Okay - so this is going to be an extrememly heavy blog post!
(as will part 2 of this little series)
I want to remember every bit of fun and cherish every single memory of our first big family vacation. We traveled to the Outer Banks in North Carolina to stay with an awesome friend, Mindy, and her Tony and AJ. We stayed at her family's beach cottage, "Small World" is what they call it. Her great-grandfather (I believe) built it in 1954 and it sits just over the sand dune from the Atlantic Ocean. It is on the northern end of the Outer Banks,but it's in a town called Southern Shores :)
We chose to drive the 14+ hours there, so that we could travel to some familiar places along the way and visit good friends. We took 3 days to drive down and 3 days to drive back, and really it allowed for us to enjoy some 'out of the car' time, swim at the hotels (or as Jack calls them "hotel-ahs" - it is hilarious and we love it and this is how I will be referring to them from now on!)
Having some fun at one of the service plazas along the Ohio turnpike.
Our second night we stayed in Grantsville, Pennsylvania - very close to a YMCA camp that Tom's friend runs. Todd lives there with his family and is the director of the camp.
Its a beautiful camp, surrounded by Amish farmland, the drive there was gorgeous.
It would have been a far more enjoyable ride if the van's rear brakes were not acting up and causing problems. More on that later...
We arrived just in time for a BBQ dinner, but had to stop by the large stuffed bear in the dining hall!
Quent thought it was cool, and wanted his picture with it.
Jack wanted nothing to do with it so he went and laid on a bench.
After Dinner, the boys had some play time with Todd and Sarah's girls - that was a much needed break from just Mom and Dad. The boys had a blast with them!
Both families got together for a group shot before heading out to the campfire and talent show.
Todd, Sarah, and their girls, Fern and Rose with the 4 of us.
While we waited for the Talent show, we checked out the lake and the playground.
Playtime out of the car - HOORAY!!
Jack's GQ pose on the lifeguard stand.
How can you NOT have fun in so much sand?!
So, we come to the campfire to watch for a little bit and the campers take turns getting up and doing songs, skits, whatever they want for the audience (the rest of the campers!)
It was quite entertaining and very funny!
Quentin very much wanted to go up on the stage and tell his jokes. He was very upset that we did not have time to stay and that he was not going to get to have a turn. So, we convinced him that he should tell his jokes to Todd. And when Todd laughed his big laugh, Quent was happy and ready to go. Thanks Todd for helping a little guy out!
Back to the brake problems, we had gone back to the hotel-ah that night and still smelled a hot brake smell (don't ask me, I had no idea what the smell was). The van was not accelerating well and the brakes were touchy, so it was a slow ride back to the hotel-ah, but we made ti safe and sound. We swam in the pool and headed off to bed. The next morning, Saturday morning, we had planned on leaving early so that we would get into NC while it was still daylight, but Tom got up early to take the van to get looked at instead. It was a brake caliper problem and basically the rear brake was staying on when it shouldn't. Therefore making it kinda hard to speed up.
Well, we got that fixed (Yay Tom!) and off we headed!
After a long,rainy drive, here is how we were greeted coming into NC:
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!
(actually it was a double rainbow, but that is hard to see)
Should say "Welcome to North Carolina" but you get the gist...
By the time we got to the cottage, it was late and dark, but we were so happy to be there!!
We got settled in, visited a little and let the boys burn off some energy before we all hit the hay.
This is how the boys entertained themselves in the lazy part of the early morning while they were waiting for breakfast. These boys love their Toy Story and Cars.
Quent on the left, AJ and Jack on the right.
Soon we were headed out for some fun at the beach!
I mean - geez - we are staying AT the beach!!
Up the dune...
"Hi Mom!"
...Down the dune.
And when I say the house sits just over the sand dune, literally you walk over a small dune and you are on the ocean! You can hear the waves all the time, especially at night, and the breeze is wonderful and pretty much constant. And even though the days we were pretty warm (90-95 degrees everyday we were there) the nights would cool down and the breeze was fantastic!
The boys took to the ocean pretty slowly, first they just wanted to play in the sand.
And we watched Daddy take a big swim into the water.
Very cool water on a very hot day!
Then Quentin decides he is going to try it out a little with Daddy.
Jack decides he would rather not go into the water today.
Look how cute he is in his little beach hat, just playing in the warm sand!
Quent and Daddy are now braving the waves and sitting in the surf!
WHEW! That's cold!
"Momma, there is a lizard out here on the porch!"
"Ummm...don't think so, babe!"
Mindy leans over and says, "Actually we do get little skinks here sometimes."
AH - the hammock...
hours of swinging fun on the back porch!
We SO need one of these, as you can tell all the kids had so much fun swinging in that hammock together!
AJ, Roxie (AJ's cousin that could be his twin, that look that much alike and are very close in age) Quent and Jack are laughing like crazy - having the BEST time!!
Since the ocean was just so cold (winds coming in from the west, pushing the warm water out to sea), Mindy had a plan for us to go to the sound (on the other side island - its the water that separates the mainland and the island) for a swim. It is much warmer and the waves are gentler.
This is Roxie (borrowing one of AJ's swimsuits) and she just jumps right in - she lives very near this beach and is totally a beach baby!
Jack and AJ still are not too sure about this whole thing. But this is major progress from both boys. You see AJ would bot even go near the water since he was a baby. He will not even go over the dune to look at the water, so to get his feet in is MAJOR!
Holding my hand he is braver still!
His Momma was so excited!
All 4 of them finding shells and running in the water.
Don't worry, Lifeguard Tom was out in the water about thigh-deep making sure the chillens were not going out to deep and that they were staying safe. Us mommas, me and Mindy, were playing right there too and taking pictures of it all!
See - there he is - Lifeguard Tom!
They had little scratches ontheir bellies and chests from laying on the shells that are in the sand, but does it look like they care?! No way! It was way too much fun!
The sunset was amazing on the water!
Maybe the only picture of Tom and I (sort of) together taken on the whole trip- Thanks Mindy!
Awesome, Awesome FUN!!!
Probably the BEST beach picture ever!
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