Christmas in Wilmington

After spending a few days in Tennessee, the kids and I packed up and drove the almost nine hours to my parents' house in Wilmington, NC.  The same day we were headed east, my brother and his family were headed west.  Clay had spent the week in Wilmington and had to get back to Oklahoma.  We ended up meeting for lunch, exactly halfway, in Charlotte.  Ironically, our sister and her family live in Charlotte, but they were at our parents' house already.

 We met at McAllister's Deli, and we all had a great lunch.  It was nice not to have to eat fast food again.  Alex and Madison enjoyed sitting with Cousin Wes.

 Madison with Aunt Karen

 Uncle Clay with Alex

All ready to load up again.  Lucy, their dog, had to join the crew. 

 After driving all day, we made it.  Cousin Alaina was ready to see us.  Madison was so happy to have a little girl to play with while at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Time for presents

 Alex with Uncle Harry

Madison is so excited about her new Barbie.

 My mom

Luke with his Lego boat (it came equipped with a shark and a fish too)

 Alex with his Lego tractor

Madison likes this picture with her cousin.

 I think Alaina liked the bath octopus we got her.

Lego tractor out of the box

 These flashlights my parents found were the BIGGEST hit with all the kids.  It was so funny.

Flashlight

 Anything left in there?

Storytime with Grandpa

 We took a picnic lunch to Carolina Beach State Park. It turned out to be very windy and cold, but the kids didn't seem to mind too much.

Alex and Grandpa seemed to have the right idea about eating lunch.

 Luke joined in.

Then, Grandpa joined them.

 Alaina didn't want to stop and eat.  She was having too much fun.

I was the keeper of the chips so none of us got stuck eating sandy chips.

 My crew

Alex is trying to share with Alaina.

We had a great visit with everyone.  It was so nice to see all of you.