Ocracoke 2011 - Fresh Breeze

July 24 - July 30, 2011. Ocracoke Island - Walker Family Vacation. House booked, car packed, boys in their seats, dvd player on, miller lite in the cooler, and the out of office reply message set for a week. Ocracoke, N.C. here we come.

"Fresh Breeze" turned out to be just want we needed. Comfortable, open design, kid-friendly furniture, and an outdoor shower made for a relaxing week.

Berkeley Lennon Walker's feet in the sand. 19 months old on your first trip to Ocracoke.

Lincoln Thomas Walker. 4 years old making your third trip to Ocracoke.

And what a beautiful beach it is. The ocean views make it hard to take a bad picture.

Berkeley seeing the ocean for the very first time. He kept pointing and pointing, stomping his feet, and jumping (sort of). "Walloo, Walloo, Walloo!"

Discovering the sand and shells.

Getting into the swing of things on the beach. Erik and Lincoln are enjoying the ocean off in the background while Berkeley dunked his sea creatures in the pool and splashed.

Lincoln and Daddy having their first ocean adventure of 2011.

The daily scene. The canopy was a perfect addition to our beach gear. Easy to put up (thanks to the help of a friendly beach neighbor teaching us the trick on the first day) and easy to take down. Far superior shade coverage to that of an umbrella.

Berkeley and Daddy checking out the ocean up close.

Splash down. Berkeley loved the pool, so much so that we had a difficult time keeping water in it. He would repeatedly kick his legs out from under him and splash down with a laugh.

Time to build a sea turtle!!! My two little helpers were happy to shovel the sand into mounds only to be squashed and then built again.

After a long morning on the beach, Berkeley was ready for a nap. The little stinker woke us up every day by 6am, so shortly after arriving on the beach each day, he was ready to crash.

Lincoln enjoyed the beach time all to himself, playing in the bucket, burying the sea creatures, and making up stories about sharks, humpback whales, and orca whales.

But all the sun and fun got the best of him too. The nifty cots a bought just for the trip worked out great. Both boys were happy to have their own space to relax, stretch out, and be relatively sand free.

Sometimes Berkeley was a little grumpy when he woke up. This face is priceless.

Nothing like a juice box to change his mood.

Sand monsters. I learned in 2009 on our previous trip to Ocracoke that kids manage to get sand on every part of their little bodies. Lincoln would be covered and I would think to myself, oh gosh, he is going to want to sit on my lap. With two boys now, it is impossible as a parent to avoid the "pleasure" of an icky, sandy, sticky body climbing into your lap.

After naptime, it was off with the wet swim diaper and clothes. Time to play naked baby on the beach (like a true Ocracoke beachcomber).

Evening strolls through the village were fun. The streets crowded with relaxed vacationers taking in the atmosphere of the island.

Can't walk past the ice cream shop without stopping off for a treat. This ice cream cone is enormous, but Lincoln ate every last bite (except for the parts that landed on his cloths and created giant chocolate lips).

The one rainy day of the whole week (Tuesday) provided the perfect opportunity to explore the pirate museum, visit the lighthouse, the Ocracoke preservation society museum, and the park ranger station. Lincoln was very interested in learning about the infamous pirate, Blackbeard, but when Berkeley laid eyes on the life size wax likeliness inside, he literally buried his face in my shoulder for 20 minutes. No tears, but no amount of coxing could convince Berkeley to come out from his hiding place. Lincoln kept saying, "It's okay Berkeley, it's just a big scary pirate with a sword, but you don't need to be afraid." Lincoln's "soothing" words fell on deaf ears.

Lincoln is trying out the world famous Pony Island hush puppies. Hands down one of my favorite foods of all time, but Lincoln was less than enthused. Fine by me because that just meant I had less to worry about sharing.

After an earlier than usual dinner one evening, we headed back out to the beach to enjoy the sunset. The boys had a great time racing their trucks up and down the beach. With only one other car in the distance, they had lots of beach to explore.

Family Fun beach vacation idea in action. When I came across this idea in the magazine just a few weeks before our trip, I knew it was something I had to try. Lincoln and I dug two shallow, oval holes and created a reverse image of a "shell man" complete with seaweed hair.

The plaster of paris dried super quick.

Ta-da....our very own sand mask. I think the mask turned out pretty good, but I know for next time not to put quite as much plaster in the hole so as not to lose the shell man's nose.

Cuddling Berkeley as he wakes from a nap.

After a short walk down the beach, Berkeley decided he wanted to be carried. Lincoln rescued us from holding Berkeley's wet, sandy body and pushed his brother all the way back to the truck. Berkeley was in heaven and Lincoln was super proud.

Time to get naked again...

Nothing beats breakfast on the beach. This picture was taken at 7am. We literally "woke up the ocean."

Berkeley was clearly enjoying his banana. It ceases to amaze me how much this kid can cram into his mouth at one time.

Cool dudes.

On the very last beach day, the ocean had created a huge tidal pool - just perfect for Lincoln to play in. It took awhile for him to overcome his fear of "tadpoles" which were tiny minnows swimming about, but after much encouragement he decided to truly experience the ocean.

Military helicopter doing a fly-by along Ocracoke's beach. We all waved and the helicopter actually did a circle and flew by us a second time.

Lincoln grew tired of pushing, but Berkeley wasn't ready to give up his ride.

Riding the Ocracoke ferry back to the mainland. Bye-bye Ocracoke - we will be back again another year.