This year we were really late (as in last week of June) in deciding if we were going to go on vacation for the year. We ended up finding what appeared to be an awesome condo on paper. It was a little more than we wanted to spend, but we decided to go for it. It was three bedrooms/three bathrooms and it was right on the beach with a pool, kiddie pool, and hot tub. It was modern with an open concept kitchen dining living area.
Sunday – Sunday was departure day. We left at 9:30, one hour past the target leave time, but honestly who thought we would actually leave at 8:30? Certainly not me:). It was actually a good thing we left late because we made record time getting down to the beach. There was no traffic and the girls were so well behaved. We made it to Nags Head in 6 hours and that included a lunch stop at Red Robin. We checked in to the condo (thankfully it met expectations), we unpacked, explored the grounds, and then went to dinner at Mama Kwans Tiki Bar and Grill (yummy). After dinner Justin and I went to Harris Teeter to buy groceries for the week and since Karolin was with us we were able to leave once the girls went to sleep.
Monday – Can we say windy! The winds were insanely strong Monday…so strong in fact that swimming was not allowed at the beach as the rip tide was extremely strong. We spent the first part of the morning at the pool. The girls had a great time playing in the baby pool and the hot tub. YES, the hot tub. The pools hot tub is unlike anything I have ever seen before…first of all it is huge…and it is almost like 5 little hot tubs in one….but in addition to that there are always lots of kids in it. At first, I thought the girls were too young for the hot tub but after seeing all the other kids in in…many as young as Avery and Emerson I guess you could say I followed the crowd…and you know what, I’m glad I did….because Avery and Emerson loved the hot tub…and again every time they are in it, I think to myself holy crap, they are becoming kids!
Monday afternoon after the girls nap we went down to the beach. It was very breezy and a cool wind. The girls had a great time playing with their pails and shovels. Neither Avery or Emerson wanted anything to do with the ocean. Harper on the other hand seemed to like the ocean and the sand (for the most part).
Tuesday – Tuesday still remained very windy. Again, the riptide was very strong.
We started Tuesday morning at the beach followed by a little bit of pool.
The girls took a good afternoon nap. Harper woke up first in a playful mood so Justin snapped a few in her bathing suit cover up…we have the same pictures of the girls from our beach trip two years ago…
When the girls woke up, we headed to Jeanette’s Pier. It was so windy and the waves were in full effect that there were even surfers.
Avery wanted to push the umbrella stroller the whole time except when a few seagulls started to fly above us and she just wanted to be held as she was petrified of the seagulss. And Emerson was continually refusing to take her picture (in fact a common theme throughout the vacation). I think we bribery to get these next few pictures.
Even captured one of doing what Karolin does best….taking selfies!
In fact, sadly I think I was trying bribery for all of the photos….some of that bribery was ice cream, which was the next stop on the itinerary anyway….But even with that bribe, this was the best we could do!
Tuesday night the girls watched their first movie! They watched Frozen….which Avery sometimes calls “Cold” when she can’t remember the name. We weren’t sure if we were going to let them watch the whole movie in one night but they both did great. Emerson stayed glued in one spot on the couch silent the entire movie. Avery stood on a chair in front of the T.V. and did a combination of watching but her share of talking throughout the movie (mostly related to the movie though) .
Wednesday – More time at the beach and the pool…and the hot tub….
….some fun time indoors at the condo….
….and date night for Justin and me….yeah! We went to the Nags Head Pier before dinner….it was still REALLY windy!
The light was great and Justin was underneath the pier taking pictures. Justin has been challenging me recently to take a picture with good light and so I took him up on it earlier in the day on a morning walk and decided I would take him up on it again as he was taking pictures. I decided to capture him taking pictures. So I took my first one….not so good and I knew it. Then I saw where the light was coming from and took this. Then he moved positions, and I took probably the best picture I have ever taken in terms of composition and light. It was of Justin and his tripod taking pictures of the pier as the sunset. I showed Justin and he was beyond impressed. It really was a great picture…we talked about it all the way to the car. When we got to the car, Justin realized the memory on his phone was low and the picture didn’t save. DAGGER…seriously, two days later as I write this I am still beyond bummed about this. The picture was truly awesome. Seriously, I was bummed….I figured something on draft might make me feel a little better…especially being that we had a one hour wait at our next stop Blue Moon Grill…we went there twice two years ago and have been thinking about the shrimp and grits ever since. It met expectations…the food really is excellent. The girls had a good evening with Karolin….they watched Frozen AGAIN!
