Flushed Out

Well, we got one nice day of bitter cold sunshine on this weeklong vacation.  Today is a complete washout, and I believe we're going to leave a day early tomorrow.  I would love to have left today, but the girls weren't convinced that the weather was really going to be awful, and I also didn't think it would be wise to leave when heavy storms were predicted.  But after being bored in the condo all morning, and then going out for a drive to Beaufort only to just barely miss getting caught in the downpour, and then being soaked through their socks as they jumped out of the car into a four-inch deep puddle, the girls are now sure we've had enough.  So we'll just endure the rain and drizzle expected tomorrow and drive (carefully!) through that.

This photo was taken in Beaufort across from Carrot Island, just before the rain started.  Wish the photo were clear enough to show the wild ponies that were on the shore in the background.

We were all grateful, though, for the lovely albeit cold day yesterday.  We started the day by heading out to the beach to pick up shells and just walk around, and it wasn't too terrible at that point because the wind wasn't blowing. 

At about 11 we headed back to the condo to get cleaned up and then headed out to grab some pizzas and meet friends at church for some fellowship and lunch.  It was such a joy to get to chat about our present lives and share some fun memories of the past as we recalled our time at St. Peter's about 15 years ago, pre-children.  I love how Christian friendships are timeless, literally!   After lunch the girls went outside to play with Jenna, a lovely fifteen-year old who won the hearts of both of them!  Jenna is also from China, and hers was the first family I ever knew who adopted from China.  Jenna holds a special place in my own heart, though she does not remember me at all.


After lunch, we returned to the beach and put on a couple layers of clothes and coats.  Merrilee had desperately wanted to build a five-foot tall sand castle, and Katie Mei wanted to dig a deep hole in the sand, so they both got to try their hand at making their vacation dreams come true.  Merrilee's sand castle didn't quite make it to the five-foot mark, but it was knee-high on her, and she was happy with it.  She decorated it with shells she had found earlier, and I was glad that we didn't have to bring all those shells back home.  I don't have the castle photos on this laptop right now, but once I get home I will add them.

Katie Mei, also with her own very heavy bag of shells (and sand!), tried to make a few sand castles, but really enjoyed the holes I dug for her more.

I, on the other hand, tried to just huddle into as small a blob as I could and stay out of the wind and blowing sand.  It was, unfortunately, about the worst day at the beach I can ever remember having in my entire life.

So, with the sun behind us, and more rain looming ahead, we're going to just call it a week and head back to my parents' house tomorrow.  Hopefully between now and then we will find something to keep us occupied.