Holden Beach Day Three

Day three was the start of another early morning, with almost everyone being up and going by 7:30 a.m.  As we were eating breakfast and discussing our plans for the day, the girls decided we would all like to go thrift store shopping.  Aunt Val was the only one who counted herself out because she, Uncle Shawn and Liam wanted to go to a water park in Wilmington.  We got ready, beautifying ourselves for the day, and took a couple pictures before starting our shopping day.  We drove towards the city of Shallot, stopping at various thrift stores along the way.  At the first couple of stores, we found a few good deals.  I bought a pair of khaki pants for $3.20, a book for $.50, and new slippers for $3.  Nanny got two cook books for less than $3, and Julia got a shirt for Aunt Val and a pair of slip on shoes.  We then arrived at Classy Closet, an upscale consignment shop that lived up to its name.  There was a variety of knick knack type stuff, all of which was new looking, and all of the clothes were 50% off.  I wish I could have bought half the store.  Nicole and I found some really nice dresses.  She found a blue sequined go-go dancer type dress for my bachelorette party, and I found a classy, strapless, black White House Black Market dress for my rehearsal dinner and a halter-style electric blue dress for Brendan and my engagement pictures.  Both of my dresses retailed for over $200, and I got the first for $25 and the second for $30.  Nicole got the ultimate bargain, spending only $12.50 for hers.  I also found some other good deals, but I wasn’t so sure Brendan would be thrilled with me coming home with none of his money, so I decided to save $10.  For lunch, Nanny wanted to try Bojangle’s, a Southern, fast-food, chicken restaurant, so we did.  We all enjoyed our meals, and the macaroni cheese was the group favorite.  During our meal, Julia called Aunt Val, only to find out they had driven to Wilmington but Liam had gotten sick the whole way there, so they had turned around and were on their way back to the house.  When our group got back to the house around two, Liam was sleeping but feeling better.  The boys had spent their morning playing hillbilly golf, swimming and eating shrimp burgers at the Provisional Company. I was very nervous to show Brendan what I had gotten because I had used his money, but he reacted better than I anticipated.  He did shake me and say, “Katteeeee,” as I expected, but by the time I showed them off in a fashion show, he had warmed up.  For the rest of the afternoon, we lounged around and took naps before my parent’s dinner of Hawaiian chicken, fresh shrimp, oriental salad, French bread, noodles, olives, cheese and key lime pie and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  It was an absolutely delicious meal.  After the kids had finished doing dishes, almost everyone hopped into their swimsuits and made their way down to the water.  Nanny and Po held hands as they waded into the waves, but Nanny just kept getting smacked with wave after wave, so she decided to sit on a beach chair while my dad, my mom, Brendan, Eric, Nicole, Liam, Po and I played in the ocean.  Once we had gotten our fill, we came in, showered, enjoyed our dessert and played a game of Balderdash.  I think it’s a new family favorite.  After game night, Nicole, Eric, Brendan, Liam and I went downstairs to watch 500 Days of Summer and then the girls came back upstairs to go to sleep around midnight.