Once they were back from shopping, Kenny and I took the boys on a bike ride. This was the first year we brought our bikes with us, and it was a nice alternative activity to do. Some of the houses we passed were gorgeous.
The rest of the day was very lowkey. I don't think Riley put on his bathing suit at all, and the rest of the kids weren't down in the sand or the water for very long. The afternoon consisted of workbooks, reading, resting, huge lollipops for snack, and octopus hot dogs for dinner. And Nola and Kate made pain au chocolat for dessert. Yum.
On Thursday we decided to go back across to the Gulf side. The waves weren't nearly as good, but the kids had a great time anyway. They played in the water, Kenny and Riley created a sand city (which was reminiscent of Tatooine, in my opinion), Jeff carved out a "hot tub," and we turned Riley into an octopus. We also saw the Angels again, as well as a big supply plane doing practice runs up and down the coast. Too cool.
We stayed until around 4pm again and then headed back to the house. We spotted Harry the heron on our dock, watched Scoob during and after dinner, and took in another sunset.
Our last full day arrived, and we hung around the house all day, playing in the water and the sand. Nopsi took us for one last boat/tube ride that afternoon before he and Kenny went to put the boat back on the trailer. Then we had to start the cleaning up and packing up process, which is always a bummer. I'm not sure any of us wanted to go back home.
Kenny and Riley, however, had something else to take care of before settling in for the evening. When we arrived at the house on the first day, they discovered two crab traps in the water attached to the dock. They were so excited to have a legitimate way to catch crabs throughout the trip. Riley's interest waned a bit as the week went on, but Kenny kept at it. He probably caught 14 or 15 total, but a couple died and one escaped. However, he still had 9 at the end of the week, which he boiled on the stove. Erin was ecstatic. She and Kenny both love crabs, and they were so happy to sit down to an unexpected feast on our last night. The crabs turned out really tasty, too!
The rest of the evening passed too quickly. Riley finally agreed to try Rummikub for the first time, we took a family picture out on the deck right before our last sunset viewing, and the kids surprised Nopsi with a few early Father's Day cards before they vegged out in front of tv, worn out from their hard week.
We were up, fed, packed, and out by 9am Saturday morning. As always, thank you so much, Nola and Nopsi, for a wonderful, much-needed vacation!
