Nana goes fishing

I grew up going fishing with my parents and brother. I remember being bored, bored, bored waiting for a fish to take the bait. It seemed like the waiting vs catching time weighed much heavier toward the waiting part. But, my mom loved to fish and still does. The first thing I thought when I saw the dock by our beach house, was that it would be an ideal place for my mom to go fishing. She has not been able to wet a hook in a long time, due to her inability to walk very long distances. The dock's ramp is just the stuff for folks who can't walk very far.

During our vacation, Mom and Dad came to spend some time with us at the beach and she, Dad, John and the kids went fishing.

She got one!!

It's a "big" one

Elijah's turn

another "biggie"

Elijah wasn't afraid to touch it

John was trout fishing, but to no avail!

 So, even though I don't enjoy the fishing, I can certainly admire God's beautiful handiwork. The sky was beautiful!

Putt-Putt

Every year, we have to visit the nearby Putt-Putt place to play a round and get ice cream. This year was no different. Anna, Layne, Daniel, Abbey, Elijah, John and I were able to go. I'm the official photographer and baby-take-carer, so I don't care to  participate in the frustration of using a bent stick to put a ball in a little hole. (Can you tell, it's not my favorite thing to do? But, I do love watching everyone else try to do it. Plus, I do really love ice cream!)

Such concentration…

Of course, lots of posing while waiting for your turn…

The "I got a hole-in-one" pose…

Daniel decides four deserves applause

Layne tries to figure out what's so special about the little hole.

Afterwards, arcade games and ice cream

 Layne is checking for holes in the counter.

 Grandma joined us for ice cream

Just being together outside is the fun part. If it takes a silly game and the promise of a sweet treat to bring everyone together, then that is just fine with me!

Entertainment on rain filled days

The first five days of our family beach vacation were constantly wet, not from the ocean, but from the rain. It rained and rained, and rained some more. We would think we'd get a break, only to have it last a few minutes and then start deluging again. Abbey, Elijah, John, Layne and Anna went on the beach anyway. Their thoughts were, "We're going to get wet. Does it matter if it's from the ocean or the rain?" There was also a hurricane way off of the coast, so the ocean was quite rough.  At one point, John was carrying Layne, when a big wave hit them. Layne later told her mom, "Papa go..whoa!"

Under these conditions, we looked for entertainment beyond the beach. Some of the things we did were our usual traditions, but we also branched out and sought other unusual spectacles.

One such spectacle, and I do mean spectacle was Fort Apache. We drive by Fort Apache every time we go to the beach. I've always wanted to see what it was about.  This place is not anywhere near normal. Consider the first thing you see is the "Crack Bus"

Or if that doesn't get your attention, imagine toilets with legs sticking out of them?

 There are many old cars, some used in the movies.

Once inside, this place totally defies description. There is a long, dark, dingy hall way full of junk, mannequins, medical supplies and such a wide assortment of things there is no way to categorize it all. Most of it was for sale.

Apparently we saw the cars from "The Adams Family", "The Godfather", and "Sweeney Todd"

Then you go outside and there is a little "Town" with sights such as these:

I'm assuming a real still.

These were just a few of the comical signs. Some of the others were a bit too racy for this blog.

Before we left, I joined Beth and Greg in a conversation with the owner of this interesting establishment. His story is a bit calmer than his online bio, but he did acknowledge to being congnizant of our state capital, albeit from behind the bars of Central Prison.

A very interesting trip, to say the least! When we left there, we all felt like we needed a bath. No worries there, we could just stand outside and bathe in the incessant rain!

Empty vs Full…It's all relative

This past weekend John, Abbey, Elijah and I went to our beach house

Even with a couple of visits from John, Jr and Daniel, it seemed so empty. How can a house with two rambunctious young ones, a dog and a couple of grown ups seem empty?

Because a few weeks ago this house was busting with two rambunctious young ones, two babies, three grandparents, two grown daughters, two grown sons, a girlfriend, a son in law, four dogs and John and me! So, it's no wonder it felt empty when everyone had gone back to their own homes!

But, we had some good memories to remember.

The weather didn't exactly cooperate at the beginning, but eventually it got pretty and we enjoyed the beach.

The sheik of Brooklyn

 This cutie got her first taste of an NC beach

Abbey living her surfing dreams…aboard a boogie board

There was a hurricane churning way off the coast, so the waves were really rough, and the water was murky.

So rough that Layne was afraid and decided she'd rather take a nap.

We did get to spend quite a bit of time at the pool.

Layne is already a little fish.

 A friendly game of pool basketball

Nana and Grandaddy even got to enjoy the pool.

We celebrated John's birthday, but he was sick and didn't get to enjoy his meal and cake very much

I cut part of the cake off for the rest of us to eat, ever the germ a phobe

Great grandparents got to connect with their great grand daughters

We got "spiffied" up to go out to eat

Abbey wasn't mad, just trying to strike a pose

Our fur-babies really got along well.

So, now it's back to just us four and one dog. Empty is relative, I suppose. I loved seeing them all together and interacting with each other, but it does make the house seem cavernous, when they all leave.

I guess we'll just have to start the countdown until Thanksgiving, when we will all be together again!