Vaca!

It's a miracle!  We went on what we consider to be our first official vacation together ever, and our first time going to the beach together. For our honeymoon 4 years ago, McKay's grandparents generously allowed us to use their cabin about 45 minutes away from where we lived, so we were able to keep costs down. This trip was like our 2nd honeymoon, babymoon, and triple graduation trip (my bachelors and masters, and Mckay's bachelors) in one.  We spent 2 nights and 3 days around Wilmington NC, which is almost a 2.5 hour drive. McKay wore sunscreen but still got really sunburned within the first few hours...

Snowman/sandman

Turtle, turtle. Tortoise? Hiking out from our campsite.

This is not Hobbiton, this is Fort Fisher from the Civil War. 

Jackson's BBQ pork. Black-eyed peas, collard greens (these were surprisingly delicious), fried okra. We could hardly believe they gave us margarine to dip the hushpuppies (basically a corn dog without the dog) and corn sticks (I didn't like these). Lots of fried food in this southern cultural experience. Kind of embarrassing.  And we got sea food (fish) another day... and turns out it was fried. With "buffalo chips" (we learned these are homemade potato chips) and sweet potato fries. And slaw, which made us wonder if the goodness of the veggies or the evil mayo outweigh the other.

 At an arboretum. I'm almost 27 weeks pregnant. 

USS North Carolina was at every major sea battle in WWII. This anchor and chain are huge!  2300 men (only men) lived on this battleship at one time.  We climbed steep stairs/ladders to tour 9 floors. It was like a town- they had medical offices, a shoe cobbler, taylor, laundry, barber, ice cream parlor, post office, store, and more.  It was really hot down below for us, but much worse for the navy (up to 136 degrees, and generally 120-130 degrees).  The men's journal entries were interesting (they weren't supposed to keep diaries though). They talk about sweat coming out of their shoes and rolling back and forth along the floor.  They slept like sardines- they had little beds above desks and hooks for hammocks placed high up and really close together everywhere, like in the chapel and the eating/recreation areas (they would fold up the tables and hang them on the walls so they could use the space for many purposes).

"Do not feed the alligators"

 It was really bright, hence my struggle to open my eyes.

A rare albino alligator at an aquarium. These can't survive in the wild- gators need warmth from the sun, but the albino ones can't handle the sun. He is lounging under a heat lamp.

McKay got called as 2nd counselor in the Elder's Quorum.