Summer Vacation 2016! #WilmingtonNC #kureBeach

It's every kids dream to see the ocean and my kids have been asking to go for years now.  The last time we managed to sneak off to the beach Aiden, now 8, was one and a half years old... I love going to the beach so much I'm not sure how I let that many beach-free years slip through my fingers...really I don't...but I won't let it happen again if I can help it!

Now I am not rich by any means and this beach trip is being pulled off by the skin of my teeth, but I think I put back just enough to make this a fun and memorable trip for us all!

Sooooo this morning I got up at 4 AM and finished getting things ready to go and we headed for the beach!  Kure Beach, NC to be exact!  This is the first time my girls have gotten to see the ocean and it is much bigger than they thought it would be.  They loved feeling the water wash over their feet and getting splashed by the surf as the tide was rolling in!


We didn't stay at the beach long today because we wanted to do some exploring and get a good plan in place for tomorrow....This beach is not far from the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher and a Civil War Museum that we plan to visit tomorrow!

...once we had gotten checked into the hotel we went to the pool for a dip before dinner.  The water was warm, yet refreshing in the 104 F heat of the afternoon!

After a nice dinner at El Cerro Grande where we filled our bellies with some yummy Mexican food we went to check out one other attraction we had been considering adding to the agenda for tomorrow...

Battleship NC! 

...it is literally a retired US Naval Battleship (and those things are ginormous BTW) that you can tour and it looked like there may be a nice size museum or gift shop to check out as well.  From what I have read it takes between 2-4 hours to really enjoy yourself and take a good look around, but considering it is really hot outside for most of the day I think we will start with the Battleship, move on to the Aquarium and Civil War museums and round off the day with an afternoon at the beach playing in the water and in the sand!  ...and maybe just maybe the kids will behave well enough that we let them stay to see the crabs come out on the beach once the sun goes down...I have my fingers crossed and I am going to throw out lots of reminders if needed to inspire some good behavior and foster some great memories!

For me it is bedtime after a really long, albeit wonderful, day!  I am really looking forward to a great time tomorrow and I can't wait to tell y'all all about our adventures!