This weekend we headed down to Carolina Beach State Park. We wanted to take the boys to the Battleship and go to the Aquarium. We weren't 100% sure that the trip would actually happen so we didn't make reservations ahead of time. Bad call. Even before we left on Friday afternoon, the website showed lots of camping spaces available. When we got there, all the green tags on the site posts were gone - indicating they were all reserved. Tim talked to the folks there and turns out everything was reserved for Saturday but we were able to get a spot for Friday night. So about 7:30pm, we set up the camper - almost dark!! But man, did we have an awesome campsite! We set up, hung out a bit and then it was bedtime for everyone.
The boys love the camper!
Eli loves to write what we're doing or plan to do on our trips. I love that!!
Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast and hung around camp for a bit. The boys loved exploring and hanging out. They are starting to understand the "hanging out" aspect of camping a little more.
One of my VERY favorite pictures of the year - I love how Eli has his arm around Cole and Cole is holding his hand. They truly are best friends! =)
Our awesome camp site
#28 - I find myself always taking a picture of our site marker
It's me!!
Yes soldiers!
Little campers
About mid morning, we headed to the USS North Carolina Battleship. Tim & I were both very excited to take the boys and let them see the ship. They loved it. Cole did great climbing up and down all the stairs. It was fun to show them everything and try to explain to them what life was like on the ship. I first went to see the Battleship when I was not much older than Eli so it was fun to watch them both running around.
Little boys.....Big ship
Oh the cuteness!
Daddy + Boys + Big Ship
My three loves - how did I get so lucky?
They loved this model of the battleship and wanted to bring it home with us.
Trying out the gun on deck.
Double attack!!
Such a neat ship
Love this picture - it could be a post card
Such fun to share with the boys - I love experiences with them
Boys on deck
We could make lots of food in this! There is a very similar picture of me and my cousin doing this EXACT same thing when we were little!
Lots of climbing
Eli and Cole had fun dropping coins and trying to get them in the bucket a few levels below.
Quad bunks - they thought these were great. I imagine not so much when the ship was sailing.
Huge bullets!
Family shot!
After the battleship, we had lunch and hoped a camping spot would open up. We had to be out of our spot by 3pm. We really didn't want to head back home (2+ hours) so Tim checked out another nearby camp ground. He wasn't happy with what he saw and since nothing else opened up, we started packing up about 2pm. We then took the boys and the camper to the Aquarium. Since we're Aquarium Society members, it was a free trip and fun to see a new aquarium. It was a great side trip before we headed home.
This picture cracks me up - look at how they're standing.....almost identical!
I thought this Albino Alligator was super cool - her name was Luna.
The boys FINALLY were interested in touching things in the touch pool.
I was impressed that Cole touched the star fish too.
Love the seahorse tile art
Hello Mr. Octopus!
I love love love pictures of these jellyfish. I could watch them all day.
So cool!
Tim was holding the boys by their necks and they were making funny faces....typical!
This was super cool...
touching a bamboo shark!
Hi Nemo!!
We ended up getting home about 8pm last night and I was bummed that we didn't get to spend the second night and enjoy the campsite a little more. But all things happen for a reason! We really enjoyed the State Park and hope to go back next year.....and I WILL make reservations! So while we didn't get to stay as long as we wanted, we did have fun. I've called it the short long camping trip. It's always nice to get out of town and get away from everything and even though we were there less than 24 hours, it was re-energizing.
This will probably be our last camping trip of the year but we're already thinking about next year!!
