Mother's Day Weekend at the Beach

Ignoring a stormy weather forecast, and in spite of (or rather, because of) a lengthy to-do list of house renovations, we packed up and headed to the beach for Mother's Day weekend this year. We're absolutely loving our new house, and, most of the time, the never-ending chores and updates - even my ongoing battles with poison ivy and sugar ants - are to be relished because they're our weeds and our ants in our yard. But sometimes, you just need to drive away to the beach. So we did.

When we got up on Saturday, it was a little too chilly and windy for the beach, so we spent the morning at Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium. Drew and I had both been before - he was there with his family probably 15 years ago, and I chaperoned a field trip there over 7 years ago when I was at Duke. It was a fun first for us together and a lifetime first for Miss Naomi.

^ Naomi has gotten very fast... too fast. ^

We walked down the boardwalk to the aquarium's new "natural" playground in the woods. The slide was enormous, the climbing opportunities were plentiful (and plenty dangerous), and the swing was ideal for a tandem ride with dad - playground perfection in Naomi's estimation (and she was only interested in going back inside after collision between her mouth and the tire swing).

Later in the afternoon, we made a minimalist beach trip - just us, a seashell bucket, and a few snacks. It was still chilly enough that the chance that any swimming or sunbathing would go down was zip, zero, none, and Naomi was only happy zipped up in her coat. But the sand felt great between our toes, and the sun - when it managed to peep out from behind the clouds - was just what our pasty skin needed.

After sufficiently adding - yet again - to our bountiful seashell collection, we headed to Willis Seafood Market for some shrimp and went back to the beach house for dinner. Our meals at the beach almost always consist of some fresh-caught something from Willis' paired with pasta or potatoes and salad from home. And that key lime pie they sell. Somehow it's simultaneously overpriced and worth every penny. If only they sold it by the slice, so we didn't have to consume the whole pie in 24 hours...

^ Oh, poison ivy, how I dislike you. It would get much, much worse before getting better... ^

After dinner, we rocked and watched the sun set from the top deck, then walked out to the water to get a closer look. 

^ Attempting to explain where the sun went: we have to share it with the people in China...^

We get to see the moon for a while, while they have the sun. 

It always comes back in the morning, dear girl. 

On Sunday, Naomi was up bright and early, so we drove to the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier to see what we could see, waiting for it to get warm enough to go to the beach. Walking with a toddler on a fishing pier was an unexpectedly challenging exercise - so many sharp, flying hooks to avoid, so many dead, decapitated animals to explain, and so many giant splinters to prevent. But I'm glad we went - like the aquarium, it was another first for all of us together. Now we know. 

After the pier, we finally made it to the beach in our bathing suits. The weatherman got it all wrong; the day was warm and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. We ate a picnic lunch, built a few sand castles, collected a few shells, and mostly just soaked up the sunshine. There's nowhere else on Earth I would have rather been that day. 

Sometimes, you just have to drive away to the beach. But it's always nice to come back home, sun-kissed and still a little sandy, but ready to tackle some of the painting and weeding and scrubbing on that to-do list hanging on our refrigerator.