In June 2017, we took another trip to our favorite beach location – Cherry Grove Beach. While there, we met a very nice family from Kentucky — Chris, Amber, Sadie and Samuel Wheeler. We saw each other each day on the beach, and had some very nice conversations. Since then, we’ve exchanged several letters back and forth to keep in touch. Perhaps one day we can meet up once again.
The extended Loftin family (Philip, Leslie, Kayli, Curtis, Carolyn, Brad, Beth, Savanna and Alexandria) enjoyed a nice trip to the beach from June 18, 2016 – June 25, 2016.
Day 1: The morning of June 18, Kayli was all set to go!
After the 4 hour drive, we arrived, and Kayli could not wait to get to the beach!
Day 2: We had a nice balcony-breakfast, prior to the beach fun.
Time to start the sandy day.
We built a sand castle.
Later that night, the ladies had a ‘Jamberry party’.
Day 3:
That evening, we went to play mini golf.
Day 4: The fun continues.
Kayli goes fishing.
We finished the day at Kayli’s favorite place – Sweet Frog.
Day 5:
Kayli loves to dance!
Later that evening, we went to get ice cream.
Day 6:
Time to chill at the pool!
Day 7: The final day at the beach begins.
Good bye, Cherry Grove Beach. See you next year!
On Saturday, September 19, 2015, we left home (once again) for our favorite beach trip (to Xanadu II) in Cherry Grove Beach.
On Sunday afternoon, we went to Ripley’s Aquarium. We saw various stingrays, sharks, fish, and…
Mermaids!
(And toads)
Nonni and Poppi joined us on Monday. They stayed through Wednesday.
We had fun digging holes in the sand.
But sometimes, it’s just nice to relax for a little bit.
Kayli enjoyed swinging over the waves — with a little help.
Here is a wide angle view of the ocean at our condo.
Yep, we dug another hole – because that’s what you do at the beach.
And another one…
Time for some beach pictures.
Got a good picture of Poppi and Nonni.
While this was fun – we don’t recommend it. Sand gets everywhere…and is not quite as enjoyable while cleaning up.
We saw another mermaid on Wednesday.
We built a sand castle.
Kayli missed Grandmama while she was gone.
We played putt-putt on Wednesday.
Back at the condo for a relaxing night.
Our visits to Xanadu II are very enjoyable. But the rain ended our vacation a day early. We went shopping on Thursday because of the rain. And since Friday was also going to be rainy, we decided to go home a day early – on Friday. As it turns out, Friday wasn’t too bad a day and we could have enjoyed some nice weather. But it was nice having all of Saturday to vacate our vacation. Until next year…
On Saturday, September 6, 2014, we left home for our favorite beach trip (to the Xanadu II condo) in Cherry Grove Beach. We were there through September 13. Mike and Myra joined us for half the week.
Kayli was kind enough to apply ‘sandscreen’ to Mommy’s and Daddy’s legs.
“We don’t want Daddy to burn!”
After a long week of playing, Kayli finally gave it up.
On Day 7 (Friday, September 13, 2013), we got up at 8:30 AM, after an early morning play party with Kayli from 4:30 – 6:30 AM. We spent the first couple hours on the beach. Kayli enjoyed climbing in and out of the holes we dug and picking up seashells. We went in around 12:30 PM for lunch and an afternoon nap for Kayli (she was very tired during lunch).
Mom and Dad spent the time cleaning the condo and began getting things ready to go home. After Kayli woke up around 3:00 PM, we spent a little time in the condo and then went back to Broadway at the Beach to enjoy a dinner at Yomato Japanese Restaurant and also to purchase a bag for Kayli from Embroidery Paradise.
We went back to the condo for about an hour prior to heading out for a quick ice cream run. Kayli enjoyed tasting Krazy Kookie Dough ice cream (cake batter ice cream with pieces of colored sugar cookie dough). We went back to the condo and completed some additional packing prior to relaxing for a bit and heading to bed around 10:15 PM.
On Day 6 (Thursday, September 12, 2013), we got up at 6:45 AM. We decided to visit the Tanger Outlets on Hwy 501. We arrived at 9:00 AM only to find out that the shops didn’t open until 10:00 AM. So, we all took a nap until around 9:40 AM. After some time shopping, we left and returned to the condo around 12:45 PM. We ate lunch and spent some time in the condo due to the heat. We went to TGI Friday’s for dinner and spent the evening outside and took some more pictures before turning in for the night.
On Day 5 (Wednesday, September 11, 2013), we got up at 6:45 AM.
We decided to take Kayli to Ripley’s Aquarium. We then took her to Build-a-Bear Workshop to get her a stuffed ‘animal’. We settled on a stuffed bunny that we named ‘Cuddles’.
After an enjoyable morning of walking around the Aquarium and Broadway at the Beach, we headed back toward the condo. We were looking for a place to get some lunch on the way back and decided on Damon’s Grill. After being seated for lunch, we placed our order. After just a few minutes, Kayli began getting grumpy (I.e. sleepy). Daddy walked her outside for a few minutes to try to calm her down. Once the food was delivered to our table, it was obvious Kayli was not going to calm down, so we converted our meal to-go. We ate our lunch back at the condo after putting Kayli down to sleep – a 3 hour nap. After she woke back up, we went to the beach for 1.5 hours and took some pictures.
On this trip, we determined that Kayli really enjoys chasing small animals such as birds or dogs. She chased birds up and down the beach.
We came in around 6:30 PM, ate a quick dinner and then went out for ice cream. That completed our day.
On Day 4 (Tuesday, September 10, 2013), we got up at 7:30 AM. While preparing for breakfast, we noticed tiny little fins popping up, way out in the ocean (several schools of dolphins).
We went to the beach at 9:15 AM, even though Kayli was already beginning to get sleepy again. After an hour on the beach, we came in around 10:15 AM as Kayli began getting clumsy – a tale sign of her getting sleepy. We rested for a bit and went to K&W Cafeteria for lunch. After a relaxing afternoon, we went back outside around 5:15 PM. During this outing, Kayli covered a lot of ground chasing birds up and down the beach. We returned to the condo around 7:30 PM.
On Day 3 (Monday, September 9, 2013), we got up at 7:30 AM. We went to the beach at 9:00 AM.
At 10:30 AM, Kayli was very sleepy, so we went back to the condo to allow her to sleep. But once we got there, she was very resistant to sleeping and it was 11:30 AM before she went to sleep. Mommy and Daddy ate lunch while Kayli slept. Afterwards, Mommy was going to go back to the beach while Kayli continued to sleep. But after she got her bathing suit on, Kayli woke up. We fed Kayli lunch, and then Daddy watched Kayli while Mommy went to the beach for about an hour, until 1:30 PM. Mommy then came back to the condo with Daddy and Kayli. Kayli took another nap, and Mommy went back down to the ocean around 3:45 PM and stayed out until Kayli woke up around 4:30 PM. We then went to the beach to take some pictures, visited the pool for a few minutes and returned to the condo around 5:30 PM.
We went out to pick up dinner. After eating a quick dinner, we went back outside around 7:00 PM for some more pictures. We came in around 7:30 PM and everyone got cleaned up before bed time.
Mommy tries to put Kayli to sleep by singing ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’, one of Kayli’s favorite songs.
2013-09-09