The day finally arrived for us to move on to our “real” vacation.
I must say, Williamsburg was the perfect add on to this trip: we got a lot of shopping out of our systems, learned a lot, explored nature a little, and had our tennis tournament.
On to serious beaching!
We are a beachy family.
We all the love the ocean, love the waves, love the sand, love the sunshine, and love the laid back vibe that the beach brings.
We got an early start and made our way to the Outer Banks. It’s our third time going and I get so excited when I start to see the signs.
Not sure if you have met Shaun the Sheep? He’s our CDF “Flat Stanley” and has started travelling with us recently. Josh picked him up in Fiji, and he did our Downunder tour and appeared in many of our pictures then and suddenly reappeared for this trip too:)
The first year we stayed in Duck, and ended up having a crab lunch on a picnic table at Dockside N Duck, a little seafood market. Since our family seems to thrive on tradition, we headed to Duck for lunch even though we had rented a Beach Home in South Nags Head.
It was windy, but we feasted on shrimp, cajun crab dip and crabs. We also picked up a key lime pie to take back to our Beach Home for dessert later that night. They have the BEST key lime pie I have ever had. We shopped a bit more (a teeny tiny bit more) and then headed back south.
While waiting for our house to be ready, we stopped at Jockey’s Ridge. The kids had a blast rolling down the dunes, making sand angels and just taking in the amazing views.
 |
| Who is that stunning man in the distance? |
 |
| A little perspective on how big Jockey’s Ridge is. This is my family off in the distance! |
 |
| CDF written in the sand… |
Finally, our house was ready. Everyone set off exploring, while I got organized.
 |
| View from our balcony |
Rob has learned to let me get settled in. I need to unpack, get groceries done and away and set up all the “areas” of our home for the week (where we keep all our beach stuff, where all the games go, where the charging stations are etc.)
Once that is done, I relax!
We had a great dinner – grilled a bunch of fish from the seafood market and then made some fish tacos. We devoured the key lime pie as well:)
Finally, when it was nice and dark, we headed to the beach.
Every vacation we are on we head out to look at the sky. We started this tradition years ago. It is an important one for us, as I told the kids the first time we did this that even when we are apart (which being a blended family, where the kids all have 2 homes, we are apart often) we can always look up at the stars and be connected, as they are the same stars and the same moon wherever we are. So, when together on vacations, we rehearse all together:
LOVE your pictures. The Outer Banks is one of our favorite places to go. We love Jockey’s ridge!! Love the shadow pictures! So cool!! –Lisa
It was hard to see when I was taking the shadow family pic – so I only have Gabe’s hand in showing his video recorder as he was taking the pic too!
Oh so happy you got there and hoping you are enjoying your beach stay now. Definitely looks like a wonderful time so far from all your awesome pictures!! 🙂
It is quite wonderful!
Your pictures are awesome, I need to add the outer banks to my list of places to visit!!
It is one of my favourite places to go!
Jockey’s Ridge looked like the perfect way to kill time! All of your food talk is making me extremely jealous! You all are really doing it up with this vacation. I am happy to follow along while I’m working my 7 day marathon. Yep, I’m living quite vicariously!!! Carry on!
The food is amazing:)
Beautiful pics of the beach!
Love that sand and water.
Sounds like a wonderful vacation full of family fun and treasured traditions
I agree with you about seetling in and unpacking. I am the same. I need two hours and then I can relax for the week.
Bye!
Lauren Kate
I need that time to set up relaxation!
So many awesome things here!!!
I think the dunes look amazing – would love to visit.
I love reading about all the cool family traditions y’all have – so special!
And, I’m just like you – I always spend the first hour or so unpacking and getting everything set up so that it feels like home for our stay!!!
Enjoy and please keep the pictures coming!!!
The dunes are incredible – and we are very big on traditions around here!
Can I be in your family? You sound like you have great vacations and such fun! Lovely photos!
Awww, thanks Natalie!
Looks so good! Totally want to hang out with all of you. My vacation is over tomorrow and the sun hasn’t come out yet and it’s cold enough for jackets. Still, I had fun!
Come hang out! You would have a real vacation as my kids would be all over yours and take good care of them!!
Sounds absolutely perfect, Leah. Nothing beats family time at the ocean. Nothing.
One of my favorite things about beach vacations is the food! I love the fresh seafood! We can’t get enough of it when we’re near the ocean! And I love your Shaun the Sheep!