Holden Beach Day Two

Brendan woke me up at 5:30 to watch the sunrise.  We pulled plastic chairs out to the sand so that we were close enough to the water to feel it lapping our feet but far enough away that we didn’t get carried away.  Together we made up the population of two on the beach at that time.  We remained alone until Eric and Nicole came out at six and Julia and my mom came out shortly after.  The two pairs took walks to enjoy the morning, but Brendan and I spent our time relaxing along the ocean.  The clouds changed from gray to pink to nothing as they faded away and the sun replaced their splendor.  We sat outside until the sun had risen beyond the houses and sweat beads were forming across our foreheads.  We came inside around seven to fix Cocoa Wheats and mugs of tea for breakfast and proceeded to immediately go back outside to eat them.  I was too tired to do anything but go back to bed at that point, so I did, and I didn’t wake up again until 9:15.  Apparently Brendan felt similarly because I found him asleep on the couch when I dragged myself out of bed.  Everyone in the house was up by seven and sat along the water reading and tanning while I played sleeping beauty.  Nicole, Eric, Brendan and I decided to walk down to the infamous Holden Beach pier once we were all up and going.  We took our sand pails to collect shells along our walk, which took about 45 minutes.  As the high tide was gradually replaced by low tide, we took pictures under the pier and then paid the dollar per person to walk out on it.  The view of the island as far as the eye can see is spectacular and nothing short of stunning.  We spent the next 20 minutes looking on and watching the cute little flyers I call baby birds because I don’t know their real name.  We then walked the short distance to Haley’s Ice-Cream to eat some gigantic cones.  I tried chocolate éclair, and Brendan had blueberry cheesecake, both of which were delicious.  Nicole and Eric enjoyed chocolate tacos, and we ate our frozen treats inside the restaurant overlooking the ocean before walking the longish distance back to the house.  Before jumping in the water, we greeted everyone inside and rehydrated, then we ran back outside to see who could be the first one in.  Liam joined us, and we had a blast playing in the waves.  While we were gone on our walk, everyone else went swimming or sat on the porch, and while we were swimming, everyone else ate lunch.  Once we had our fill of the water, we came inside to fix food.  For the rest of the afternoon, everyone read, watched TV, sat on the porch, went to the grocery store, played cards, prepared dinner, or a combination of some of those.  Nanny and Po were in charge of dinner and prepared something that reminded me of Thanksgiving – ham, corn on the cob cut off of the cob, cheese, olives, baked potatoes and watermelon for dessert.  Everyone ate their fill before the girls did dishes.  After dinner, most of the group played some rowdy games of Family Feud, while Julia, Brendan and I went to the free concert at the pavilion.  I haven’t had so much fun in a long time.  At first, we parked and scoped out the area to encourage ourselves to feel comfortable.  It’s never easy to start dancing in front of group of people, but I told Brendan that if he could get Julia out on the dance floor, I would join them.  After one dance of the three of us moving and grooving together, we joined a circle of local senior citizens breaking it down.  Our circle comprised about 11 of the 20 people on the dance floor, but that didn’t stop us from boogying.  As time went on, we all got more and more comfortable and before long, we had someone showing off in the middle and switching, and then we started a conga line.  Julia is a really fun person, and Brendan is always well-loved by the older ladies, so our group was a hit.  By the time the most popular songs of the 60s and 70s were in full swing, we were covered in sweat and ready for a break, so we waved good-bye and wandered over to the frozen ice booth to order some treats.  Julia tried pink lemonade, and I had Almond Joy flavored ice.  Both were good but so sugary we kept puckering our faces.  We exchanged stories while we ate them, then got back in the car and drove to our house.  We walked into a crazy game of Family Feud in typical men vs. women style, and we joined right in.  Brendan endured a round of fast money set up by my Dad, and the men easily defeated the women two games to one.  After our organized game, we played a game where each of us whispers something in Liam’s ear for him to act out and he does.  At one point he acted out me in such a way that it took 10 minutes for anyone to guess, and he had Eric and Aunt Val rolling on the floor because they knew what he was trying to get across.  Family game night was, everyone agreed, a complete success and fun for everyone.  Around 11 we all went our separate ways to sleep.  The day made me realize what an awesome family I have and how lucky I am to have someone who fits in so well.  Brendan is the only person who could have gotten me on the dance floor and made it such a great experience.  In so many ways we’re different but complimenting, and in many other ways, we’re the same.  Being apart and having very different experiences all summer made us different people but people who fit together even better now that we’re back as one.  I’ve missed him more than I can express in words, and our separation has made us both appreciate one another more than ever.  I am the luckiest.