Wilmington Weekend Update #9

Wilmington Weekend Update #9

Let’s face it, most people’s vacation stories are boring. We go on vacation, after all, to do nothing, to actually luxuriate in boredom! Vacations are only interesting if something disastrous happens, like a hurricane. Come to think of it, we’ve had so many hurricanes on our vacations even those are boring. But we have three kids, which is like a hurricane, so here goes!

With Francis, Diane, Mike, Liz, Norah, Bailey, and the five of us there were eleven humans in the beach house, which was great, given each family had its own little building. The cousins set about playing together immediately, although Julian was eager to let everyone know Margaret was HIS mommy, Abby was HIS sister, and Sellers was HIS brother. Daddy, whatever, you can have him if you want.

The waves were big and curling, giving everyone ample opportunity to body surf and boogie board. Sellers especially enjoyed diving into the oncoming waves and disappearing below the foam just long enough to give his mom a coronary before emerging spluttering salt water and ready for another ride. He played in the waves with everyone, but with Diane he constructed a whole imaginary wedding that was constantly being disrupted by giant waves (“Oh, this cake is so salty!”). Julian preferred racing into and out of the surf, just ahead of the advancing tide. Abby spent equal time braving the crashing breakers and collecting hundreds of coquina clams. The clams, piled in a colorful, waving and crawling mass at the bottom of a pail, were like a creepy living work of art.

We also had creek access, and using my still-developing cast net skills we were able to snag a variety of critters. Julian wanted to touch everything, but he substitutes an adjective for the verb, so he says, “Can I soft it?” This sentence works better for kittens than minnows, but he hasn't learned the word, "slime."

Our days quickly relaxed into a routine: Francis, Liz, or I awoke first to make coffee depending on whether crying infants or grant deadlines were more pressing. (The coffee maker had a button labeled “Flavor Plus.” Who doesn’t hit that thing? Are there people out there who want less flavor? I wanted to test it by leaving out the grounds altogether and see if the button alone could flavor water.) Then the youngest children were up for a breakfast of forbidden cereals (Trix, Lucky Charms, Cookie Crisps), followed by Abby and Sellers. From there it was a walk on the beach, then inside for sunscreen and swimsuits.

Then get sandy, hot, and chafed.

Then lunch, movies, and a second beach run around 4:00 PM.

From there it was time for the pirate to come and lead the kids on a seven-clue scavenger hunt (“The next clue is where six stars hang over a place of fire,” would lead them to the mantle. “The place where Julian earns his chocolate,” to the potty.) They gradually collected a complete set of pirate paraphernalia from the Booty Bag before unearthing the treasure on Friday. While some of the kids thought the pirates bore a suspicious resemblance to the adults on the trip, they promised to keep the secret. They also noticed that with one eye covered many of the pirates ran into things. Friday was capped by the grand treasure hunt, involving an elaborate map and a real burried treasure chest, complete with jewels, gold, and other piratey things like Silly Putty and Pom-poms.

Friday night also saw a short play Diane organized featuring all the children. (Just as the Evil Pirate is about to capture the last mermaid, her hook gets stuck in a screen door, and everyone, from Mermaidia to The Littlest Merman gets away.)

Then it was Happy Hour on the deck, then a home-made dinner ranging from cilantro-flavored chicken and apple salad to a tenderloin I prepared by letting it sit overnight at room temperature (Did I mention we were drinking a lot?). Francis and Diane located The Crab Cake Lady up the road and treated us to a real low-country delicacy, balanced by Creek Rolls, sort of Deep South spring roll available only from The Crab Cake Lady’s yellow shack. During dinner prep Margaret taught Sellers to play monopoly, and he taught Abby and Bailey. Sellers now holds the title to our house.

After dinner it was more movies for the kids and a marathon of The Office for the adults, who managed to consume two entire seasons of the series and still had time to watch Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Bedtime was late for everyone, but who cares? (Okay, tomorrow’s the first day of school, and we care deeply now.)

We were all terribly bummed to leave, but Francis and Diane did stay over with us a night to enjoy strombolis and see the new paint job in person (don’t worry, no more pictures). Oh, and this week we did NOT go to Home Depot once!

Today we’ve been running around town buying pencils, Crocs, and soccer cleats to get ready for Abby and Sellers’s first day of school at Bradley Creek tomorrow. We even toured the school today by sneaking through the departing congregation of One Community Church as they cleared out of the cafeteria.

Thursday we take off again, this time for Chattanooga. With only eleven hours in the car each way, what could go wrong? Have a great week!

David