Port City Community Church had an open house today.  Amanda and I got there around 8:45 and since I pretty much saw everything last week I gave her a tour.  It’s pretty exciting to think how quickly it was all built.

We stopped by Atlanta bread for a quick breakfast then went to the beach, staying in to hang out with Anna and Barry for a bit.  Hannah was out with her friend, Brian, looking for Kirsten’s bike, which was stolen yesterday.  Speaking of stolen bikes, Hannah’s was recently stolen, sometime in the last week I think, while she was at work.  She saw it go by (it’s distinctive) and ran out of the store yelling at the guy on her bike.  I don’t know how he didn’t get away from the crazy screaming chick running on foot after him, but she knocked him off and started fussing at him, lecturing him that it was her transportation to and from work and you don’t steal from people and the like.  The guy was a bit older than her and as I heard he just left.  I’d have loved to have seen that.

While we were in the house, Hannah’s friend Maddie came by with a friend of hers name LJ.  LJ was in town for Maddie’s sister’s wedding, which was last night.  They went out to the beach and shortly after that Hannah and Brian came back and told Barry and me that it was time to go surfing.

So I got on a shorter board today.  It’s a foot shorter and not as wide, so it was much more comfortable to carry in that it easily fit under my arm, which the other boards I’ve used before did not.  Balancing was a bit tougher, and this one stays under the water level when I’m sitting on it, as opposed to the others which floated on top of it.  I caught a wave and rode it in, but I wasn’t able to stand up.  The waves were a little weird today.

A little after I went back ashore, Hannah, Maddie, LJ, Brian, Amanda and I got in water to just play around and get knocked about by the waves.  The rip current was strong and Amanda wasn’t too big on getting bashed about, so she didn’t stay long.

Mike and Kaitlyn called and said they were there, but parking at the Frazelles was at a premium.  We let them unload, then they drove our car and theirs to the Wrightsville Beach park and drove ours back.  During that time everyone who was out had a bite to eat.  Amanda blocked off our parking spot with the Boscaljons’ beach chairs so there would be a spot for them when they got back.

We went back out and Mike (I should really just start calling him Lars all the time) and I went in the water then later tried to surf.  It was hard to get out and the water was choppy so we didn’t stay out long.  A little later everyone from before minus Amanda plus the Boscaljons and Hannah’s friend Jon all got in the water and jumped, rode and got beat by the waves some more.

Amanda and I went home shortly after that to let the dogs out and relax a little.  I got a bit red today, but I don’t think I’m really burnt since nothing’s hurting or anything.

Then we went to the church again.  A run-through service was being held for the volunteers (that’s me) and their families (that’s Amanda).  The first real thought I had about it when we went to sit down was how amazing it was that PC3 has so many volunteers.  I mean, sure it included kids and spouses, but the place, which I think holds about 1500 people, was packed.  That’s a lot of volunteers no matter how you slice it.

The service was great- great music and a nice message by the preacher, Mike Ashcraft.  The sound was great, the video was great, everything went really well, at least as far as I could see from a spectator’s standpoint.

After the service there was a lot of milling about.  We talked to several friends and made plans to go out to eat with Nick and Amy Warkentein and some of their friends.  It took a while though because everyone was doing a lot of socializing.  Dave Sapp and Kristen Phillips are both heading to Costa Rica this week on some missionary work.

So eventually we left the church and went to Old Chicago with Nick and Amy et al.  One of their friends, Cam, turned out to have a bunch of family in Richlands, so he and Amanda discussed his family a bit.

We didn’t get back too much after Amanda’s bedtime.  Michael and I played two games of Catan.  He won the first one, but then I realized I’d set the AI difficulty on easy.  I should have won the second one, but I’d set the difficulty to hard.  I was so close to winning.  That’s what I hate about that game- there are so many times you’re close to winning, but something happens and you just don’t.

Zach Dotsey