Tuesday, September 9, 2014

{ Besties at the Beach }

I was so excited to be able to go to the beach with my best friend, Faith.  We are always so busy at the dorm that we never really have time to just hang out.  Since we are both beach lovin' girls, we jumped at the opportunity to go on a camping trip to Outer Banks, NC.  It was certainly an eventful trip though!  No sooner than we arrived that we had to pack everything back up and leave as we were in the path of Hurricane Arthur.  We were able to return just 3 days later and caught this beautiful sunset.  The next day, we hung out at the campground and then off to the beach late that afternoon!  We wanted to catch low tide at 6:04 p.m. cause that is the best time to look for shells - our favorite thing to do at the beach. 


We both got matching pink buckets to hold any treasures we found.  (We must confess that we did copy Lanie-bug.  When she got this same bucket a few months ago, both Faith and I fell in love with it!  And, Lanie is such a sweetie that she was totally cool with us having the same buckets as she does.)  The sun was starting to get lower in the sky when we arrived and there was a nice breeze....tide was out when we arrived and the waves would crash and then flood over the sand revealing tons of shell pieces.  Honey came with us but ran off down the beach a ways all the while barking at every sea gull she saw.  Since we were the only ones on that part of the beach, we let Honey have some fun while Faith and I started hunting for treasures. 


After only 5 minuntes of looking, I spotted the top of a beautiful Lightning Whelk!  From past experience, I knew not to get too excited cause even though it might *look* whole, most of the time, the backs or the tips are broken.  "Oh please, please, pleeeeeze be whole!" I whispered.


As I picked it up, I was soooo excited to see that, yes, it was indeed whole!  There was a teeny bit missing on the outer lip but that didn't bother me.  And, the best thing about it was - it was empty!  Do you know what makes Lightning Whelks unique?  Unlike other univalves, the whorl is counter-clockwise.  Cool, uh?  I admit it, I am pretty much a shell geek.  I find them very beautiful and exceptionally interesting!


Here's a close-up of my special find!!  Isn't it beautiful???  Can you see the 'lightning' streaks that it gets it's name from?


As I was getting ready to put my special find in my bucket, I heard Faith squealing with excitement and so I gripped my shell tightly and walked carefully over to meet her.  I didn't want to break any other special shells by smooshing them under my feet but I was super excited to see what she found! 

As we got close to each other, I could see she was holding up a starfish!  Sweet!  Normally you don't find these up on the beach unless it is after a storm.  But, since I would definitely consider Hurricane Arthur a storm and a big one at that (ha ha), it made total sense that Faith found one!  "Let me see!" I called out.  She held it up and it was so cute!  I excitedly held up my find and it was funny.....we felt like we were both back in 2nd grade having show and tell!


Faith suggested we play with the beach ball before it got too late and I agreed that would be super fun!  So, we set our buckets up higher on the beach so the waves wouldn't topple them and then grabbed the beach ball.  Now, since there was a slight breeze blowing towards Faith, the ball would get caught up in the wind and get extra high before falling towards her.  This sort of frustrated her since it never actually came down when or where she expected it too!  I did giggle.....the ball definitely seemed to have a mind of it's own and Faith kept missing it over and over and over!  We had a good laugh about it!!  


Oh boy, when she did catch it, she'd do this quirky little victory dance that made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes!  Oh.My.Gosh.  I wish you could have seen it!  It was a riot!


I congratulated her on the catch but told her she should probably not do that dance when there were other people around, hee hee.  Truthfully, her dancing is really just a series of random bodily movements that have no coordination!  Thankfully, we were pretty much the only ones on the beach so her dancing abilities - or lack of - were totally safe with me cause she's my bestie. ♥


We tried a few more times but the breeze really made it hard to keep playing so I suggested we sit and watch the waves for a bit before doing some more shelling.  There was a HUGE, long log that was perfect for leaning on.....in actuality it was a telephone pole that Hurricane Arthur had deposited on the beach!  We stood there with our feet in the soft, warm sand.  We even saw a pod of dolphins swim by.  Everything was perfect and we were happy just to be quiet and take all of the beauty of our heavenly Father's creation.  It was truly an amazing moment.


As I stood there in that moment, it just confirmed to me again that late evening is my absolute favorite time on the beach.  Normally, the heat of the day has passed and the sun is dropping which casts an amazing warm glow on everything - even the white foam of the breaking waves has a warm glow on it!


We did a little more shelling before deciding to sit down around sunset and show each other our finds.  By this time, Honey had decided she needed a rest and came back to join us.  I swear she seemed to want to see Faith's treasures too because she kept sticking her long snout in the bucket!  Both Faith and I found a couple Lightning Whelks but neither of us found a Knobbed Whelk which normally is more common.  We both found some beautiful calico scallops and a few coquinas too!  Faith found a perfect sand dollar, a huge Cockle AND to top it all off, a small nugget of bright green sea glass.....she was such a lucky ducky!  I also found a couple Baby's Ears and a couple Buttercup Lucine's that had faded to total white.  I'd say we did pretty darned good!  We were both very, very happy with the additions to our shell collections.





Before the sun totally went down, I wanted to get a photo of Faith and Honey for my scrapbook.  Faith held up her most special find - her green chunk of sea glass.  I love Faith so much.....she is so much more than my best friend, she is like a sister to me.....I know we'll be besties for life!


