Last week was our annual family beach trip to Topsail Island! It is always so hard coming back from a relaxing vacation. This summer Auntie Michelle and Uncle Donovan were able to join us for the whole week along with Mimi and Pop Pop! Uncle Michael, my mom's brother came down for most of the week and Grammie and Abuelo joined us for a few days too.
We always have so much fun visiting with family!
Here are some of our beach bucket list items that were checked off our list:
T-25
Wake up and do T-25 as part of our morning exercise. This way we can eat like pigs the rest of the day right? I am embarrassed to even admit to all the junk we ate last week. We were bad, bad, bad! Getting back to normal this week is going to feel like we are on a diet.
Family Games
This year we made sure to play a few games before Finley went to bed so that he could participate too.
We packed one of his games, Hedbanz which is surprisingly challenging for adults too. By asking a series of yes and no questions you try to figure out what is on your card.
Finley did end up cheating a few times by looking at his reflection in the windows. He is so smart he tried to play it off by not guessing the answer right away. One time he asked "Is it made of wood?...Is it made of iron?...Is it a shovel???" He is too smart for his own good that several members of the family (who will remain nameless) did not even realize he was cheating! That cheeky boy.
One of our favorite adult games that Uncle Donovan introduced us to is called Anomia. It is kind of like a card version of Scategories. Although some of the old goats were having a hard time keeping up with this quick paced game :).
Beach Soccer!
We always play a few family games of beach soccer. The first day we played for an hour or so. The second day we played for about 30 - 45 minutes. And the third day we had too many injuries to play and had to retire. To try an keep up with all the calories we were eating one day we did T-25, played beach soccer, and then joined my dad for 9 holes of golf! Man was I beat after that!
Bocce
Bocce is one of our favorite beach games to play. But apparently this game is foreign to most people.
Several people came up to us and asked what we were playing. They had never heard of Bocce before. It is really simple. You throw a little white ball and then have two teams of two alternating trying to throw their balls as close to the white ball as possible. Closet to the ball wins a point or points if you have multiple balls closer than the other team. I guess it is kind of like curling? Just on the beach?
Walk on the Beach
We were about one mile away from the pier this year which made it the perfect walking to spot. We couldn't convince Finley to walk that far, but had several opportunities to do so without him.
Crab Hunting
We always love trying to catch crabs at the beach. This little guy was already dead and we found it floating in a tidal pool. We had fun scarring people with it!
And this guy we can't claim as our own. Someone else on the beach caught this sucker and was taking it home with them. Not sure if they were going to cook it or what.
Smash Ball
This game always gets very competitive. With all of Finley's tennis lessons he was well prepared to play us in this game. He may have even beaten me once.
But David wouldn't let him off that easy!
Playing in the Tidal Pools
Now you may think tidal pools are only for children and babies, but oh no! Even adults can have fun in tidal pools too! They are perfect for lounging in, sifting through shells, trying to catch little fish, and watching little toy boats float down the 'river'.
They are especially perfect if you aren't supposed to be fully submerged in the water!
Boogie Boarding
Now I know before we went to the beach we talked about how we weren't getting in the water very deep because of all the shark attacks...but, by the end of the week we were convinced we were invisible and went in all the way in anyways!
Finley enjoyed the smaller waves and being dragged around by David.
While David and by dad both attempted to body surf without too much success.
Wave Jumping
We also had a blast jumping the waves and 'swimming' in the ocean.
We were able to wrap up Mimi's arm sufficiently so that she could get in the water without fully submerging her arm. We called her aqua Mimi! (My poor mama had to be on iv antibiotics the week we were at the beach to get rid of an awful infection, but luckily she was able to do it herself and not stay at home!)
Although the first time she went in the water with Michelle it was during the tide change and they completely got taken out by a huge wave. I was so mad at them for being so careless, but luckily neither of them drowned and her arm stayed surprisingly dry due to Glad press and seal wrap! Oh and my mom donated another pair of sunglasses to the ocean. I swear there must be hundreds of sunglasses on the ocean floor. We always seem to lose at least one pair during the beach week.
Burying David in the Sand
I don't know why, but every year David insists on being buried in the sand.
It always seems a little crazy and a bit dangerous, but we do it anyways!
Plus it makes for some pretty fun pictures.
Celebrate!
Grammie's birthday was just a few days away so while she was visiting we baked a cake and made a special dinner to help celebrate her birthday!
Happy Birthday Grammie!
Family Photos
Of course we also take tons of family pictures while we are at the beach. Nothing too fancy. Mostly candid and funny pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.
One night we had a gorgeous moon that lit up the whole ocean. This picture doesn't do it justice! And then the last night we were there a storm came after dinner and the waves were huge, rough, and coming right up to the steps of our beach rental. Good thing we were leaving the next morning anyways! Other than that one stormy night we really lucked out and had beautiful weather.
I can't believe our beach week it over already! It always goes by too fast. I guess we can start counting down again until next summer!
