Nana had set up nearly every beach-related item she could find, and we spent nearly the entire morning and afternoon on the sand and in the water. 

Much to our surprise, despite her adament protests on Sunday, Fallon went straight to the water in search for sea shells. 

We jumped waves, splashed as we walked, boogie boarded, and even played a little ring around the rosie in the water.

Sand castles were built and more sand-food was prepared.

Eventually, it was time to clean up, pack, and get a little lunch in our bellies.  After lunch, we headed to the souvenier shops to memorialize our visit (as though 90+ pictures isn't enough) and grabbed some ice cream cones.  Because you know, you have to have ice cream on hot summer days!

We headed back home after a shrimp dinner (fresh-caught) around 7:30pm on Monday and after a long drive (nearly 500 miles)...we pulled in the garage at 3:30am Tuesday morning.  The trip, though short...was totally worth it.  I would absolutely do it all again.  Except next time...we'd stay longer.