Topsail Beach, NC

We had an amazing week at Topsail Beach, NC this summer! We enjoyed the beautiful beaches, lots of fishing, and a relaxing week together. We rented a house on the sound side of the island, and could easily walk to the beach across the street or visit other beaches along the island. 

The kids enjoyed catching crabs and fish near the house.

Checking out the beach and pier.

Beachnastics time.

We bought a tent for the beach because it was hot and windy and was as welcome retreat.

The boys loved fishing from the pier, and especially liked seeing sharks in the water.

More beach time.

At the southern tip of the island was a beautiful beach where we went for sunset a couple of nights. We kids enjoying doing more salt water fishing from the shore and caught a lot of fish.

Our last day we went on a charter fishing boat for near shore fishing, and it was so much fun! To say we caught a lot of fish is an understatement. In the 3 hours we were on the boat, we caught well over 50 fish. If we planned this trip earlier we would have kept a few to cook, but we were leaving the next morning and gave all the fish to the captain and his son.

Lots of mackerel, ladyfish, and other fish I don’t remember anymore. Here’s a few of their catches.

It was such a fun trip, and well-needed family vacation before school starts on Monday!

Visit with Grandpa and Grandma Randell

My parents came to visit for a couple weeks over the summer. During their visit they got to do a lot of different things with the kids, from attending swimming events, doing lots of fishing, watching movies, and an opportunity to visit with old friends. Eliza had swimming practice every evening at the pool and they got to come to her final week of practice.

Hanging at the pool with the boys.

Last year my dad taught the kids how to fish and they have been hooked ever since. They fished all summer caught a lot of bass while fishing with my dad.

Benjamin likes to bring his catch up too the house for us to see :).

Big fish for a little girl.

These kids are bass magnets.

One day they went to see Inside Out 2 at the theater with Eliza.

The last weekend of thei visit, my mom went to Lynchburg, VA to visit her friends Carmen and Bob, who are friends of my dad and mom from NY, before my parents were married. It had been more than 40 years since they had seen one another, and my mom was very excited to take the train to Lynchburg for a weekend visit. It was a special weekend for her and we are glad she was able to make the trip down.

We are thankful my parents were able to come visit and spend time with our family.