Thursday – Thursday we decided to take a little break from the pool and the beach. We started the day with a trip to the aquarium. There was a little sea otter by the name of Otter Banks that Karolin wanted to take home with her:). Here is Mr. Banks himself….
We saw a sea otter, lot of fish, an eel, alligators, turtles, sting rays, hermit crabs, and sharks. The girls even played and of course we tried to capture it all! Unfortunately the family pictures came out somewhat blurry but I liked them anyway.
Outside the aquarium was a pier that we took a quick stroll on.
After the acquarium, we went out for lunch…I can barely write about it as it was such a disappointment, and an expensive unhealthy one on top of it. Two years ago, when we were here Justin got hush puppies from this take out place and they were to die for (and dirt cheap).That same take out restaurant has a related sit down restaurant right next door. We wanted to eat in the restaurant as we were far from our condo and we were headed to the Cape Hattaras Light House next, which was someone near the restaurant. Anyway, we sit down, I order the hush puppies to start and the waitress says they don’t have hush puppies. Turns out the restaurants have different food and also turns out we could have eaten in the one that we took out from two years ago. Oh well…I’m not quite over it yet, but I’ll get over it soon.
After lunch we went to see the Cape Hattaras Light House. It was really awesome and a peaceful setting. We didn’t go into it as all three girls were in single strollers and the only way up was stairs. However the stroll around the area was so peaceful and quiet.
We took an evening stroll along the beach with the girls. It was much more leisurely in my head….but I guess a lot of things are with three young ones….well we were able to get a few pics anyway.
The girls have had a great time playing together at the condo and have truly been playing together quite well. They have been doing a lot of jumping on the bed and cuddling on the bunk beds.
Friday – Friday morning Justin and I woke up early to go watch the sunrise. Karolin had actually awoke real early one morning to find shells and happened to catch the sun rise. She said it was beautiful and suggested we take the opportunity to watch it. So off we went shortly after 6:00, which was especially hard as it was not a good night’s sleep four hours sleep just wasn’t cutting it….Justin set up his tripod but after a short time realized it was too cloudy to see. He did capture a few of me looking for shells and then we took a short walk on the beach.
We spent the morning at the pool, followed by the afternoon at the beach. The girls both got buried in the sand courtesy of Karolin. And Harper even had a fun time playing with the pails and shovels.
Before dinner we went to the Avalon Pier. We played in the Arcade area for a little while before heading down below the pier to take some pictures.
Saturday – Our last full day of vacation….the last day is always bittersweet because in the back of my mind I know that vacation is coming to an end. We decided to visit Jockey’s Ridge Sand Dunes in the morning. The plan was Justin and Karolin would take Avery and Emerson while I stayed behind and walked the neighboring trails with Harper as she slept in her stroller. The plan didn’t work out too well as the girls had a little bit of a meltdown. They made it up a short way before they claimed they needed water or wanted to be picked up.
After lunch and a quick nap, the plan was to head to the pool. However, I had gone for a walk with Harper as she napped in the stroller and then sat on the beach by MYSELF for a half hour as the girls still slept and the beach was literally a different beach than it had been earlier the week…the wind had stopped, it was actually hot, and the ocean was calm. We had to visit the beach one last time so we made a quick stop there before heading to the pool. Avery and Emerson still wanted nothing to do with the water, but they enjoyed playing in the sand. Harper on the other hand had no fear of the water.
After the previous night’s dinner out for pizza with the girls, Justin and I decided we were going out just the two of us. We went to Kill Devil Grill and it was delicious.
We had a great vacation…great weather, fun times, good company, and tons of memory making moments.