The day after Thanksgiving was a busy day with the family. It was also a wonderful, relaxing day.

We managed to spend a lot of time outdoors and to get a few things done for the holidays. We started our outside activities with a late brunch at Jana's. Then the ladies when shopping for the holidays and the guys went boat lot hopping, looking a great deal.

Just before dusk, we went to see the Swansboro flotilla followed by dinner at Captain Charlie's. Later in the evening I found my Crocs had been decorated with a purple people eater which apparently was a major focus of the ladies shopping.

Today after catching the wonderful sunrise along the marsh on Route 58, we went for a walk on the beach. Then the kids all headed home. After that we made a trek over to Emerald Isle for the annual Christmas parade. I even took the time to create a website with photos of most of the floats and a few shots of the crowd.

Late tonight we got word that the kids had arrived safely back home in Cornelius, NC and Reston, Va. Now we can go to bed tonight and rest easy. We have survived our first Crystal Coast Thanksgiving, and it was wonderful.