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Millie and Mae enjoying the beach even though it was cold and rainy. They are such good friends and had so much fun together!

During their weekly playdates for the past few months Abby and Lucy have looked forward to going to the beach together for a huge long playdate. Abby was so excited that we got to stay for seven days, but at the end of the week said, "I don't want to stay only seven days! I want to stay a thousand days!" She is also very into giving everything a name these days (stuffed animals, dolls, etc.) and said, while we were crossing a bridge on our way to the beach, "We can name the ocean 'Water' because it has a lot of water." Oh the profundity!

Such a typical Jane pose! She's pretty spunky. Quite a fireball at times. Hard to believe she was such a mild-mannered baby!
And a totally typical Millie picture. She was at one with the sea and the sand.

One of my highlights of the trip was a visit to some immense sand dunes nearby (wish I had thought to get the name of the site). It was terribly windy, but exhilarating to run in the sand with a view of the ocean on one side and the sound on the other and the clear, bright blue sky above. Afterward, Rich and Em were nice enough to treat everyone to Dairy Queen.


Collecting sand crabs.

We had such a great time, despite the rainy weather and tornado warnings during the first part of the week, in North Carolina's Outer Banks a few weeks ago. We've been wanting to visit ever since we moved to Virginia and it certainly lived up to its reputation. We rented a house on the beach with three other families and it was pretty magical. In fact, I'd have to say it was the most relaxing vacation I've ever had with my kids -- good friends for them and us to play with, a huge house so that everyone had their own space, and a beautiful beach right out the back door. Millie revelled in the surf and swimming pool and loved digging for sand crabs. Abby loved playing it safe in the sand as far as possible from the sea (although Mark and I were able to coax her into the water to jump over the edge of the water while she laughed nervously), Jane was thrilled to have the freedom to wander all over the beach to her heart's content and loved saying "Baby" over and over again whenever she saw one of the three babies who were there. Most of all we loved spending time with good friends.