Ahhh…the drive there. Long-ish. Managable-ish. Not too bad, really. The boys were 95% angelic–and I was 85% enjoying the journey. I had my Gas Station delicacies (Diet Mt. Dew and some Vance Lunch-O Cookies)…but, as is FM radio’s nature my favorite stations faded as soon as we left the city. Because I didn’t do a lot of “foreplanning”, I didn’t have a CD in the car other than my son’s favorite CD. So, I was subjected to backseat faded kid’s music for 4 hours. But, that left them entertained and me alone with my thoughts–so like I said, 85% enjoyable. :)
But, oh glorious beach. I had forgotten how magical the ocean is. I haven’t been to the beach since I was preggo with Twig2…and I hadn’t even realized I’d missed it. But, I HAD! The second we stepped over the hill and saw the shore, I almost gasped audibly. It turns out this trip was as much for me as it was for the boys. There is something endless and eternal and beautiful about the seashore. It’s vastness shows us our smallness. It’s strength shows us our weakness. It’s beauty points to a beautiful Creator.
Anyway, enough waxing philosophical! The boys had an absolute BLAST. I feared they would get bored quickly, much like they do at parks we visit (“It’s cold!” “Please hold me!” “I’m tired!”)…but no…they were absolutely enthralled by the whole experience. The cold (cold, cold, cold!) water, the many seashells to collect, the zillion grains of sand to mold into amazing creations. So.much.fun.to.be.had.
We had such a wonderful time. We collected a bucketful of seashells to remind us (me??) of our trip. I was all smiles and just relishing this time with my boys. We were enjoying the sand between our toes and the sun on our faces.
I really can’t say enough about what a magical day we spent at the seashore (as Twig1 now fondly says). It was one of those days where if you could freeze time in a moment…you would think “This is the life!” or “I want to remember this feeling of everything being right.”
Sandy toddler toes and sopping wet clothes…we trotted back to the car after a quick 1 1/2 hours spent exploring the shore. The boys napped for a long time on the way home and I was again left alone in the quiet with my thoughts. My thoughts drifted to our day and I couldn’t help but smile.
On a funny sidenote–while we were at the beach (Wrightsville Beach, right outside Wilmington, NC) they were filming scenes for the CW show “One Tree Hill”. I didn’t see any of the stars, because I was determined to stay out of the way with my 2 crazy boys…but, I think we were potentially in some backgrounds. :) It was sort of an electric atmosphere with a lot of locals catching the action.
When I first saw the commotion, I thought that there had been an incident/accident because there were several police cars…and then I saw that the police cars said “Tree Hill” on them. :) The above shot shows the overall filming and the shot below is a crop on the police car…which is a fakey.
Overall, we had an amazing day. It was absolutely magical…and renewed my confidence in wrangling my two Twigs even in complicated situations. There is so much to be said for just DOING THINGS–which has been my goal for this year (and blog) all along.