wordless august: beach style

i was fixin' to (sorry -- that's my north carolina roots talking) going to title this post my normal "wordless wednesday".  but then i realized that it wasn't wednesday.  and i've been pretty much wordless all month.  so "wordless august" seems more appropriate ... have i mentioned that we're in the middle of a house renovation?

i'm finally getting around to uploading photos from our multiple trips to the beach this summer.  we spent a week with my extended family for our annual reunion, another five days with our dear friends the basses (who might be in this blog as much as we are this summer), and just returned from bald head island, where we enjoyed another five days with chris's parents.  not a bad way to spend your summer break, especially your alternative is a house with an inch of drywall dust on every surface.  (i've discussed the renovation before, right?)

i am always so thankful that we are just a hop, skip, and jump away from our beautiful coast -- and our children, as you'll see, agree.

after years of watching me hunt for beach glass, susanna began a collection of her own

much like an old man, most afternoons liam would return to the beach showered and dressed, with a book in his hand.  he pored over the "encyclopedia of sports" he received as an early birthday present.  we are SO hoping that kids' Jeopardy has a sports theme when he's a contestant

susanna's on her way to china with the help of her great-uncle ron and cousin reilly



more digging with reilly, her partner-in-crime for the week



enjoying lunch on the deck with web and a camera-shy marshall

what's a beach trip without a putt-putt outing?  and what made it even better was our new rule: NO SCORECARDS.  because playing with liam, World's Sorest Loser, can drive a woman batty

in all my years of going to topsail, i had never seen anything like this: a giant tidal pool, about 25 feet wide.  the sand bar (where liam and web are playing paddle ball) surfaced on our second day there and returned every morning.  at its most pronounced, the kids could stand on the sand bar and jump down into the water as if they were on the edge of a pool.  we probably spent three or four hours there every day, swimming and floating ... it was perfect

it's a hard life



a feast of tuna steaks and scallops -- and our seafood loving children devoured every bite

bald head is full of photo ops, from the golf cart riding to the lighthouse to the ferry ... and the only shot i took was one with popsicles.  (although, i must say, if any popsicle deserves such attention, it's lunapops' sea salt caramel flavor.  i thought i'd died and gone to heaven.)