Fernandez Family of Five: Holden Beach

During the week of August 13-20 we took our annual trip down to the beach with our dear friends, the Stepp's. We had a great week of relaxation, playing in the waves, running, waiting on sea turtle nests to hatch, going on dates, beautiful weather and just enjoying being with our friends. It was a great way to end our summer!

Our car was packed full on the way to the beach. We try to take a lot of stuff so we don't have to buy as much once we get there. This year we were definitely packed in like sardines.

Here is the BRIGHT kitchen in the beach house we rented.

The family room of the beach house.

Here is a view from the beach of where we stayed.

On Sunday morning, we drove down to Ocean Isle for a church service on the beach. We have done this several years in a row and it is a great way to start off our vacation.

Surfer Girl! Reece really got the hang of the waves this year.

Reece is doing a great job catching waves by herself.

Check out the big wave coming in behind Hannah and Jonathan. We had great waves on Monday.

Riley and Daddy riding a wave together.

By the look on their faces I think they approved of that wave.

Reece going over a wave instead of getting a face full of water. She really mastered jumping over the waves this year.

Regan trying to catch minnows in her net.

Regan is not happy with my picture taking so she is coming after me.

Regan got a piece of the waves on Monday night.

All of us heading down the beach to check on the sea turtle nests. I love this photo of Reece and her friend, Daniel, lagging behind. There were several nests about to hatch the week we were there. Unfortunately, we never got to see any turtles hatching. We missed one nest hatch by about 15 minutes and the kids were very upset that they missed it. There were tears of disappointment.

Beautiful sunset...

Tuesday was a very calm day at sea, it felt like we were in a lake. We spent most of this morning being lazy on our boogie boards.

This was a favorite spot to read and eat lunch on the back porch of our house.

This is where Regan and Tony spent a lot of time reading.

We found an injured Horseshoe Crab being washed up onto the beach.

Dave and Tony tried to rescue the crab and put it back into the water.

I was trying to get a serious picture of Daniel and Reece but that was not happening. These two are so funny together as you will see in these next photos. Both of them live life to the fullest.

During the week, Tony took each of the girls on a lunch date. Reece's date was first and they went to a burger place called, Manikin's, for lunch and then had ice cream at the beach.

Regan and Daddy went to Paradise Cafe for lunch and then they discovered a new bakery that has huge, rainbow cupcakes. So, Regan got a cupcake and icecream.

Riley had her date last and she milked daddy for all he was worth. Last year, we went to a local water park and Riley was not tall enough to ride on the big slides. She was very disappointed that we were not going to the water park this year, and begged her daddy to take her. So, they went to the water park for their date, then to the burger place for lunch, and lastly they got a cupcake at the new bakery and icecream. Later in the week, Dave went and got everyone cupcakes at the bakery because some of us had not tried them yet.

I too got a date with Tony, we trade off date nights with the Stepp's while at the beach. Tony and I drove up to Wilmington Beach and ate at a wonderful restaurant, The Oceania, on the pier. Then, we drove into Wilmington for Kilwin's icecream and walked around a bit. It was a nice night together.