For anyone who has asked

Why my sister is living in North Carolina, randomly, for five months, I give you . . .

. . . the beach.

Now I kind of want to live there, too. Who wouldn't want to live on "Topsail Island," on Topsail Beach, in fact, which you reach by driving through "Surf City," and which has an astonishingly wonderful lack of both neon signs and high-rise hotels. Just rows and rows of cute little beach houses (or beach mansions in some cases).

We played in the sun and sand. Not the water, though; no, definitely not the water, as per Evelyn's demand.

(action shot)

(Laurel's beach house (1/2 of it anyway))

When it rained, we drove to Wilmington for McDonald's ice cream cones and diet cherry limeades, and visited Costco, Sam's, a non-ghetto Old Navy, and Super Walmart within minutes of each other (twice).

We also took a very interesting and informative visit to a museum on the site of a former Civil War fort, where Evelyn decided she loves to run around outside in the rain.

Can we go back next summer, Daddy? Pretty please? Evelyn promises to reprise her role doing cute things such as spending an entire morning calling both Laurel and I "honey" and making "ice cream" cones with her bristle blocks.

Or taking off her pajamas instead of sleeping. Whichever seems funner at the time.