The end

These are the last of the beach pictures. Gotta end on a good note, and these are the best! Is this an awesome smush of people or what?
Melanie is 7.
Julia is 13 (almost, two days from the picture is her birthday).

And Ally-baby is 2! A terrific, wonderful, energetic, challenging, laugh every minute, two!And this is why we go to Oak Island. Because we have a million of these smiley, fun, playful, sometimes crazy moments every day when we are there. The sun is bright, the sand is soft, the water is warm, and it is the natural and preferred habitat of the Hawleys.

Pioneers at the beach?

I had no idea what a beach pioneer looked like until Allison donned this costume. I think the pioneers would have liked the bright colors.

Remarkable things at the beach

Remarkable thing #1: can you believe that Julia can do a handstand on the beach? Can you believe that she can hold herself up at this angle?Remarkable thing #2: These two people are just remarkable!
Remarkable thing #3: the sand castle is still standing with a toddler so close! Not many castles last this long (and you might be able to see that this is a super cool drip castle).
Remarkable thing #4: This is *ocean*, not a lake as you might guess from the lack of waves.
And finally, Remarkable thing #5: Boundless optimism. That's what I call this picture. What other reason would there be for sitting on a surfboard in this flat water?

Time out for celebrating

I have officially posted as many blog updates *this* year, as I did *last* year. Yippeee!! This year, I plan not to wait as long in between posts as I did last year, although it is way fun to look at all these beach pictures in the middle of winter. I have hope that I'll be warm again!!

Kayaking

Kayaking through the Davis Canal on Oak Island NC. This is one of our favorite activities at the beach. Okay, we *love* the beach; we love to spend all day on the beach. That's our most favorite thing about our vacation, but we do a couple of extra things each year, and kayaking is one of them. This year Andrea graciously agreed to babysit Allison (because Allison was napping) while the rest of us went kayaking. Most of the Hawleys love to get out and paddle, see cool wildlife and have fun races. I am just amazed at how beautiful all the colors are! Everything is perfect.
Is this one of the cutest kayakers you've seen? And don't be fooled - she can paddle furiously and for a long long time. More than one of us have been exhausted trying to outrun her. Chuck frequently sits back with the paddle up and just coasts while Melanie pulls him along.The old man and the sea ("The old man and the canal" just doesn't sound as good.). I personally like the beard but more than one friend has directly said, "Lose it - it makes you look old!"
And this is another one of the cutest kayakers EV-er. She is always game for paddling, is strong AND looks good. Those boys on Oak Island don't know what to do with themselves when Julia's around.

Wakeboarding

We were so lucky to meet some great people at the branch in Southport NC, near my mom's beach house. One guy took us out on his boat, named "Come Follow Me" (cute, huh?). This memory does NOT make me warm as it was raining and chilly the entire time we were out. Rain drops were pelting our faces as we sat in the boat, cruising around the lake, but wakeboarding was so much fun, it was worth it. Chuck gets air - same story when Chuck is playing with any of his toys.Andrea surprised us with her ease of getting up and riding back and forth across the wake. She looks like a pro!
I was just lucky to haul my big butt out of the water for a few seconds before busting, big time.
The younger ones had a great time skimming around on the tube. This is Julia and Melanie. Melanie got airborne a few times on turns and we thought we might lose her but she held on tight to the handles and always landed in the tube.

Beach bloggin', part deux

Aren't these pictures just delicious?? Did you ever see a kid so in love with her Buster Bar? (Did you ever read the 'Nutrition Facts' on a Buster Bar? Yikes!) I *love* the little pink beach face, the beach hair, the drips on the belly.... ooo, delicious!