Wednesday, June 30, 2004

The Beverly Hillbillies at the Beach

Well, when my family comes to the beach, it's generally a pretty quiet affair -- 4 or so adults, walks on the beach, games, reading, an occasional oyster feast, etc. So when Crystal began brainstorming about bringing her extended family for a week at my brother's Emerald Isle, NC beach house (which, with all deference to Disneyland, is in my opinion the happiest place on earth), I must admit that I was somewhat afraid. I wasn't sure that Texas & Arkansas blood and Atlantic seawater would mix, but it has surely been a great couple of days, and we're looking forward to more!


The beautiful view from the house balcony


Tom demonstrating one of our favorite beach-time activities


In the planning stages, as the invitation list grew, I was nervously counting beds, but Crystal was unconcerned: "We'll bring extra air mattresses -- it'll be fine." Well, I told her today that I'm glad she doesn't listen to my naysaying because it's great having so many fun people together, though it can be pretty loud at times!

Things started off with a bang the first evening when we arrived -- a number of folks went swimming and four ended up getting caught in a current that started pulling them out to sea. It was quite scary for all involved, with many prayers flying up to our Lord. But thanks to the selfless bravery of a strong swimmer and kayaker, and the skill of some EMTs, everybody got out of the water ok. My favorite moment was when one of the emergency officers pointed at Robert and asked if he were usually that pale. We answered, "Yes, that's natural Texan coloring". :-)

Yesterday we decided to focus on land-based activities while recovering from our at-sea adventures, which mainly involved burying people in the sand.


Crystal was the first to go for the "bodyless" look


Russell wasn't far behind (Robert seemed to enjoy burying his brother)


Today we got ambitious again and headed out into the water with our boogie boards. Riding the waves in was fantastic at low tide, but when we tried again at high tide they weren't quite breaking in the right places. We'll be heading out at low tide again tomorrow! But first there's a trip to the "island of perfect shells", and Crystal has visions of catching enough crabs for all of us to have a feast. Updates will be forthcoming!

1 Comments:

Blogger Glenn G said...

Terry, Kristin, Rob and Crystal. I can't thank you enough for the wonderful week at the beach. Your place is beautiful and I think that you have the best spot in Spinnaker's Reach. I mean where else can you see 3 deer and a dolphin within a couple of hundred yards from each other!
I think it was so nice that Rob and Crystal were able to spend time with both families in such a great relaxed atmosphere before they leave for England. We all had a great time even with the eventful first evening!
Again, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for the incredible summer vacation at "The Beach".

1:04 AM  

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