I have nothing profound to share with these photos, but one of the perks of having a blog is sharing [too many] family vacation photos, even if it’s more than a month after the trip!

Our first vacation day — Mother’s Day — was nothing but rain, rain, rain, and wet, wet dogs, all courtesy of a hurricane that couldn’t decide where it wanted to go. So we hunkered down and read and tried not to go stir crazy after having so much time in the car the day before. But once the storm cleared, the weather was perfection.

That’s my mom and her appropriately named dog Mocha at the coffee shop in the photo below. We were delighted she was able to come with us on this trip.

We rode bikes, ate doughnuts, rode bikes, drank coffee, rode bikes, went beach-combing, rode bikes. {We like our bikes.} We even got my mom out for a few bike rides, and Ken became known around town for the awesome kid-bike attachment he made. I think he should patent the contraption!

We ventured into the nearby city of Wilmington, met up with friends, walked around the city, ate lunch, and did a bit of shopping. The boy told me he really wants to be a pirate when he grow up, but one that doesn’t steal, so I told him it sounds like ship captain is the job he wants. That’s the USS North Carolina battleship in the background; it’s permanently parked (docked?) as a museum in the Cape Fear river.

We studied critters on the beach, identified most of our shell finds (that round one below is a sea biscuit), and read about sea turtles that would begin nesting on the beach just a few weeks after our trip.

We took the dogs to the beach (their first time!), built sand castles, walked on the pier, splashed in the waves. I made far too many sand-Piper jokes.

We brought home seashells (and bits of sand in our floorboards), but most of all, we brought back memories and started making plans to work toward our dream of someday living right here in this little beach town.

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »