Winter on the Beach

We five buddies were hoping to be at Topsail Beach Wednesday night -- Sunday afternoon, but the house was let again for Saturday, so (sadly) we have to leave before noon on Saturday. Still ... we have over two days here, which is great!
We spend a lot of time playing Mexican Train Dominoes, a game we first played on our Topsail Beach trip last year. This year, we've already finished three games (that's 39 rounds!), and my brain is a bit weary of dominoes.

Christine painted each of us a glass for the trip :) They're adorable. Each glass has our initials on the base so we don't continually drink from each others' glasses.

Christine and Pat think about their strategies.

Kip and Jan ponder their next moves.

Muffin encroaches as much as possible onto Kip's lap.

We do a lot of yummy nibbles. Above is breakfast this (Friday) morning: bacon , cheesy potatoes, scrambled eggs, and Christine's overnight-soaked French toast made with Pat's fabulous cinnamon-raisin bread. Below is the eggs benedict Christine made yesterday for breakfast -- wonderful!

Yesterday I was feeling a little puny. I've had a sore throat coming on since Monday. But Christine and I took a walk on the windy, chilly beach.

 I was still smiling then. Last night my throat got worse until I couldn't speak at all. Just whisper. Pathetic. I'm not really SICK, you know. But not up to par.

Muffie is adorable.

We're trying to enjoy Muffin and Jan as much as possible because Jan is a woman with a boat. She's working steadily on her boat until she gets her launched. After that, she will be on the water and probably won't be coming to Topsail with us again. Boohoo!!!! We'll miss these girls.
It's now Friday, and I'm feeling a bit better.