At the Beach with Friends

 

Over the weekend, we drove down to Emerald Isle, off the coast of North Carolina. There, we ate amazing food, drank margaritas, played fun games, built an enormous sand castle, and the best part....we did it all with great friends. Above is Anna and Tucker. I lived with Anna for two years in college, and we came to consider each other as true sisters. (So it was appropriate that we shared the last name of Williams.) I try to see her every chance I get. Anna and Tucker both graduated from Hillsdale with Paul and me.

Introducing Henry David LaPrade. Charming, playful, and inquisitive, he'll bowl over all the girls with one glance and keep them cooing with his hearty giggles. The whole time we were there, he was quiet and delightful, happy to explore the beach even when it was cold and windy! A first-class delight!

 

This is Henry in his back-pack carrier. Ready for his nap...

 

 

Fun on the beach! Anna and I made a fantastic sand castle while the boys dove into the water. The air temperature was somewhere in the upper 50s. And though it was sunny, it was by no means hot. You can imagine how cold the water was! But still, Paul dove in with our body-board and rode several of the waves... and seemed to enjoy it too! 

We also had fun hanging out at the house that we rented for the weekend: The Lucky Pelican. We played with Henry, and (from the hordes of games that we all brought) we played the classic games of Stock Exchange (which is a lot like Pit) and Balderdash, both of which brought a lot of laughs as it got later and we became more creative in our answers.

David sported his heavy-duty mo-hawk hat for us while we played Stock Exchange. 

can I just say: "awwwww...."

Saturday night, there we went out to the Southwest point of the island to watch the sunset. It was so beautiful, seeing the sky and the colors and the sand all stretch off into the distance. It was windy, and there was a slight film of moving sand from the wind that made it look like we were watching the world turn around from miles and miles above it. So completely cool.