Saturday

Since our first trip to the beach Little Peanut has talked about lighthouses. She kept wanting to know when we were going to see her lighthouse and climb to the top. This past weekend was predicted to be warm so Nathan and I decided we would go on Saturday.
We got the kids ready and packed up the van. Planning for contingencies can leave you with lots of stuff in the van. We set out a little later than we planned but enjoyed the drive.
We picked Currituck Beach Lighthouse because it was slightly closer than Hatteras and it was also the one that Jon and Kate Plus 8 visited last summer and the kids wanted to see it. We got to the lighthouse about 1 pm. After a much necessary detour we headed over to the lighthouse. There is a charge for adults but kids climb free. We made it to the first platform, just 12 -15 up and AJ was pulling a Daniel, using his hands on the steps because he was scared. We stopped to read some of the information before going up to the next level. AJ's fear spread to JM and neither one was going to budge any further. At this point Nathan had been carrying Grasshopper and I was holding Peanut's hand. Nathan and I switched and I took the 3 boys back down and outside.
A couple of minutes later JM and AJ saw Daddy up at the top with Peanut. We smiled and waved. At this point JM decided there was no way he was going to miss out seeing what was up there. After Nathan and Peanut came down JM and I started up. I told him that I couldn't carrying him but I would hold his hand. He did great. I was so proud of him. He was very nervous but walked around on the platform and looked out to see. I was very nervous too.
We came down and I thought that was harder than going up.
Next on the agenda was lunch and the beach. We ate in the van and drove across the road to the public beach acess. After being slightly stuck in the sand we parked the van. Once again, Peanut was on a mission, headed for the beach. There weren't many people on the beach so we spread out. Peanut got her feet wet once and that was it. She played in the sand the rest of the day. Yes, they were all well coated with sunscreen. Grasshopper loved the sand as well. The waves, not so much. He screamed at them and was upset anytime one of us went in the water.
It was really cold but the sun and sand were so hot that it felt good. AJ loved being in the waves. JM liked getting his feet wet but not much more than that. Nathan spent a large part of his time helping people get unstuck from the sand.
We got home about 9 pm that night at which point Nathan thought, yeah, it might be nice to get a house at the beach for a vacation. Sounds like a great plan to me, anyone want to go with us???