Day 2 and 3 on Topsail Island

Monday. Wonderfully leisurely. William is still in his pjs and is reading with Grandpa.

After breakfast all but Ben decide on a walk on the beach. This photo below was taken by Kate.

Helen had seen a park on the map a little to the north along the beach. William always enjoys slides etc.

It was a lovely walk. So beautiful.

It was quite a way to the park and we finally found it but the metal structures were in full sun and William really didn't want to leave the beach. Helen and William went into the water and he had so much fun again. Couldn't help it. Had to make another video.

I saw Ben take a video too. It is much better than mine. We all had trouble uploading to YouTube yesterday so if you want to see it, you need to come back to this blog.

Here is James' find of sharks teeth.

Showered and changed again and in the living room Kate decided to FaceTime with daughter Jo and her children. William was fascinated seeing the other children who all knew him and called him by name. Of course he really had no idea how far away they were in England. So much fun!
Ah yes, I did make a video.

Then we went (in two cars of course) for lunch in a seafood restaurant. Crocodile tears because William wanted to go in Grandpa's car. But we didn't have enough space to bring his car seat with 4 people and all the luggage from Richmond. Ah, the seafood was delicious. When we parted Helen and Ben went home with William. Even more tears now all the way home (Helen texted) but it was nap time and she promised him we would be back when he woke up.
The rest of us did major shopping for the next two days. It had started to drizzle at lunch time but I received the picture below from Helen while in the shop. We couldn't believe it when we drove home. I tried to capture some of it in a video. She explained to us that they had experienced a short, very heavy thunderstorm and downpour.

My turn to make dinner tonight. Taco salad buffet. That is always a hit. 'Pudding': keylime pie.

Hanging around afterwards in the living room. Can't help it. I think William is too cute playing on Pops' iPad. So grown up.

Tuesday! A nice morning. William climbed into our bed in the morning and after a while we went upstairs into the living room and just hung around until others arrived. James and I decided to go for a "quick walk" on the beach.
We had gone a mile when we came to a place were people with Turtle Hospital shirts secured an access to the beach. We inquired and were told that at 10 am 3 turtles would be released frpm the hospital back into the ocean.

We rushed back to the house to tell the others but the big event of cooking an English breakfast was going on. Kate and Dave are experts at that.

Baked beans, baked tomatoes and mushrooms, bacon, fried toast, sunny side up eggs.

We were done eating when Ben said "let's go we still can make it". We all rushed and had to go with two cars. We found it right away from the road and were lucky with two parking spots.
We were so surprised how many people there were. We find the beach always so pleasantly empty.

The Sea Turtle Hospital people were releasing three turtles. We arrived just in time to witness the release of the first one.
Oceans Eleven is a huge turtle weighing 200 lbs. You can read all about it here.
Here is another link to an official site.

We could see the turtle swim away and her head sometimes bobbing above a wave. It was quite emotional. This particular turtle had been in the hospital for 4 years. It had arrived incredibly damaged.

Can you see William in the crowd?

Back to the house. William took a nap. Everybody relaxed their own way. Actually David and Kate worked very hard on preparing food for our dinner tonight.

Quarter passed three we were on our way to the very south tip of the island. Carolyn had told us about a beach at the sound more suitable for William. She was so right. None of those waves and he could not wait to walk into the water.

Helen had brought his floating device and he paddled around with the happiest eyes and giggles.
Here an impression of the area.

This side of the ocean was a totally different experience for William. See him paddle.

Kate and Dave went for a walk and I wanted to see what is further on. I walked for quite a while but then turned around because it seemed quite a long way and I thought James might want to have a look too. It was really pretty.

When I reached James, Helen and William again they were happily playing in the sand.
Yes, video!

What a day it was. And it was not over yet. Kate and Dave's dinner was really special. Ben "helped" by doing the grilling of steaks, fish and shrimp over charcoal. Roasted veggies and Gratin Dauphinois (french scalloped potatoes) were in the oven. What a feast!

But it still wasn't over. Uncle Dave's famous pancakes! Very thin more like crepes. This time with fresh sauteed rhubarb and a special sauce.

And ... it came with entertainment!

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If you want to go to "Day 4 and 5 on Topsail Island" click here.

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Day 1 on Topsail Island

Sunday morning. We leisurely got ready for our little trip to the rented house on Topsail Island, North Carolina. Trunk space was limited so Kate, David, James and I tried to take only the most necessary things.
But we did take a lunch picnic. We tried to find a picnic spot but were unsuccessful so we stopped in a place with some shade for our picnic. We had individual bowls of leftover salad from the night before (yummy!) and I wanted to take a 'tail gate' photo of mine but didn't set it down carefully enough. You can see where it ended up. James, Kate and David all jumped to say "you can have some of mine" but that was not necessary ... there was a 5th bowl because that made it all gone and it didn't fit in just 4. Ha-ha, the Lord provides! But I did feel foolish.  

No bench or so but, oh well, we had been sitting long enough anyway.

Oh yes, we had to make another stop for provisions.

Helen had texted us that William was too excited to take a nap. We were all greeted very well. We had left a little before 10 am and arrived around 3:30 pm.
Aunt Kate and Uncle Dave had brought the perfect gift for William. A Lego train!

I didn't capture the right moment because William did most of the assembly.

Soon we HAD TO go to the beach though. Aaaahhhh .....

The water was warm like bathtub water. It was so inviting that the others quickly went back to get their bathing suits. And in they went!

Helen, William and I went for a little walk.

I have never seen a little boy as excited at the ocean as William. I got carried away with taking videos:
Video 1  checking it out

Video 2   the anticipation in his face. Too bad I could not capture it. No fear really.
Video 3   he got splashed in the face in this one but didn't mind. He was just trying to lick the salt water away.

I got wet because William wanted to experience the waves. What are washing machines for?

And then back to the house. Straight ahead!

Afterwards Ben hosed William off at the house. Video!

And then William hosed off Pops and Omi. Video!

We enjoyed the front balcony. William found a nice gate for his new train to go through.

And then we had to make the bench slope so the train could go down. Yes, video!

And we enjoyed the back balcony.

This picture taken for Bec and Mark. Sundown libations!

Ben had prepared a wonderful dinner for us. A super-good salad, potatoes with mussels and steamed shrimp. And yes, we also had 'pudding' (what the family calls dessert).

And then Omi was allowed to cuddle William to sleep. What a day!

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If you want to go to "Day 2 and 3 on Topsail Island" click here.

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