here comes the sun

Just in time for our last day in island paradise, it got sunny and warm outside. A gorgeous day, really. We started out early by doing some shell hunting at the north end of the island, which turns out to be not very different than the south end. But we did get to explore that end of the island some more, including the lighthouse. On the way back, we swung by the fire station, where Mike made a new friend and did a patch exchange for my dad -- apparently it is a "thing" for fire departments to trade patches with each other on visits. I never really thought about it much before, though I did notice that my dad's fire station has a bunch of patches on display from all over the country. Mike went in to the Tybee fire station and asked if they traded patches, and the woman just pointed to the wall behind him, where there were hundreds of patches on display. I'm thinking they do a more brisk patch exchange than the Hamlet FD, mostly since Hamlet isn't exactly a tourist mecca.

Anyway. Back to the cottage for snack, then out to the beach we went for swimming and sunning. Henry got really cold in the ocean water, and wouldn't stop shivering even when I wrapped him up in two towels and sat in the sun on the beach with him, so I brought him back up for a warm shower while Mike and Liam and Max stayed on the beach. They came back up for lunch, and afterward Henry napped (oh, okay, I napped too!) while Mike took the other boys back down to the beach for another round. Later in the afternoon, Mike and I wanted to go for a bike ride, and Liam and Henry were willing, but Max was totally not. So I ended up taking Max shopping at Seaside Sisters, where we got some wonderful souvenirs, while Mike took the other two on a ride around the inland side of the island and explored the marshes a little bit. Henry has a new bike seat that goes in front on Mike's bike, and he loves it way more than the enclosed trailer we usually use.

We ended up getting takeout for dinner from Sundae Cafe, a very cool restaurant that was totally booked up with reservations until late late tonight. Good thing I read somewhere that you could call them and order to go since it isn't on their website! Liam and I had crab cake sandwiches, Max and Henry went with their old standby (shicken nuggets, as Henry calls them), and Mike had a burger. Delicious! Now Mike is taking them for one last walk along the beach, and I'm starting to get everything packed up so we can hit the road early tomorrow. We're hoping to do it all in one shot, but we'll see how it goes. We have had a wonderful time here, but we're all ready to be back at home.