We started a post it count down until the day it was time to leave for the beach this year.
It was so much fun watching how excited Case was this year now that he is a little older.
He gets it.
Rhett was excited because we were excited, although he's excited about just about anything these days, that kid is crazy I'm tellin' ya.
So we started at 12 days,
11, 10, 9, 8, 7 (ONE WEEK!)
6,5,4,3,2,1...
Here we go!
This year I got creative, thanks to a lot of Pinterest research.
(I really don't know how we functioned before Pinterest)
I made the boys each 10 "Fun bags" filled with surprises to open each hour on the hour, and not a minute sooner.
I made a little replica of Matt's truck, and with a hole punch and twine, made a make shift time line for the boys, so we hopefully heard "HOW MUCH LONGER?!" a few less times.
...that and of course lots of snacks, books and movies we were ready for the
11-12 hour trip ahead of us.
As I'm sure all parents out there understand, I was dreading it.
I say "I" instead of "we" because my hubby has a specific talent for tuning us out while driving, ha! Which I actually totally understand, it is much easier to drive then deal with the kiddos, true story!
We left around 4:30am, and to tell you the truth the trip wasn't all that bad until the last 4-5 hours.
We hit some traffic which is just NEVER FUN, kids in tow or not.
Then the tease is you get to see water, but still have about 2 hours to go, to get the Outer Banks.
There were times that I literally thought the trip would never. ever. EVER. end.
(With bath room breaks, gas, and food it ended up taking about 12 and a half hours.)
But it did end, and we finally saw our quaint little road sign that would lead us back to the beach house we stayed in years ago, and we were so excited to spend a fun filled week with family!
So, our family of four, Nanny & Poppy, Mamaw & Papaw,
Eric, Erica and their daughter sweet Audrey,
Chris, Kelli and their sweet daughter Chloe all piled into this beach house right next to the ocean.
One of the first days, we played some baseball in the front yard,
we were missing our first week of t-ball back home, so we of course had to bring all of our gear!
The first day at the beach, was soo cold!
We packed up and headed out, and with cooler temperatures that day plus the wind and ocean,
we all had goose bumps, but guess who didn't care?
Our crazy boys!
We only stayed out a little bit that day, since the water was so rough, and we were nervous wrecks with the boys running around, but thankfully it was the only day like that!
We had lots of beach days, which are always the best.
We celebrated 3 birthdays at the beach!
Audrey's first birthday, as well as Erica and Chris's birthday.
We celebrated with yummy dinner and a local birthday cake!
We felt blessed to spend it with them, as they live so far away and we don't usually get to!
During our stay it was so precious seeing all the little ones play together.
Our boys are absolutely in love with their precious, beautiful cousins Audrey & Chloe!
We all relaxed, went to the beach, and took turns cooking dinner each night,
with all these babies,
vacation has a whole new meaning, and I wouldn't change it for anything in the entire world.
We did adventure out on the ferry to Okracoke Island one day.
Momma gets a little car sick since having babies, so I mostly stayed in the truck!
After lunch in Ocracoke, Erica introduced us to the most AMAZING
frozen key lime pie, dipped in chocolate.
I mean, I know. It was just as amazing as it sounds.
Mmm I can almost taste it now that I'm thinking about it.
& we were also adventurous and had a bon fire out on the beach one evening!
Mamaw & Papaw graciously sat by all of our baby monitors,
and we all headed out at dark while the littles slept.
Besides the very real fear of crabs, we made some wonderful memories!
Unfortunately, Kelli, Chris and Chloe had to leave a little early.
We were so sad to see them leave!
We had to get lots of hugs and kisses from our sweet Chloe!
The afternoon that they left called for rain, so Matt and I, Eric and Erica packed up the kiddos
and headed to the aquarium about 45 minutes away.
The kids loved it!
then after skipping out early on a little show they were putting on at the aquarium,
we explored the surrounding area, was just as much fun as inside!
The rain held off, thank goodness, and spotting a pier,
we took full advantage of a tiny photo shoot!
SO much fun!
Then we had a delicious lunch, thanks to a quick google search by Matty.
We actually even saw a Pirate Ship tour for kids right by the restaurant, it was adorable!
& can't forget, that my boys and I were very adventurous one morning
and took a couple of kayaks out on the sound.
Um, first of all kayaking is a lot harder than it looks,
and second of all I apparently can. not. steer.
Matt had Case with him,
I had the lighter one of ours sons with me,
and Rhett kept yelling,
"Come on, Mommy! Go go!"
I got stuck in a little area of grass for a few seconds, and Rhett yells to Daddy in front of us,
"DADDY! WAIT! MOMMY IS OUT OF GAS!"
HA!!!
CRACK ME UP!
Was fun though, I would definitely do it again.
Preferably in a 4 seater so Matt can make sure we are actually going somewhere. :)
...
Before the Hamblen's left, we made sure to take lots of family pictures,
which I'm always thankful for.
So much fun to look back on over the years!
The keeping it real one above, cracks me up!
...and the framers. :)
And as all vacations seem to do, ours came to an end.
Thankful and so very blessed to spend a week with such sweet family.
"If you want to know how much I love you, count the waves."
