Our last few days at the beach were wonderful. We were all settling into a very relaxed routine. Get up, eat breakfast (which I had a blast cooking, and the kids really enjoyed eating), and then go swimming. Thursday posed the biggest challenge because it was very rainy and we found ourselves needing to occupy the troops for a large chunk of the day. Luckily for all of us, the weather cleared enough that we could let them swim in the afternoon while I worked on supper.
On Friday, we decided to go on a Wild Horse Adventure Tour. Just north of Corolla the paved roads of the Outer Banks end. After that, there is a 4x4 beach where there are also homes and rentals. Lots of people love that area because there are over 100 wild horses that roam that part of the island. In all of the trips I had made there with my family, I had never had a chance to see the horses. Jason's parents were also interested, so we reserved spots on the tour. We strapped the kids into their boosters in the Hummer, and set off on our adventure. I wasn't completely prepared for how rough the ride was going to be. Poor Mara fell asleep, although I have no idea how, and napped for almost an hour of the trip. Most of that I was holding her head so that it wouldn't flop around as we bumped and bumped over the sand dunes and little pathways to look for horses. We probably saw 40+ horses and they were simply gorgeous.
These three walking right on the beach were my favorites! People there have incredible respect for these horses and their natural environment, so everyone moved out of the way for the horses. It was great to see such respect and reverence for these amazing animals.
After supper, we headed to the beach to fly our kite. The kids really seemed to enjoy it and squealed and ran around chasing it. I'm pretty sure that was of no assistance to Jason as he attempted to get the kite into the air, but they had a great time. Each of the big kids had a chance to fly it, too, and had a great time.
Friday night we were thrilled to have a visit from Evan and Jen, who live outside of Durham. They drove the 4 hours to get to see us, and we were so grateful. After a long day of work for them, they ended up arriving around 11:00. We hadn't seen them in years, and it really was a treat to get to spend so much time with them. We hit the beach on Saturday morning, and then swam in the pool until we were all tired and had had enough sun for the day. Then, after we got everyone cleaned up, the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa for a few hours while Jason and I got to go out for supper with Evan and Jen. We went back to Steamers and ate our feast outside of the restaurant on their picnic tables. Steamed shrimp, hush puppies and wine. Can't beat it!!! This was our second trip to Steamers that week, and I'm not kidding when I say I could have eaten their shrimp every single day for lunch AND dinner. I was officially hooked.
The kids buried me in the sand. I am still getting sand out of places it should not be.
Weeks like last week are such a blessing. We were together without interruption. We were blissfully happy with very few hiccups along the way. We were relaxed and un-stressed and not over scheduled. I think we finally found "our" vacation. The kids all cried when we left because they loved it so much and just didn't want it to be over.
Although we had split the trip down into two days, not knowing how the kids would handle being in the car that long, we decided to push through on the way home and make it one day. We left Corolla at 9 am and arrived back into our driveway right around 9 pm. It was a long day, but the kids handled it like champs. We stopped for lunch and dinner, and once for a potty break, but otherwise laughed and joked and let the kids watch movies all the way home. I hated to see the week end, but it was nice to get home and get back into our normal routine.
Can't wait til next year!
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