Vacation recaps continue!  After we finished our wonderful weekend of visiting friends in DC, we headed on down south for the second part of our trip: reuniting with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law on Hatteras Island, NC.  Hatteras was the site of so much summer fun when I was growing up.  My parents and their friends would rent a big house together for a week each summer, starting when I was seven and my brother was two.  We’d spend the whole week in a haze of sun, sand, and salt water – and it was always perfect.  My parents’ friends have a son my age and we had a blast running around on the beach, watching movies that were too old for us when the adults would go out, and – later, when we were older – driving out onto the beach with my brother and, occasionally, other friends.  Some of my best memories from childhood summers happened on Hatteras, so I was naturally excited to share the island with my own kids.

I’m not going to post a day-by-day recap, because our days on the beach are mostly all the same, so it would get repetitive.  Instead, I’m going to share snippets of our vacation – starting with the Sound.

For this trip, my parents rented the same house we’d always gotten during those childhood summers.  On Hatteras, if you’re renting a house, you have two options – stay oceanside, or stay soundside.  The ocean is, of course, the Atlantic.  The sound is Pamlico Sound, a huge brackish body of water that runs along most of the Outer Banks.  We always stayed soundside so the dads could windsurf right off the house beach.  Now, as a mom, I appreciate that there might have been another reason the moms liked the idea of staying soundside – the lack of surf and tide, and the bathwater-warm temperature, and the fact that the sound is basically no deeper than knee-deep for miles, all made it a much friendlier place to stay with wee ones.

Peanut, who loves-loves-LOVES our pool, was initially hesitant about the Sound.  (It probably didn’t help that within five minutes of her first sight of the Sound, Uncle Dan had come running up with a hermit crab in his hand.  Peanut is apprehensive about the hermit crab in her classroom, and that one’s behind glass – it was no surprise that she was completely weirded out by Uncle Dan bringing her a wild one.  And I probably didn’t help matters when I held out my hands for Uncle Dan to drop the crab into.  Mom, what are you DOING?!)

But Peanut quickly warmed up to the experience of swimming in the Sound.  Knowing that she often needs time to get on board with a new experience, I gave her that time.  First, I held her in my arms, well above the water.  Then I told her that I was going to set her down on the sand.  She was nervous, but I stood her on the damp sand about a foot or so from the water’s edge.  Within moments she was cautiously advancing toward the water, and it was no time at all before our little fish was splashing, playing, and chasing minnows.

She also declared that Aunt Danielle was her “seahorse.”  Aunt Danielle was happy to oblige with plenty of “seahorse rides.”  Such a good sport!

Most days, we stuck with the routine we’d always had growing up – Sound in the morning, ocean beach in the afternoon.  My dad, Dan and Danielle all windsurfed.  The rest of us took turns splashing with Peanut and dipping Nugget’s little feet in the water.  I even got to try the stand-up paddleboard!  (I’d been dying to give the sport a try.  Verdict: it’s a great workout and such a blast!  Now I want to rent SUPs and paddle down Elevator Alley here in Buffalo.)

And of course we did lots of lounging.  Nugget took several soundside lap naps, falling asleep to the peaceful breeze in the sea oats and to his sister’s laughter as she splashed with her aunt and uncle.

On our last afternoon, I brought Nugget down to the sound beach for a little one-on-one swimming fun.  Steve and Peanut were napping in the house, and the rest of the family had already gone to the ocean beach.  I crouched down in the shallows and sat Nugget on the sandy bottom of the sound, letting him feel the warm water on his legs.  Then, when he’d had enough swimming, I wrapped him in a towel and walked up and down the beach, bouncing him to sleep.  It was a nice hour to share with just my little guy.

I’m sure the families who choose to stay oceanside have a wonderful time, too – but I’m certainly glad we stay soundside.  It’s quiet and peaceful – perfect for little kids and for adults craving a bit of rejuvenation.

Coming up next time – a look at the ocean beach!