Sitting on the stairs next to each other isn’t possible as it once was.

And the mad dash to see what the Easter Bunny brought is quite a dash anymore…just a relaxed curious stroll.

The Easter Bunny delivered mostly chocolate with a side of sour patch kids.

We made it to the 9:00 VPC Church Service….along with much of Vienna, which meant we had to sit outside the sanctuary!

The girls spotted a “celebrity” at church and were starstruck…they were even giddier when they got to take their picture with her.  They had to tell me who she was…Kendall Vertes from Dance Moms. 

We enjoyed the free treats and warm weather on the Town Green. It was a beautiful day and I was so happy that the outfits that the girls wanted to wear all coordinated with one another. Once I knew what they were wearing I pulled out my blue dress to maintain the look! And Justin and I always seem to wear the same colors so he blended in very nicely too!

We took the obligatory family pics.

And the annual Easter Egg Basket holding picture in the driveway.

The girls enjoyed an extended Easter Egg Hunt of chocolate filled eggs, hidden in both the backyard and the front yard.  Each girl had 49 of her own designated colored eggs and there were 27 “free for all”.

My parents came over for dinner.  It made oven braised chicken with white rice and roasted carrots and asparagus.  Emerson made a delicious loaf of bread.  Avery made a fabulous Easter Bunny cake. 

Harper made home-made cake-pops!

I have been on a gut health protocol the last four months and don’t indulge in desserts nearly as much as I used to.  But I did for Easter….as Harper said, “Life is about eating cake”.

A few months back, I had the realization that our girls’ future schedules upon entering high school would mean less available weeks of family travel.  With this Spring break potentially being our last “free” one, I originally thought we would take a big trip.  Flight prices were insane though…so we decided to go to the Outer Banks for four nights…turns out it was just what we needed to relax and replenish.

Sunday:

We arrived Sunday evening just in time for dinner. We ate at The Run Down Café just around the corner from our Airbnb. It was yummy…so yummy that we actually went back for dinner a second time Wednesday evening. 

Our Airbnb was super cute and quaint.  The house was impeccably clean….I have stayed at a lot of beach houses and even the nicest ones often have some mold in the bathrooms…there was seriously not a speck of mold or dirt on the grout or anywhere in the bathrooms or the house.  

Monday:

Justin woke up early and went to the store so we had food to make for breakfast, lunch, and one dinner. We enjoyed a breakfast of oatmeal and maple sausage and then spent several hours at the beach.  While the water was freezing, the sun was strong and it was an enjoyable few hours. 

After lunch at the cottage and some time playing ping pong and corn hole, we played a round of mini golf at Professor Hacker’s Lost Treasure Golf.  Fun was mostly had by all!

On the way home, we had ice cream for the first time at Scoops.  Avery thought it was good…I didn’t try any so I can’t say, but it wasn’t a place that I would rush back to.

For dinner, we went to the Blue Moon Café in its new location, a favorite of mine and Justin’s.  We hadn’t been in at least six years and we were excited to share our favorite OBX restaurant with the girls. 

The food was delicious (other than the calamari which was okay), though Justin and I both agreed there was a little something missing with the larger size of the restaurant.

TUESDAY:

Originally the forecast for Tuesday had rain in it, but the morning couldn’t have been more beautiful.  We spent a few hours at the beach, followed by lunch at home, and more ping pong and corn hole.  

Avery had a good time doing dance poses by the water.

We went to Jockey’s Ridge in the afternoon.  It was warm when we left and by the time we arrived 15 minutes later, the weather had completely shifted.  The temp dropped and the winds picked up.  

The girls would have to stand still and hide their faces during a big wind gust. 

Despite the sand blowing, it was such a cool experience.

We had ice cream and acai bowls on the way home at Noosa…it was SO good!

Tuesday evening we cooked at the cottage…pasta with sausage, ground chicken, mushrooms, and a ricotta sauce. 

WEDNESDAY:

Our friends from home, the Sittas, were also vacationing in Kitty Hawk, so we met them Wednesday morning for donuts and coffee at Duck Donuts.  We then went to brunch at Arts, right near our cottage. Between all us, we had omelets, pancakes, French toast, a sausage breakfast sandwich, bacon, and fruit. 

The weather was considerably cooler Wednesday so while we went to the beach it was a little chilly.  Harper enjoyed flying her new kite!  Emerson had a turn and while she too had fun, she almost decapitated Harper and Avery in the process. 

Avery had one more session of dance poses and back walkovers by the water. 

We went back to The Run Down Café again for an early dinner as there was something on the menu for everyone. And since we had an early dinner, we decided to get dessert one last time.  We went for frozen yogurt and soft serve gelato at a super cute place called Surfin Spoon. 

There was more ping pong and cornhole….I didn’t play a ton but when I did, I quickly got into it!

We had a great few days of family time and relaxation and I certainly felt replenished and refreshed.  The sand, sun, and beach were good for our souls.

My dad’s 75^th birthday fell on a Monday, a heavy activity night…so we opted to celebrate on Saturday.  I gave my dad three options to celebrate his birthday…1. Go out to eat a restaurant of his choosing; 2. Come over for a home cooked meal of his choosing; or 3. Come over for a Passover Seder / birthday dinner combination. Secretly I was hoping he wouldn’t choose the third option as it was my least preferred…I just didn’t know if I was up for cooking a full Passover meal the night before we were headed on vacation.  He chose option 3! Ha!

SO…I opted for a simple yet delicious menu of oven braised beef brisket, Hungarian potatoes, and garlic green beans.  I seasoned and seared the brisket and sauteed the onions Friday night so Saturday morning all I had to do was stick the brisket in the oven!  My dad bought latkes and Matzo ball soup from Parkway Deli to complete the meal.

I made a Seder plate…a real Jew would probably laugh but for my first one, not bad.  We did the same abbreviated Seder we have been doing at my parent’s house over the years.

We ate!

We took pictures to celebrate 75 years of life!

We sang Happy Birthday and my dad blew out the four candles in one breath!

And we finished off the evening with Passover desserts as birthday treats!