Thanksgiving at the beach

We were beach bound for turkey day this year and we could NOT wait to get down there! Eddie was so excited, he left on Sunday- ha! I had to work and the boys had school, so we hit the road on Tuesday, after preschool. 

Driving over that bridge makes me so so happy.... because we left around 1:30, we missed all traffic.  

We had the best time with ideal weather.  The boys were well behaved, the food was delicious and the company was PERFECT! What more could you want??


 The boys spent 98% of their time outside playing.  I was IN HEAVEN! They would wake up (early) and eat and then they were outside the rest of the day.  Playing, bike riding, swinging, running around, throwing balls, fishing, etc etc...

This was a fun game: hang off the side until you fall all the way over into the dirt.  

 Grandma and her boys!!! These two sure do love her!!!

The bike riding tricks were taken to a whole different level.  And it was terrifying.  Legs spread wide, legs turned side ways...

 Andy put his feet up on the handle bars.  Talk about scary!

Mom and I pulled up chairs and sat watching them ride while we split a bottle of champagne-- why not?

CalBoy came over for some sweet kisses-- I was not hating this! He will not want to smooch me much longer.  I am soaking this up!

All of the outside play time made for some DIRTY boys.  The tub was put to good use....and I feel confident we left a massive ring around that tub when we left! ha! And, Catherine/Margaret must have left some barbies in the bathroom because these two found them and cracked up.  

 After getting cleaned up, we spent some time decorating gingerbread cookies.  And eating them. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving and mom and I spent most of the day in the kitchen.  I took no pictures during the day because we were cooking machines.  I so wish I had taken pictures of everything we made! I made some delicious green beans and some garlic mashed potatoes and some monkey bread for breakfast...

After eating and cleaning it all up (I swear to you, the eating part takes about 5 minutes... compared to the effort for cooking and cleaning.....uhhhh.....), we headed outside for some more bike riding. 

This kid has one foot on handle bars and one hand in the air..... who is he???

Then they had a big fat wrestle match in the grass.  Of course they did.  

My people make me so happy.  I got my vest on sale and that makes me happy too.  

Andy has really become such a dog lover.  He always has been, really-- both boys are.  But he is soooo sweet with both dogs.  He is gentle and loving to them.  I caught him talking to Bruce and telling him he "would always share his piddow" with him.  Talk about heart melting.  

Eddie and Andy went out to watch the sunset over the beach.  Talk about gorgeous!

The crew did lots of fishing-- they didn't catch anything... but they did some trying!

And Edide bought a boat (have I already mentioned that on here?). Well he bought it a few months ago and hasn't had much time to spend on it.  We spent a ton of time on it this weekend!

I hadn't gone on it and was dying to.... so my mom and Tricia and Tommy offered to keep the boys so we could take a little date cruise-- it was so much fun! It was a little chilly, so we bundled up, but his helm is protected by a windshield so we weren't cold out there at all (plus we wore pretty sweet hats to keep us warm....)

The sun set on the way home from our "date" was amazing!

I made this amazing Monkey Bread-- this breakfast food is always a big hit.  I think I am making it for Christmas Eve.  You can make it the night before and then just pour over some yumminess and pop in the oven.  

This dog played so hard the whole week.   He has slept a ton since being home....and is so so calm.  He needs a week at the beach every other week!

 We walked over to the beach one day and it was just beautiful out.  Hank ran and ran and ran like a puppy.  My mom made a good point-- you really don't know when his last trip to the beach will be.  Cue my tears.  Seeing him this happy totally made my day.  See in pic below? I swear, he is smiling. 

Eddie came over and paddle boarded.  I took this picture, which I think is a neat shot, but there were dolphins jumping all around him while he was out there-- I just couldn't time my picture just right!

 Love my salty dogs! Seriously- I love these two like they are my children... that's kind of alarming, isn't it?

Cal and Andy both wanted to sit in my lap and I just wanted to take a sip of some beer.  Tricia took this picture-- they were about to wrestle in the sand.  (of course they were)

Our friends came over to the beach to meet us with their two little girls.  I guess they all decided to dip their hair in the water...

 Next thing I knew...Cal was full on swimming...

We had quite the set up on the beach.... 

 After much swimming and playing in the sand, we loaded up the truck to head back to the house for the UNC game.  Tricia and I rode in the back of the truck on the way home!

This was our view-- don't think it could have been any prettier!

When we got home from the beach, the boys stayed outside playing until wayyyy late.  But they were so happy, it was hard to call them in! They got all bathed and clean and then I caught Andy bringing a picture frame over to Hank from when he was just a little puppy... he set it right by Hank's head (facing the wrong direction, whatevs).  This kid loves these dogs!

It was a beautiful week at the beach!!! I can't wait to go back again!