Beach Bums

This was our third family trip to the beach and the best one yet. Why? There was minimal whining and crying. Everyone slept. Everyone ate what was on their plates (mostly). Everyone had fun. Every day.

We stayed at the same Pine Knoll Shores condo we rented last year with three bedrooms. The girls stayed in the bunk bed room in the back. No one fell off the top bunk this year. Yay! Grandma and Grandpa Bench were in the other back bedroom, and Eric and I were in the master.

We had pretty much the same routine the first three days - wake up by 7:30 am, breakfast, beach, and then the pool. Lunch, nap, and afternoon activity followed.

The girls got to swim in the ocean for the first time this trip since there was no hurricane offshore. Lily went first and held on to a kickboard we had with us. She loved bobbing over the waves and told me that "this is the most fun ever." Madeleine also had a turn out on the waves, and she loved body surfing the waves in when we came ashore.

We braved Wings again and Madeleine can be seen here lounging in our $2 purchase.

We also tried water wings in the pool this year. They worked pretty well along with the noodles.

Here Lily is burying Madeleine and turning her into Ariel.

I also purchased these floatation suits on sale at Toys R Us, and these worked great since the two pools we visited were over our heads.

In the afternoons we visited Lost Treasure Golf, where we did the bumper boats, go karts, and played miniature golf. The girls had more patience for golf this year and pretty much played the hole ahead of us the entire time. We hit Dairy Queen in the afternoon as well as visiting our friend John who had a 6 bedroom rental down in Emerald Isle with its own pool.

Tuesday morning we packed up to come home in the rain. We visited the aquarium again this year, and the girls really enjoyed the Live Dive in the shark tank.