Well that was the fastest beach trip I can ever remember. As much as I love going on vacation, I also love returning to my own home and routines. I got so much rest on our trip to Bald Head (slept 8-9 hours and only worked out twice), so I’m feeling restored and ready to mom full-time again. Emerson has also gifted me with long naps and sleeping in until almost 8 since we’ve been home!
With the exception of the 4th, we spent all our days slowly making our way to the beach or pool, and then relaxing/cooking/eating lunch during Emerson’s afternoon nap, and returning to the beach from 4 to 5ish.
I lot a lot of questions about our matching dresses – these are Lilly Pulitzer that I bought at the store in Durham, but you can find them online or in some department stores too. I’m hoping we’ll fit into them next year!
Emerson had so much fun on our trip playing with her cousin Mazen, running around on the beach, and playing with golf and beach balls in the house. It’s so much fun having a walker who only takes one nap now (last year was much harder)!
Matt turned another year older, as he always does on July 3rd, and we celebrated with lunch and drinks at the Shoal’s Club, burgers and beer for dinner, and a decadent ice cream cake that I threw together from gluten free mixes available at the island store (I brought a spring loaded pan with me). This had a sugar cookie crust, a half gallon of salted caramel ice cream, a layer of vanilla cake, and a layer of buttercream. I used some canned icing from Whole Foods, and it was way too sweet. If I made this again, I’d definitely just use lightly sweetened whipped cream to balance the sugar overload.
Grammie was so helpful on our trip, and entertained Emerson so that Matt and could take some breaks here and there. She and Grand-pop also babysat both grandchildren so that we could escape for a rare double date night on vacation! We went to Mojos and I had tropical drinks and shrimp and grits and it was wonderful.
Counting down the days until next year. <3 Bald Head so much!!
Liz
July 10, 2018 at 9:29 pmWas Emerson afraid of waves at all? We just came back from the beach – we went to the Outer Banks – and he loved the sound because it was calm but was afraid of the actual ocean because of the waves!
Laura
July 10, 2018 at 9:34 pmNo, but the waves on the south side of BH are soooo much smaller than the outer banks. I remember the outer banks being so scary as a child!
Kate
July 11, 2018 at 12:09 amIt was great to read about your trip, great family time! Would love to know what sunscreen you use on Emerson and also what time does she go to bed that she’ll sleep until almost 8am, I need to copy that haha!
Laura
July 11, 2018 at 2:26 pmHi! I use a couple of different brands of sunscreen (anything that’s zinc only) but right now I have the Babyganics (only the stick is zinc only) and Garden Goddess. She was going to bed at 7:30, but stayed up a little bit later on the trip and has been trending more towards 8 PM
Kate
July 11, 2018 at 4:16 pmThanks for the reply!
Lindsay
July 11, 2018 at 7:54 pmStrange question (possibly) but do your parents own a place on the island? If not, is the place you stayed a vacation rental that others could look at? I’d love to travel to Bald Head one day but I am always hesitant to try new places without reviews. 😉
Laura
July 12, 2018 at 2:40 pmHi,
My parents do have a home there, but it was rented all summer. Plus, we like to be on the beach side, so we rented the house we stayed in through Wendy Wilmont properties. I’d definitely recommend the house, along with any of the other rentals on Wendy’s website: https://www.wendywilmotproperties.com/booking/sea-oats-cottage/1529-121700