It had been four years since our family last went to the beach, so this years vacation included the Outer Banks and a beach house with all the family!
We got there on a Sunday afternoon and the kids were dying to get down to the beach. We had prepped them on the drive down that we wouldn't be swimming on Sunday. But somehow they talked us into a "walk on the beach" just to check it out. HA! Those kids couldn't resist the water and before we knew it everyone was soaked (not in their swimsuits of course).
Dallin was pretty mesmorized. This is his first time really seeing the ocean, as he was only 4 months old that last time we came. At first he was fascinated how the sand would wash out from under his feet as the waves went back out. He soon grew to LOVE the ocean and the beach. He wasn't too scared at all.
I'm not too sure what this was from... I think Oma maybe had made french toast with powder sugar. She was out cook all week and I LOVED it. I never had to think about what we were going to eat or when.
And Oma also made everyone matching 4th of July pjs! They were a big hit.
Everyone learned how to boogie board and we could hardly ever get them out of the water when it was time to head back. Four years ago, everyone was still pretty scared of the big waves and barely enjoyed the water. But this year was so much fun!
Another of our favorite things to do is to drive out on the 4x4 beach in Corova and see the wild horses. It always makes for a wild and bumpy ride.
The only way to get Poppy to take his shoes off and put his toes in the sand was to ask him to build a sand castle with Dallin. I think they both loved it.
No beach trip is complete without a few trips to the ice cream parlor.
...or the ice cream truck.
We spent one day down in Kitty Hawk at the Wright Brothers Museum.
And we visited some pretty fun stores. This hammock store was pretty spectacular and we had to try them all out. The kids each got to pick something fun at a pretty cool toy store, which I didn't take a picture of.
Oma bought the kids each one of these lollipops and I had told them to save them for another day. Well, later that night Dallin came up to me with this behind his back, but his face looking like this.... He said "Mom, I've got a problem... this wrapper just fell right off!" I laughed and he got to eat his lollipop.
This was our second trip down to the 4x4 beach, to watch the sunset this time. I think we spent more time helping another family get unstuck from the sand. It felt good to help others.
This is a recreation of the family picture we took 4 years ago. I'm not sure that tail gate could hold much more!
This cute girl and I had to hike over some sand dunes because she needed to go potty... but boy was I glad we did, because the view from the other side was amazing!
As if we don't get enough swimming done at the beach, we also swam a lot at the pool and hot tub at our house. Dallin really took off with his swimming once he got a hold of these goggles.
Our attempt at a family picture turned out half decent, this was with the phone propped up on the fence gate. Not a bad looking group! We won't talk about how Carmen is nearly as tall as me.
And NO trip to the Outer Banks is complete without a trip to Duck Donuts. (even though we now have one right here in Charlottesville) This is the original location, right in Duck, NC.
I always feel so blessed to be able to spend time with my family. They really are the best people for me, and I love them!
