Days 382-385: Easter on the Coast

Last Friday, we headed East to spend the holiday weekend in Topsail, NC. Friday was freezing cold, so our plans of a picnic on the beach when we got there turned into a picnic in the car followed by hot coffee in a spot Tyler and Hannah recommended: 

We actually went to that coffee shop every day! 

We spent the rest of Friday afternoon popping in and out of little shops. We found our Christmas ornament, and Mom found her windchimes! By late afternoon, our house was ready and we settled in! Although the water was a little farther from our front door than we thought, we were right on the inner-coastal waterway, which made for great wildlife watching:

The highlight was absolutely the osprey nest:

Nana had packed kites, and the kids had a blast flying them in our big front yard:

Our host also put our a ton of yard games, and the kids had fun attempting badminton, yard darts, and football.

We packed in all of our groceries, so we made burgers Friday night:

Brad has the seasoning pose down:

Saturday, we went back to the coffee shop and took our beverages to the beach:

We found beautiful shells:

And got some great family photos:

After the beach, we did a bit more shopping, and Issa and found matching necklaces:

The necklace came with a mollusk from which we harvested pearls. Mine originally went flying off the porch, but we found it!

Easter morning, the bunny came:

The kids prefer finding eggs in locations they already know. They had to work a bit harder this year!

We went back for coffees and sea air, and I think this is now a thing:

When we got back, we played our first family game of D&D:

Once we got going we had a blast, although we completely ruined Brad's plans. 

We made our way home last night, and I hung my new windchimes from the beach:

 

I love the wooden sounds, and the bird's head bobbing make me ridiculously happy.

It was a lovely weekend away, and now we are headed back to a busy week of reality!