Spring Break on Bear Island

Last week schools were closed for Spring Break, so we decided to head south to the Outer Banks of NC. We planned to camp at Hammocks Beach State Park, on Bear Island. It's literally an island in the ocean accessible only by boat (no cars allowed) with 11 campsites. We've been there before... a couple times before the kids, and the last time when Lucas was 16 months old and I was preggo with Charlotte. Since we were headed south, we kind of turned it into a "reunion tour" with old friends as well...

We left Tuesday around lunchtime, with plans to stop halfway in Virginia Beach for the night. We got there a little early, so we stopped by Williamsburg. Tony had never been, and I hadn't been since middle school. We only spent about an hour there, but it felt like enough! Got a few obligatory pics of the kids with old buildings, and their favorite part was running through all the garden paths/mazes...
Next, we drove to Hampton, VA to have dinner with 2 of Tony's friends from high school, Jennifer and Michelle. The restaurant was on a lake, and had it's very own playground. Since we sat outside, once the kids finished, they could go play while we talked.

After dinner, we headed to VA Beach to stay the night with Matt (one of Tony's Navy buddies that we spent a lot of time with while living in MA), his wife Mandy, and their daughter Vanessa that we had never met.
The kids enjoyed playing with lots of toys until way past their bedtimes. Lucas and Lottie slept together in a big bed and did just fine, even though they were up at 5. Grrr... Matt had to work, but Mandy was nice enough to make us breakfast.
Mid-morning, we hit the road for the final haul to NC. Charlotte promptly fell asleep...
While Lucas enjoyed not having to share the Slurpee...
We got there around 2:00, got our gear together, and waited at the pier for the boat.

During the summer, the park runs an hourly ferry to the island, but since it's not really "in-season" yet, the boat ran only on weekends. So, we had to call Captain Tim to take us over in his boat. Much more expensive than the ferry, but he was nice and had a dog that the kids liked!
When we got off the boat, we had to hike about 1/2 mile to the beach, and then another 1/2 mile up the beach to our campsite. Tony and I both had a big backpack, I had to carry Charlotte, and Tony had to carry Lottie's backpack carrier. Lucas had to walk. The entire time (when he wasn't whining) he asked if he could swim in the ocean when we got to camp. Suuuurrreee we told him - sure you can! We figured it'd be cold, and he really hasn't seen the ocean since he was 16 months old, so we thought he may be a little scared. Lottie has never seen the ocean. These kids sure are around the water a lot... with pools and on boats in lakes/rivers/bays, but they've been ocean-deprived.

We finally made it to camp, and the kids went right to work digging in the sand while we set up camp.
As soon as we finished, they demanded bathing suits.
Much to our surprise, Lucas went right for the water...
And Lottie isn't one to be outdone by her big bro...
After much playing, we ate dinner (MREs - the same kind of food the troops eat out in the field) and the kids scarfed it up! Everyone went right to sleep in the tent and slept til after 7 in the morning!!!!! I figured the kids would be up with the first ray of sun and tweet of the birds - so glad I was wrong! Check out cute Lottie snoozing...
Thursday, we took a nice walk to the close end of the island for the morning. Lucas did his fair share of whining about not wanting to walk, but we made him get over it, as there would be TONS of walking to come this trip... It was really warm and sunny, and before you know it, we were all in the water!
And Tony was super excited about his first ever conch shell find!
After lunch (mmmm Army food), it looked like rain, so we headed to the bath house pavilion to hang out. During the storm, we played in one of the mini-shelters that was full of sand. I could not get over how "dirty" Charlotte was the entire trip. She LOVED the sand! Every time I put her down, she'd declare "dig", and proceed to throw sand all over her head, Lucas, arms, clothes, etc. She'd lay right down and "swim" in it. And I have a sand aversion. Nothing is more disgusting than being wet and having sand stuck to you... So, she would be covered in sand and then expect me to hold her. And of course, I would, but ewwwwww!!!
After that storm, we went back to our tent in time for more rain the rest of the evening/night. So, we had to spend about 3.5 hours in the tent before bedtime with the kids. It really wasn't bad. We played with some balloons I'd packed and made up silly games.

Friday, we spent a little while on the beach...
Then, we took the ferry back to the mainland...
And drove a little south to Topsail Island, where Tony used to go with his family. We had pizza (yay! real food) for lunch, and then took ice cream out on the pier.
It was cloudy and windy, but we sat and watched 5 guys surf for quite a while. It was fun and the kids really got a kick out of it! On the way back, we stopped at one of those cheesy/touristy beach shops and got a frisbee...
After tossing that around a bit, it started to rain again, so we headed for the tent. The kids ate leftover pizza for dinner. Tony and I were so full, we skipped dinner altogether...
Then we spent about 90 minutes playing a fun game of basketball... Yesterday's conch shell was the hoop, and earlier we found some fake jewels that must've come from a bead bracelet that someone broke... Those were the balls. Amazing how much fun was had with such simple stuff!

Once the rain stopped, we went for a night beach expedition.
Notice the green/red lights? White lights aren't allowed on the island at night. It's a very popular nesting ground for Loggerhead turtles and they won't come ashore if they see white lights. We hunted ghost crabs instead...

After another good night of sleep, Saturday morning we played some more on the beach...
Then, we took the ferry back to shore again...
We met another Navy friend from MA - Jenn, along with husband Jalon and daughter Maddy. We ate on the water at a seafood place... it doesn't get much more "authentic fresh southern seafood" than that! Yum! The kids acted like we'd been starving them - they shoveled food in their faces at a pace that we'd never seen.

Then, we went back to Jenn's parents house for the kids to play while we caught up...
They live on a big farm, and Mr. John gave Maddy and Lucas a tour on the golf cart. Lottie didn't go, as she was napping inside :)
Jenn's parents were nice enough to invite us to dinner, but the last ferry to the island left at 4:30, so we had to go. When we got back to the island, we went for a llloooooonnnngggg walk to the far end of the island. Round trip, it was probably a 5 mile walk up the beach. Lucas didn't whine at all! This end always had tons of little tidal pools during low tide. And since for the first time in days, it was sunny with no chance of rain, we decided to go for it.

So glad we did! It was just like we remembered... lots of tidal pools... Some deeper than others. Found another conch shell, minnows, and hermit crabs. I knew my camera battery wouldn't last all trip, so I was budgeting my use to make sure I had enough power to get a few pics of this... And I did, but wish I could've taken more. As soon as it died, Charlotte really started running through them and having fun.
After hiking allllll the way back up the beach, we showered. Lottie was SO tired, so Tony went in the tent with her to bed and I took a night walk with Lucas.

Sunday morning, I was wishing I had just one more pic left on my camera battery... I woke up and rolled over to look at the kids. Lucas was sleeping on his side. Charlotte's face was smashed in his butt and her feet were on his face - and they were both sound asleep! Too funny!

On Easter Sunday, we packed up, hiked out, took the ferry back, and got in the car to start our 8 hour journey home... What a great and memorable trip!!!