The sun was dropping behind the dunes and we didn't want to miss it.  We stood and watched as it got lower and lower and finally, it dropped below the dunes altogether.  What a wonderful afternoon we had and the amazing sunset was the perfect ending to it.  


As we packed up to leave, we were excited to get back to the campground and see what Cindy and Christina did today.....they both were planning on visiting the Old Gray House (aka The Shell Shop) in Buxton this afternoon.  They go there every year together.  Faith and I hope to be able to stop and visit before we leave too.

  18 Inch Doll Outfits & 18 Inch Doll Accessories by:


Hollie's adorable swimsuit by Clarisses Closet ~ Etsy®
Faith's Tankini & Sarong Set 2012 by American Girl®
Pink buckets and beach ball by Lovvbugg ~ eBay®







29 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing another great adventure.....♥ we loved it. Where did you get the octopus hat?? Too cute ! Did you make it? If so will it be in your etsy shop for purchase? We would love to have a cool hat like that. Thanks again. Can't wait for the next adventure. ♥.†

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    1. Hi Sue, You are more than welcome....I know I speak for all the girls (and Trey) when I say that we are all so happy that people enjoy reading about our adventures! So, thank you from the bottom of our hearts! The little hat came from a craft lady who sells from a booth in an antique store in the neighboring town. Next time we head down that way, which will be in a couple weeks, I'll pop in and see if she has a card or contact info for you. It was super reasonable and it's very cute on Faith! ~Hollie ✞

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  2. Hi there! Yes, that is one of my fav pictures too! For the beach ball photo, I just threw the ball in the air and then the wind would boost it up even higher! I liked being on the up-side of the breeze! ~Hollie ✞

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  3. I love all of the pictures!! Your blog is awesome :D Sounds like you and Faith had tons of fun!

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    1. Thank you, thank you, thank you Abigail! Yes, Faith and I had a marvelous time hanging out at the beach....and especially on such a gorgeous day! ~Hollie ✞

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  4. As normal, simply lovely photos! You chose the perfect time to be on the beach; the last picture took our breath away. Keep up the beautiful work!

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    1. Thank you so, so much!! I know, that time of day is so beautiful...especially when you're on the beach! :) ~Hollie ✞

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  5. Fabulous! Love those shells. We still have to sort out some of ours from Ocracoke. The shells are so beautiful. Did you find any olives?

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    1. Hi Melody! Us too! We piled all our shells together for the trip home and now they are all mixed up! We need to go through and sort out whose is whose. We did find a few olives later on in the week. We only kept the ones that were smooth and shiny.....not the ones that had rolling around in the surf for a long time. We did NOT find any Scotch Bonnets this year which made us a bit sad. We normally find one or two when we slip down to Ocracoke for the day but due to Hurricane Arthur, the ferry was closed and we were unable to go. Maybe next year! ~Hollie ✞

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  6. Hi Hollie and Faith,

    The Outer Banks?! You're so lucky. I don't live that far away from them, but I've yet to go! I really want to someday, so it was neat to see photos from your visit.

    I adore going to the beach at sunset! With the cooler temperatures and the pretty sunsets, there is so much more motivation to take photos. ;)

    You two are so pretty, by the way!

    Sophie

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    1. Hello, Sophie! If you don't live that far away, then you absolutely MUST go to the Outer Banks! We recommend Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. Definitely more pleasant at that time of the day at the beach! It makes for awesome photos! :) ~Hollie and Faith ♥

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  7. Your photos open the door to the doll-iverse, a place seen completely from their point of view. So special. You guys really have something special here. :)

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    1. Hello Laurie! Your comment warms our hearts and is the ultimate compliment! Thank you! ♥

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  8. Wow! Looks like you guys had fun! The photography is amazing and I love your swim suits! How on earth did you ever get your dolls to stand in all those positions without falling, especially in the water! You are so talented! I'd be too scared to put my dolls in the water! :)

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    1. Hi there!!!! We absolutely DID have LOADS of fun! We love the swimsuits too.....love, love, love the one from ClarissesCloset! All our girls are pretty darned flexible so they have no problems moving and grooving around the beach! And, they love the water.....in fact, Faith actually took a bit of a "dip" in one of the waves as it washed around her feet......she said it felt lovely and cool! :) :)

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  9. Beautiful photo story! It is so realistic! I love their bathing suits as well. ;) Also, the photo at the end it utterly breathtaking!

    ~ Mint

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    1. Awww, thank you Mint! We love the photo at the end too! We were wondering if we should get it printed and framed for one of our bedrooms...what do you think? ~Hollie and Faith ♥

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  10. Love Hollie's bathing suit! I am just now getting to catch up on your blog posts! What a fun story. Those pictures are amazing!

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    1. I know right? ClarissesCloset makes the cutest clothes! :) ~Hollie and Faith ♥

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  11. Awesome pics! Congratulations on the lightning whelk! It looks really cool!:)
    -Emma-

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    1. Hiya Emma! I know right?! I am still sooo happy that I found one! ~Hollie ♥

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  12. Hi. What a coincidence... My name is Faith. :) Loved the pictures. So adorable!

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    1. Thank you! That is so cool! I've never met anyone with the same name as me before. :) ~Faith ♥

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  13. you gotta love Hollie's hair! and Faith too!!!!

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  14. I have a friend named Faith! :)

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  15. Ahhhh, you take the cutest and most professional doll photos I have ever seen!

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    1. Awwww, thank you for saying such a nice thing! We love to create them too! Our girls love posing for them all too!!! ~D3 Team ♥

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