36 hours LOADED with FuN!

Just along for the ride
Playing in the dirt
In her happy place

Me and the girls riding the train at Pullen Park
Madelyn and Hudson going up the slide
Madelyn and Hudson riding the Carousel
Chick-Fil-A lunch!
Riding the boats


Yesterday morning, I would never have thought we would be spending the night in Wilmington, NC and going to the BEACH! Sometimes my husband has the best ideas.



My dear friend Alisia and I spoke early yesterday morning and decided to take our kids to Pullen Park in Raleigh (about 45 minutes away). We stopped and picked up Chick-Fil-A and ate it at the park. then the kids had so much fun riding the train, the boats and the carousel. It was a perfect day, sunny and a little warm with a cool breeze. The kids loved it and were exhausted on the way home! That is when I got a call from Justin saying, "go home and pack an overnight bag with swimsuits and sunscreen...we're going to the beach!" It took some serious effort to find a place to stay as EVERYTHING in and around Wilmington was booked. FINALLY we got a reservation at a hotel that was a little pricy...looking back I can't believe we said "yes" like we could afford it, but God had a really neat plan! When we got to our hotel, they had overbooked and asked us if it would be okay to move us to another local hotel at THEIR expense!!!!! What?! Um...yeah!!! Thank you LORD :) We were so excited that our hotel was going to be FREE :)



We then asked a local where to eat and they directed us to a resturaunt called "Oceanic." Let me describe this for you because I have NO pictures. How disappointing, but this was a DREAM dinner. The place was ON the beach with a pier like deck that you could sit on. It was super busy, but there was NO wait to sit outside so we did. There was live guitar music/singing, and we were sitting on a dock above the beach where we could see the sunset! Madelyn was so excited to see the beach for the FIRST time. The girls both danced and entertained everyone around us, it was really magical. Seagulls were flying around hoping to get some leftovers, at one time, one flew down and grabbed a hush puppy out of our basket, it was soo funny! After dinner, we walked on the beach and the girls were so giddy, it was precious.

The next day we started at Fort Fisher NC Aquarium (AMAZING!) and then worked our way down by playing on the beach, eating lunch and then heading for the ferry to go see a famous lighthouse. The day was perfect in every way. God really planned out a good trip for us, as we planned nothing ourselves! We are so thankful for the gift of a quick gettaway that He provided!
About to go into the aquariumWhat a crab!Trying to touch the fisha starfish...Catharine did this too, and squealed a bit..it was cuteMadelyn loves being the "big" sisterLoving some Daddy timeSuch a happy girl
Not too thrilled about the cold water

Loving the water briefly...then she would run away

Me and my darlingsPlease do NOT eat the sand! She loved the beach sooo much

Walking down the pierSitting in my lap while we were on the ferry boat

Oak Island Lighthouse

I highly recommend to our seminary friends to go to Wilmington if you haven't already before your seminary journey is over. It is really a lot of fun and there are so many things to do!

NC Aquarium link:

http://www.ncaquariums.com/

Link to the beach we visited:

http://www.visitkure.com/

Link to the Lighthouse we saw:

http://www.itpi.dpi.state.nc.us/Caroclips/oakisland.html

Knocked out after a loooong day

After I took the picture of Catharine asleep, Madelyn pretended to be asleep...so I snapped a picture of her too!