We always look forward to our week away in our little paradise at Kure Beach.
We have been going since Hensley was 1 year old and it's something he absolutely enjoys every minute of!
This year with all that had been going on with Andy and his injuries we were even more excited to go and get away and just relax as a family. We even let Hensley skip out on the last day of school to head down early.
Andy's mom, LouAnn, also went with us this year. She hasn't been with us to the beach since Hensley was about 2 so it was really nice to have her there with us and enjoy some extra time with her.
We have never been down to the beach on a holiday weekend but we decided to chance it this year since Kure Beach is usually never really "busy". We headed down on the Wednesday before Memorial Day hoping to beat all the traffic! We did! :)
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Hensley knows that when we cross over the bridge, the beach is only minutes away! |
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| In a perfect world this would be our view every single day! |
Hensley could not wait to get into the hot tub. He immediately changed into his swimsuit and jumped straight in!
We headed to beach to take in that beautiful view!
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| No better feeling then sand in toes! |
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| That sun though! |
The waves were rough but Hensley had no fear. For a little boy with so many fears in life one of those is NOT the ocean and I love watching him play in it.
We hung around for the afternoon since it was a little gloomy but it made for a very pretty evening and a great night to be on the beach!
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| Is he not the cutest boy ever?! |
The next morning we woke up early and headed to the beach. It's always so quiet in the mornings on the beach and it's the most beautiful time of the day! It was also so gloomy the day before so it was wonderful to see the sun!!!
Looking for shells after a rough storm is always more fun! See that drain in the back? We have NEVER seen it before. The beach is usually many many many yards wider then it was after the storm. It was crazy to see the beach so washed away.
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| Looking for shells! |
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| Hensley found a seagull feather! |
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| The beach was really really washed away this morning because of a bad storm earlier in the week. We had never experienced it like this. |
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| Hensley was getting pretty lucky this morning. He found a piece of coral washed ashore. AND it had a ladybug on it! Double lucky! |
We always love wandering down to the pier.
Waking up early at the beach is always a good idea!
Later that day we headed down to South Kure Beach to explore. Kure Beach is quiet anyway but down south it's so beautiful and even more isolated. It makes for a great relaxing day.
I didn't take too many photos on our trip down there. It's so beautiful I could literally take photos the whole time! We played in the rocks searching for treasures, tried to keep the boogie board from flying away, and played in the small pools of water that developed from the low tide.
Back to the room for lunch and a chill session before some pool time with MawMaw!!!
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| Annual pool throwing photo!!! |
Dinner and another tradition....the arcade was on the agenda for the night. Hensley LOVES the arcade that we walk to from our hotel. They have awesome games and give out lots of tickets for some great prizes. We usually try to go each night and he saves all his tickets until the end!
We also walk on the pier almost every night and get ice cream. It's the great end to each day for sure.
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| Lucky like Daddy!! |
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| Squeeze a smile out of him at the pier! |
The guy who owns the pier is really an awesome guy. He is always there and super friendly and funny. I had to snap a picture of the most asked questions he has got over the years. I thought it was really funny!
A night spent at Kure Beach Pier is always a great night!
The next was a very important day!!! It was Andy's birthday!!!! This was the first time we were at the beach for his birthday and it's perfect because this is truly his happy place! We had a very chill day! We hung out at the pool and hot tub a lot. Ate lunch at the hotel and played cards. It was a beautiful day!!! And we went to dinner to celebrate and had all you can eat crab legs....so it was basically the best day ever!
The birthday boy had a great day!
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| I absolutely love this picture of Hensley! |
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| I absolutely this photo of Andy. |
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| We don't have a ton of pictures of all of us together with LouAnn. I love this one so much because every time I look at it I remember her laughing and just having the best day with us! |
We went to eat crab legs and they were amazing!!!! We went to a new place for us called Fins to celebrate Andy's birthday. This place was great. The food was awesome and the service was really good. We will come back on our next trip for sure!!!
After dinner we took one last walk on the beach down to the pier for a few souvenirs and to the arcade to cash in all Hensley's tickets he had earned on our trip.
We just love this arcade. The games are great. They give lots of tickets out and it's just so so fun!
Hensley really wanted this GIANT stuffed sea turtle but it was a lot of tickets....like 3000 or something crazy. When he cashed them all in he was SO CLOSE. Literally only 20 or so away from having enough tickets. The kids who work there super nice and let him go ahead and get it anyway because they were shocked he had so many. They said they haven't seen anyone have enough to earn that prize in a long time! They even through in the little baby sea turtle too!! He was over the moon happy!!!
Each year we take a family photo on the beach. We always ask a stranger to take our photo so we never know how it will turn out. This year it wasn't too bad :)
I am always so thankful for these moments with my little family on the beach. It puts us in such a relaxed mood and it's just so beautiful!
Kure Beach is truly our happy place and we look so forward to every chance we get to come here.
We spent the evening laughing and playing in the hot tub. The perfect end to Andy's birthday! Happy birthday to the best daddy and husband! So happy you can be at the beach on your birthday! You are a strong, big hearted, funny, sweet man and we are do thankful to have you in our lives. Happy birthday love.
Our last full day at the beach! Spent every second at the beach and the pool soaking up all the sunshine.
Heading home is never ever fun. It's sad to leave his beautiful serene place behind but we are so excited to see our puppies and start SUMMER BREAK!!!!!
Snapped our annual photo before we left outside at the Kure Keys Mural and sign :)
I've gushed about Kure Beach and Kure Keys for many and always will :) It's our happy place. Our home away from home....and who knows....maybe one day it will be home :)
Times with this sweet boy are what make my heart sing. I know he will grow up and probably not enjoy or look forward to beach trips with his parents as much as he will those with his friends. And that is okay, but while he still will, I will take every opportunity to hold his hand and walk on the beach.
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