We had a fabulous vacation last week at the Outer Banks. We rented a house on the beach and enjoyed time with family.
Alison, unfortunately, was petrified of the ocean. Last time we went, we saw dolphins close to the shore and from then on she just says over and over, "I don't want the ocean to get me". Notice the death grip on daddy's hair?
Eliot loved the soothing sounds of the ocean, but was not crazy about the temperature. Thankfully it wasn't scorching hot outside and we were able to have him out with us for some of the day.
Ben and Rick had a great time wake boarding together.
Ben got Alison a little pool and put it out on our deck. She loved being able to play in the water, and just look at the ocean from afar.
After some fun snacks on the beach, Poppy let Alison bury him. We were so thankful to finally see her enjoying the trip and from then on she was hooked on playing in the sand.
She even wanted herself buried. We tried to make her look like a mermaid.
It was so nice to have our own beach space. We were able to leave our tents and chairs up all week and just go down as we pleased.
The highlight of Alison's week: flying a princess kite with uncle Jordan. She was so proud that she could do it all by herself.
Ben, Rick and Jordan went on several fishing outings. I'm pretty sure Ben was the only one to catch any thing and in fact, on the second trip, he was the only one to come home with a pole! I wish I could have been there, because from what I heard, Rick's pole fell into the ocean and Jordan's broke in half. They said the "locals" on the pier had a pretty good laugh.
I really enjoyed having a week to do nothing but sit on the beach and enjoy time with my family. It felt weird to come home and actually have to wear something other than a swimsuit. Speaking of suits, have I mentioned our children are giant? The second day of our trip Alison started complaining that her straps were too tight, so she wore her suit like this for the rest of the trip.
Abby, Betty Lou and Alexandria came to visit us for an afternoon. Alex kept giving Eli bear hugs and we quickly realized how giant Eli really is. My 4 month old son is almost as tall as Abby's 1 year old daughter. Oh boy, I'm in trouble!
Of course my little Eli is still not sleeping, but it was refreshing to be able to go walk along beach when he was fussy and I got to see a beautiful sunrise every morning. By far, my favorite thing was enjoying a hot cup of coffee with Rachel in the morning. She would get up with me and the kids and I absolutely loved our "quiet" time together.
Madisyn and Kaitlyn (Alison calls them the aunsters-aunts and sisters combined) were awesome with the kids and a complete joy to spend time with.
We ended the week with a seafood dinner out. Ben and Rachel did most of the cooking for all of us throughout the week and they were ready for a break.
I already miss vacation. I miss playing games after the kids went to bed. I miss the moonlit walks on the beach. I miss cat naps on the beach in the sun. I miss the smell of suntan lotion. I'm counting down the days to our next vacation.
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