So I think I am finally back into the right pace of life for normal people. I spent some time in the office on Monday, was back in full swing Tuesday and have adjusted pretty well. I can't say enough good things about my team at the office who had everything taken care of so that there was very little carry over for me when I returned. They are truly the best.
I have tons and tons of pictures that I want to share-- all of which I think I'll always treasure. I had so much fun playing with my camera, and had finally bitten the bullet to purchase a different lens for the camera that allowed me to take much better pictures at a distance.
In order to share lots of pictures, I thought I better handle this recap in little snippets. And so, I give to you, my favorite memories from our trip!
1. The beach was literally 100 yards from our house, and we had a walkway that we shared with the house next door. I'm fairly certain we were more of an annoyance to them than they were to us. They were an all adult group, much quieter than we were by a long shot. But to be able to wake up and enjoy a cup of coffee while looking at the ocean, and to be able to walk out the door and have your toes in the sand in a matter of minutes....what a blessing that was.
We generally started our mornings at the beach since it didn't interfere with Hayden's nap time, and also allowed us to be back at the house by the time anyone needed to eat anything. Because if you ask me, eating anything on the beach with all of that sand is just....ewwwww. We opted, most days, for lunch "Barb Bowersox" style (only Emily will understand what I mean) where I delivered it to the kids around the pool on individual plates with all of the food groups represented. HA! I have distinct memories of Barb's lunches that she brought outside for the kids during the summers when we were growing up, and every time I manage to put a plate together that looks well rounded, I think of her.
2. SWIMMING-- Within an hour of getting to the house, the kids were already in their suits, ready to jump into the pool. Since our kids don't get tons of time at a swimming pool during the summer months due to us working, this is a real treat for them. Joshua's swimming skills were a lot stronger this year, and he was jumping into the shallow and deep ends without much worry. Lauren was the one that I was really impressed with. Little Miss Cautious, last year, wore a life vest, an inner tube and arm floaties, but this year ended up in the pool without anything at all by the time we left on Saturday. She was jumping in, going under the water, and really doing a great job getting over being afraid. Mara doesn't seem to have much fear of anything. If we would have been willing to catch her non stop she would have never stopped jumping into the water from the pool's edge.
Our house had some wonderful shaded areas for the non-sunbathers (um...that would be ME!) in our group. It was close to the action, but you could protect yourself from the hot sun that way. It was perfect for me. I did manage a bit of a suntan, but only the little bit that would get through the many layers of SPF 100+ that I had on.
3. The Outer Banks is made up of little towns up and down the shoreline, but then each of those little towns is separated into distinct neighborhoods, for lack of a better term. Last year we stayed in a little area called Pine Island and loved it. When we made the major mistake of not locking in our week in the house we rented last year, thinking we could find other options we'd like just as much, we ended up needing to move to a different area for this year. Buck Island was the area we stayed in this year- and it was a gated community with a few extra little perks (like a gorgeous community pool for those houses without a private one, and also the great playground for the kids. Needless to say, we spent a little time there pretty much every evening.
Then we bribed the kids back to the house with the promise of ice cream. Hey...whatever works. Don't judge.
4. Bright and early Tuesday morning, Josh, Jason, my Dad and I were up before the sunrise to meet Captain Justin on the sound for a morning fishing trip. This was one of the highlights of Joshua's trip last year, so we were all looking forward to going out again. Up until last year, I had fished exactly zero times in my whole life, but I really loved watching Joshua enjoy something as much as he loved fishing last year. We talked Pap into coming along since he DOES like fishing and this would be something special for Josh to share with him.
I think Pap was a little concerned when Captain Justin handed Joshua a fishing rod and told him to cast in a specific area. I believe by the end of the trip, my Dad knew for sure that it was, in fact, MY casting that he needed to be concerned about, and not Joshua's. HA!
The fish weren't biting like we'd hoped, but we did catch a few things.
Joshua asked if he could drive the boat into the pier when we returned at the end of our trip. God bless Captain Justin because he said sure. Believe it or not, Josh did a decent job. We kept joking with him and asking him if he would let Josh stay and be an apprentice with him over the summer.
5. The silliness of little girls.
The beach house was absolutely filled with giggles just about the entire week. At home, we can always tell where the kids are in the house because there is generally some form of unrest or injustice that is being protested, usually by Mara. But at the beach, we could follow the giggles to find a room full of happy kids. It was awesome.
For years, I have worried about poor Lauren because it always seemed like Brooke and Josh were the dynamic cousin duo. Lauren, the littler of the bunch (before Mara and Hayden factored into the mix) always seemed to be lagging behind, trying to keep up. Well, this was the first time that I have seen the girls as tightly connected as they were. Lauren, Brooke and Mara were just about inseparable. They wanted to sleep in the same room, get dressed at the same time, watch TV together, have private "girl time" and do all the things that little girls do. It left Josh on the outside a bit, but he was fine with it. Jason did a great job of making sure he was getting lots of attention too.
6. Singing with Pap! I was thrilled to see that one of the items that made the trek from Lewistown was Pap's ukulele. The kids absolutely loved getting a chance to sing with Pap on the deck. One of the nights that they were outside singing was Tuesday, when I was unfortunately laying on the couch sick with a stomach bug. I wasn't able to get up and enjoy listening to it, but Jason said that one of the neighbors was watching from their deck and seemed to be quite enjoying the shenanigans. Their favorite song to sing was, "Hole in the Bottom of the Sea". Pappy Fred was smiling, I am certain.
I was so glad that the ukulele made a repeat appearance the next night when I was at least vertical again so that I could take some pictures and enjoy it. I just love the looks that Mara is giving to my Dad.
7. One of the things we wanted to do on this trip was to climb the Currituck Lighthouse. And by "we", I mean "me". The last thing that Jason wanted to do was to climb 200+ feet into the air with the kids. He doesn't like heights at all. But he was an excellent sport. Frankly, I think he went up the lighthouse with me because he was a bit afraid that I might be the one who needed rescued. Just coming off of the stomach bug and having not eaten anything for a few days (and having cleared the contents of my system from weeks and weeks prior...sorry if that's way too much info). Libby and Brooke also climbed, with the rest of our contingent waiting safely on the ground.
The kids did a great job! Even Mara climbed the whole way by herself. She only requested to be carried on the last set of steps going down.
I distinctly remember climbing this lighthouse with Dad, Uncle Butch, Libby, Steph and Stacie when we were at the Outer Banks 15+ years ago. So this was fun. And the views were incredible.
I have one more post with the remaining photos from the trip. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day to get that one up! And then blog posts will resume the normal, mundane, not-very-interesting quality that you're accustomed to.
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