This year, Lauren, Charlie, Chad and I headed to our annual beach trip with the Shafers, the Levys, and Rick Nelson. Since the number of kids keeps growing, we decided that we had outgrown the house we usually rented in Ocean City and we were tired to lugging ALL of our baby/kid gear for a long weekend. So we went back down to Duck, NC and rented a big house for an entire week. It was the best decision we could have made. There was plenty of space, we had our own pool/hot tub and we had plenty of time to settle in and enjoy the trip.
We arrived on Sunday, June 28th. It took a while to get down there, but we unpacked the kids and took the evening to unwind. This year, Charlie slept in our room, while Lauren and Ella got to join Matthew in the "big kid" room and E got her own room. The kids had no problem going to sleep, and the grownups stayed up WAY too late, thanks to Keggy I. But it was a really fun night!
The next day, we hung out around the house. Lauren really enjoyed the pool, even though she was not interested in practicing her swimming. Instead, she floated around in her Minnie Mouse raft. Charlie did not warm up to the pool until Tuesday. I think the water was too cold and he did not know what to make of the whole thing. But eventually he loved floating around in his raft and chewing on dive toys and red solo cups.
That afternoon, Rick took Chad, Roy, Lauren, Ella, Matthew and E out on a rented sailboat. They had a fun time cruising around, while Paige, Charlie, Adrian, Skylar and I went for a walk around the area. Then it was dinner time, bath time, and bed time for the kids. E even handled story time for all of the kiddos and it was so sweet to watch! She did a great job!!
On Tuesday, we spent most of the day playing around the house. We watched Wimbleton Tennis and swam in the pool. That afternoon, Chad and I walked down to the beach (just a block down the street) and spent some time playing in the sand and dipping our toes into the ocean. The REALLY cold water and reports of shark attacks up and down the NC coastline prevented us from really going in to the water. But it was still a fun evening.
The next day, Wednesday, Chad and I took Lauren and Charlie out around Duck. We played at the park, had lunch out at Sunset Grille, and did a little shopping. We stopped in to the Kitty Hawk Kite Shop and picked out a nice kite for the kids. Then we came home and cooked dinner for the group. (Each family took two nights to prepare dinners for everyone. It worked out well and was much better than eating out/ordering in every day).
On Thursday, we all headed out to play some mini golf. It was Lauren and Ella's first time, and they did a great job. The Shafer family played ahead while Chad and Roy worked with the girls. They caught on quickly and really seemed to have a good time. It helped that there was a train ride to the first hole and a pirate ship half way through the course. Lauren even had two Holes-In-One! I think I might need to polish up my putt putt skills before we play again! After mini golf, the whole gang managed to eat lunch out at a restaurant. All of the kids and grownups were well behaved. It was an Outer Banks miracle!! =)
On Friday morning, the town of Duck had it's annual 4th of July Parade. Denise, Paige and I took the kids a few blocks over to get a good viewing spot. We had to wait quite a while before the parade arrived, but the kids did a great job at waiting patiently and were rewarded with candy from the parade floats.
On Saturday, the 4th of July, we all hung out at home. Chad and I took Lauren, Charlie and Ella down to a playground for a bit. Then we all spent as much time in the pool as possible, the Shafers tie-dyed t-shirts for everyone (each family chose a different color combination) and the kids had some fun with water balloons. Once again, this was Lauren and Ella's first time playing with water balloons and they were very hesitant to throw them away at first. But once they discovered how fun they could be, the water balloons were flying all over the place. E even smacked Chad pretty good, in the back. Did I mention that she has quite the arm?!?! ;)
That night, after dinner, we all went down to the beach to get some more photos. It was a beautiful night and we got some great shots!!
On Sunday, we packed up the cars, cleaned up after ourselves, and took a few more pictures of the kids before heading home. This is always our least favorite day of the vacation, and this year was no exception. We had such a blast hanging out with everyone and did not want it to end. But we can always look forward to next year's beach week!!!
After parting ways with the group, Chad and I took the kids to one last shop to pick up a souvenir from the trip. Charlie got a stuffed crab and Lauren picked up a stuffed puppy, which she named Duck!! Then we finished our time in North Carolina with some BBQ. We really like the food at High Cotton, in Kitty Hawk and I could not wait to go get a bite! It did not disappoint!!
The trip was awesome. It is always nice to get away and relax, and when you get to do that with good friends, it makes it that much more special. I always look forward to this trip and cannot wait to write up this post next summer!
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