Caswell Beach Retreat

Since we've been in Raleigh, each year over Memorial Day Weekend we get to go to Fort Caswell at Oak Island for a beach retreat! Since Ryan is the Pastor of Young Adults and Singles this is one of the events that he is in charge of for the Singles Ministry and it is so much fun every year. His parents get to come with us to help with the kids so that we have more time to spend with those attending the retreat and not always be tied down by nap schedules and feeding times.
Hailey started asking us months ago when she was going to get to go to the beach with Mimi and feed the seagulls with Poppi. We were amazed that she remembered from last year. Just for reference, this is Hailey at our first beach retreat in 2012, and then her this year. She was 11 weeks old the first year. Crazy.

We left on Thursday to set up for the retreat. Ryan had to go pick up a 16 passenger van to help bring down stuff from the church. On the way to our house from the rental place he noticed that it made a terrible noise and shook really badly when you got over 30 miles an hour. He warned me about it but didn't really think there was much we could do. Well after picking up me and the kids, loading our stuff into it, driving it to the church, taking out two seats, loading more stuff into it and finally leaving it got worse. We weren't 10 minutes down the road when Evan called from the van behind us and said that our tire was shaking on the axle and looked like it was going to come off! So we immediately called the rental place and explained what was happening. By the grace of God alone, they had just had another van turned in and said we could come switch it. Picture this, unloading a van full of stuff, two carseats, a three year old, three month old, and 5 adults into the parking lot at Enterprise into another cargo van, and SUV and then another 16 passenger van. All while standing in the parking lot. Oh, and those two seats we had unloaded at the church...yeah, the super helpful manager at Enterprise said that he would drive the old van up there to get them for us. Talk about God providing! So instead of leaving Raleigh around 11, we ended up leaving around 1:30 or so...yeah, it was a long ride with Hailey not sleeping at all and Reece only sleeping about an hour and a half. Which is why Mommy pulled out the big guns...lollipops!

Ugh! We finally arrived at Caswell, after some traffic detours, just in time to go out for dinner. I couldn't imagine loading those two kids back into the van to drive another 30 minutes to dinner so Ryan's parents graciously agreed to keep them at the house. On the way to dinner we saw the most beautiful rainbow!

Friday morning we set-up some things for the retreat and then had a little time to relax. I braided Hailey's hair that morning and somehow it made her look so much older...

She was super excited she got to feed the seagulls with Poppi!

That night we went out to dinner at a local seafood restaurant and Hailey had to sit with her buddy Mimi.

Ryan got to try paddle boarding at sunset that night. Beautiful sunset, but he said all he could think about was that it was feeding time for sharks. My husband, the shark informant!

Saturday morning we had breakfast in the cafeteria at Fort Caswell and Hailey rediscovered her love for cereal. Ryan is the only one who eats it and he likes Raisin Bran type cereals so Hailey never eats it. But they had Lucky Charms and "colorful cheerios" (Fruit Loops). I just love that she called them colorful cheerios because she didn't know what they were called! Such a good description for a three year old!

After breakfast we hit the beach! Hailey LOVED it. She was in the freezing cold water up to her neck! Reece wasn't a fan of the wind.

 That afternoon the retreat officially started and we had a great night of worship and teaching. I took Hailey to the session for the music and she did really well. I was impressed!
Sunday was a whirlwind. Hailey went to the beach with Mimi and I stayed at the house with Reece while Daddy did retreat stuff.

That afternoon we all took naps!

On Sunday night of the retreat we always have a BBQ dinner on the lawn overlooking the ocean. Then there is a dance and worship under the stars. It is such a great, memorable night every year. This year the theme for the dance was neon so we dressed up in our neon! There was a costume contest with prizes for the winners with the most neon outfits. There were some good ones!

Hailey was fascinated by our friend Cassalyn's flip flops that had neon balloons tied to them.

Monday morning was the end of the retreat. We had one last session and then packed up and headed home. Hailey had to test out the microphones before they were packed. Luckily, they weren't on. ;)

Each year we stop in Wilmington for lunch and while Daddy meets with the leadership team to "debrief" about the weekend, Hailey and I get to walk along the Riverwalk. (Reece stayed inside with Daddy because it was pretty hot)

After lunch, we got some amazing ice cream and then headed home. It was a long trip back with lots of traffic but we FINALLY made it. There were some tears (not mine, but almost) lots of snacks and lots of watching the DVD player. At one point there was a little tantrum because the sun was in Hailey's eyes so I gave her my sunglasses to wear.

Caswell Beach Retreat was amazing but we were happy to be home after almost 6 hours of traveling.

We are so thankful for a great church that invests in their people and takes care of their pastors. We are thankful we get to share this retreat with Ryan's parents each year.

Until next time Caswell...