Holden Beach

We got to spend 4 great days at the beach this week, cut short by the way over rated TS Hanna. It was sunny and 90 every day, except Friday. But we got to spend a night in Raleigh because we left early, which means we got to see my brother and his new wife (and their awesome new house), Corey's sister and her husband and some dear friends. Hannah kept saying, "Are we in Raleigh?!"

Our little girls have very different personalities and they can be easily seen in their attitude towards the water. Shiloah jumps right in and prefers to swim in the deepest water in the pool, Hannah likes to hang on the side where she can touch and play with her little dolls. As for the ocean, Shiloah would have walked right out into the waves if we let her. There is a picture of her laying on her stomach waiting for the waves to get her! We finally decided to let her feel a little impact of what the ocean can do, so as to instill a little bit of healthy fear in her. It worked for about a second, then she was ready to jump back in! Hannah liked to stay where it was safe and the surf just got her a little bit. She was easy to watch. We spent a long time on a nice big sand bar one afternoon and the girls had a great time with the shallow surf that came up to get their feet.

There was also this great tidal pool (we called it the lagoon, like in the Little Mermaid). It was fresh ocean water but without the waves! Perfect for the little girls! Shiloah, of course, wanted to swim out to the middle all by herself, Hannah preferred to stay in the shallow areas and "catch fish" in her net. Hannah did venture out both in the ocean and the tidal pool but it just took her a little while. She has all these neat little creative things she likes to do and is happy with just a little bit of water.

We had so much fun!