Just us.

The past few years, our Outer Banks trips have been shared with family.  And what a joy it has been to enjoy such a beautiful place with all of the people that we love.  This year, for a whole host of reasons, it ended up that we would be spending the majority of our week in Corolla without anyone else with us.  As it turns out, we were all a little uncertain about how that would work out, and whether or not we could all entertain each other for that period of time while still keeping the "beach pace" that we have come to enjoy over the past few years.  Well, I'll cut to the chase and just share here now that we absolutely did just fine as a five-some!

For us, the pace of our vacation week at the Outer Banks is such a departure from the norm for us.  We aren't up super early (sadly, 6:30 am is sleeping in for this crew), but our 6-7 am wakeups were certainly a far cry from the 4-5 am ones that have come to be normal at home.  We usually enjoy a leisurely breakfast and I savor a cup of coffee while listening to the waves crashing from the deck.  We try to have something hot and cooked, like muffins or pancakes or baked oatmeal or eggs or something I don't normally have time for in the mornings before the school/work rush.  And then it is straight into bathing suits so that we can hit the pool or beach before mid morning.  Lunch is usually around the pool.  We swim or play at the beach until someone has had enough and then head back to the house to clean up.  And then we figure out about supper-- are we cooking in or going out. At home,  I typically operate off of a meal plan that is spelled out a week in advance.  There are few places and times that I "wing it" in terms of suppers, but our Outer Banks week is certainly one of them.  We have found some safe places that we feel comfortable with down there in terms of their handling of Josh's allergy needs, and so we enjoy eating out a few times while we're there.  It's a pretty rare thing for our crew, so just going to a restaurant is a treat for them. 

During this trip, we explored a few new areas with a little ride through parts of the Outer Banks that are south of where we stay.  We didn't see much down there that we liked better than our own little community, so we didn't stay long.  We also walked around the cute little town of Duck and enjoyed a beautiful sunset along their soundside boardwalk.  (I'll have to share those photos from my iPhone pictures in another post.)  We climbed to the top of the lighthouse in Corolla (15 flights of stairs on my Fitbit thankyouverymuch) and enjoyed that.  Well, most of us did. That is one of those activities that Daddy participates in that he would prefer not to do.  He doesn't love heights, and heights + the kids = torture for him.  We did a small amount of shopping where I managed to buy exactly nothing for me.  We got the kids a few tshirts and a few trinkets that they were going to die if they didn't get (insert sarcastic tone as you see fit).  I just enjoyed walking around and seeing what all was there.

I managed to read an entire book on this trip, and honestly, I think it is deserving of a separate post because I have a whole page full of notes about things that came to my mind when I was reading it.  For anyone who loves to laugh, loves Jesus and wants to serve Him right where you are in your life, I cannot recommend Sophie Hudson's new book, "Giddy Up, Eunice" enough.  I am fully planning on re-reading it very soon.  The premise of the book is how women need each other, apart from their ages or stages of life, and how much blessing and encouragement we can offer to others if we just keep our eyes open and share our hearts.  It was wonderful...seriously, a whole page of notes and that barely scratches the surface.

We took a lot of walks, played a lot of games of "Eye Found It" (like Eye Spy, but with Disney pictures), colored a lot, giggled and told stories, made ice cream sundaes, snuggled and danced a whole lot.  The ocean was our nearest neighbor, and I think she understood that dance parties were just a part of the deal.  I'm certain we weren't the first, nor will we be the last to enjoy an impromptu dance in the living room.  This was a trip that filled my heart right back up-- when I was feeling more than a little run down by sickness and circumstances and just too much of all the wrong things in my world.  The end of the school year, it seems, has a way of doing that to me.  Maybe you too.  Somehow, this week seemed to reset the priorities and shine the light on exactly where our focus needs to be right now.  And if that isn't a successful week away, I wouldn't know what would be.

The advanced reservation is in for our same week next year.  I am already looking forward to it.