Outer Banks Vacation

We decided that our big vacation trip this year would be to rent a big beach house and vacation for the entire week with family.  I grew up going to the beach at Ocean City, MD every year for a few days and haven't done that with my family in over a decade. We were there the entire week of August 10th.

We all had so much fun. We didn't have to yell at the kids once and everyone had a relaxing time.  Scott didn't work AT ALL and we had quality time together with each other, individually with each kid and as a family.  We ate seafood almost everyday and did lots of things.

First up is taking Bailey to the boarding place.  She was so scared.

The kids did great on our road trip!  They traveled better than expected.  Hoping we can take longer road trips and longer plane flights in the furture!  The drive back was almost 11 hours and the kids did amazing then too!

2 happy people and 1 grouch. Ready for our road trip. 

Chessapeak Bay.

We left a day early and spent the night in Virginia Beach.  It cut our 9.5 hour drive to OBX down to 8 hours on the first day.

A huge bed to jump on!

Our for dinner and the menu was so extensive it caused paralysis.  He just had no idea what to order....

....Can you tell by his confused and helpless face.

Exhausted after spending a full day in the car.

Being silly at Denny's for breakfast. 

Nana reading to a tired Katie bug.

Mikey sleeping while we wait to get into our beach rental.

Nana loves her Soduko.

Unpacking what everyone brought. 

The top floor has a dining room, kitchen, living room and 2 seating areas and a beautiful telescope.

Our backyard had a pool, hot tub and grill.

Matt watching the fisherman off the pier.

Gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.  I woke up super early most mornings to get my runs in on the beach.  It was so peaceful and gave my knees a nice break from pounding the pavement.

We went during a super moon and noticed bigger waves and stronger tides.  It was huge and beautiful!  We also went during shark week on the Discovery Channel.  After watching their shows, I'm surprised I still went in the ocean.  

Avalon Pier.

This one deck had these cute little hammock chairs.

Mikey beating me at Foosball in the game room.

Making memories with Papa.

Let me out!

Morning swim lesson time with Mommy.

She jumped a hundred times into the pool.  

Probably more than a hundred times.

She got dunked a few times too.

Katie sleeping, Scott and Mikey playing and me sipping on some Redd's Apple Ale.  Ahhh. 

Who wants to play chicken?

Mikey was like a little fish swimming around with this noodle.

Some serious Foosball game tournaments happening now.

And air hockey too!

 One morning we went to the Sand Dunes.  We are so glad we went after a rain storm.  The semi wet sand kept it from really whipping around our ankles.  It was so sunny and no shade available.  It felt like we were in the dessert.  The sand dunes were deposited after a hurricane some years ago and are moving constantly from the norther and southern winds converging.  It would take approximately 6 million dump trucks full of sand to make these dunes.  If you lined up all the dump trucks they would circle the world.

I made it to the top!

Hooray we did it!

Jamie and Mikey.

Some cold beverages out on the deck.

Fresh and raw shell fish was Scott's diet for the week.

Crab legs was my diet!

 We took the kids ghost crabbing on the sand at night. We brought our lantern and flash lights.  The kids really loved looking for crabs and got so excited to find one but had fancy feet if they got to close.

Checking out the pier at night.

Tons of old school video games to play.

A boat to ride in.

Papa and Katie.

Looking for more crabs.

A night time rock with Daddy on another hammock.

After my long 12 mile run at the beach.

I had sandy toes the entire week.

 Another morning we went to the Bodie Island Light House.  We were going to go to Cape Hatteras Light House but it was almost 2 hours away.  Bodie being only 25 minutes was more like it!  By the time we got their at 9:30am the next available tour inside and to the top of the light house was at 11am.  Also you needed to be at least 42 inches tall...so neither of our kids could go in.  It was beautiful to look at from the outside.

Mikey took this photo.

Family photo.

 Next we went to Roanoke Island in Maneto, NC to visit the Lost City and the Victorian Gardens and their historical sites.  We didn't realize that the "Lost City" was actually a show and not a place.  Haha.  We should have done more research.  But it was beautiful and peaceful and gave us a chance to see the inlet.

The site of the "Lost City."

Lunch at Awful Authors.

Hot tub time!

Panoramic shot of the backyard at night time. Papa is at the grill getting the charcoal set up for S'mores and moon pies.

The kids absolutely loved the hot tub. We made sure they sat out every 10 minutes to cool off their small bodies.

Every morning was a P90X3 session with these two.  I joined in twice.  Dare I say my brother is more flexible than me?!

Building a sand castle.

After the storm on Monday night/Tuesday morning it left this shelf of sand.  Mikey made a castle complete with cannons and a chair....pronouncing he's "King of the Beach!"

It goes on forever.

Pat Pat Pat.

So carefree at the beach.

Daddy and Mikey.

She was so happy the entire time.

Panoramic shot.

My girl and I.

Family shot.  Weird how this is exactly how we posed at the light house.

Building in the shade.  She could have done this all day.

On your mark....

....get set... (oh she's off!)

We had countless races on the beach.  The kids loved to draw a line in the sand with their hand and run fast!

She beat me every time.

This is what happens when your sister has your phone.

That's better Jamie!

The kids really wanted to go out far near Danny and Bryan and everyone else, but the waves were just to big and there was a few big waves that crashed far out.  We just weren't comfortable taking the little ones out.

Two or three times during the week and this one napped for 4 hours at a time.  The wind, sand and sun will do that to a little girl!

Hanging on Uncle Matt.  Literally.

 Friends of Scott's came down for the day to visit.  They brought all 4 of their boys aged 5 and under.  The last time we saw them was at our wedding when they were pregnant with their first!

Mikey showing them his Nintendo.

Daddy Day Care.  Scott and Garrett watching the kids while the moms chat.

Jump on Scott!

The boys playing air hockey.

L to R:  Grayson, Garret, Liam, Landon, Lisa, Grady, Scott, Mikey, Katie, Jess

Here was the home we stayed in in Kill Devil Hills.  The house was called America Dream 1 and it was in the perfect location.  It had it's own beach access across the street, was a 3 minute walk to the Avalon Pier and a 3 minute walk to Awful Authors for seafood. It had separate bathroom and tv's in almost all bedrooms and lots of patio space to enjoy.  The most enjoyable part was the warm pool and hot tub which got a lot of use from everyone...especially at night.