And more sand

Sand is not Dada's element, so I'm always grateful when he wants to join us at the beach or in the dunes. Above was an early morning excursion and we hopped up onto a lifeguard chair for this photo. I was indeed in my compression sleeve though you can't tell. I'm not in my rash guard because it was early morning sun, but I had it with me in my beach bag, fret not.

This year we made it to Jockey's Ridge. We don't always, but this year we convinced Dada to join us and we huffed our way up and down the dunes that always seem like they'll end just over the horizon... or maybe now... or in another minute... or...

Gladys turned over 30,000 miles on our trip. You go, girl!

I think these photos were the night we got to the beach. Thing One and I had to go say hi to the ocean immediately- there's no waiting around for the next morning!

 

More beach pix

Our beach week featured a lot of calm, glassy ocean days and few clouds. Definitely my preference of ocean. Thing Three was a little grumpy that there weren't huge waves to smash into, but this was a good year for me to be calm and serene and slow. I kept my promises to my radiation doctor and have the ridiculous tan lines to prove it, but enjoyed the beach nevertheless. How could I not?!

I always forget how BRIGHT it is at the beach!

Small child sized footprint beside Thing One's. I like investigating the sand and thinking about how many critters have left their marks.

If anybody needs a road trippin' partner, I highly recommend Thing One. There's lots of singing, laughing, good talks, snacks, and carrying on whilst being an excellent, cautious driver. So proud of this kid!

 

My favorite kind of Rundown

Apologies that I skipped graduation posts and dove headfirst into vacation ones. It's how my brain works- never a straight line or a dull moment.

The Rundown Cafe is one of my favorite places to eat on the beach. Their Rundown Chowder isn't only a must try- it's a "must consume a bowl at every visit." Wish they'd come up north and make vats of it to get me through the winter. Their fish tacos are never less than excellent. Thing Three devours the black beans, Thing Two loves the fries, and Thing One goes to cause trouble. Just kidding.

Yes, that's the ocean in the background. You can also dine inside, but some of us love being in the sun on the upper deck (the rest of us go along grudgingly and hope to find a seat with the sun behind us). 

The Rundown is a stroll across the street from the Kitty Hawk Hilton. You can drool over their menu here but I claim no responsibility for any sudden urge you feel to run away to the beach!

 

Quit bugging me!

I don't know what it is with insects lately, but they are really bugging me!

 This morning I stepped away from my honeyed lemon tea to throw a load of curtains in the washer. As I'm tossing the curtains in evenly, an earwig comes out of... somewhere... and dives into one of the curtain folds. So I did what any hot blooded creature would do. I shut the lid and hit start. I figured either he will go the "all drains lead to the ocean" route (except we have a septic system so hmmm...) or he will survive and be thankful for his energetic, sudsy bath. I didn't see him in the tub of the washer when I took the curtains out, nor did I find him in the dryer lint trap, sooooooo your guess is as good as mine as to his location.

I went to recover my tea and not only was there a fruit fly perched on the edge of the rim, there was another one swimming merrily along!

AND one of my besties neglected to keep watch over her drink this weekend while she was outside and was stung right on the lip by a bee for her negligence. 

Just goes to show, ladies: never leave your drink unattended.

 

Photos from Nic's phone

In case the title threw you, let it be known that Carrie is going by Nic these days, which is short for Nicole (her middle name). Most of these are from her phone.

We spent a week in the Outer Banks with my brother, his wife, my cousin and his family, my aunt and uncle and another cousin, and 3-4 dogs depending on the day. We did some days at the pool, some at the ocean, visited Booty Treats twice (it was a slow year for us, I guess), Duck Donuts once (that would be Dada, haha), and didn't get poured on like we did last year. We look forward to this trip every year, but it was extra special because we got to celebrate miss Maudie's 90th birthday with her. It is actually today, so here's your shout out, Maudie! Happy birthday! And thank you to the Reed and Walls clan for hosting us! We love you all!

The first daytime trip to the ocean was pretty calm, but it was chilly.

Lexi, AKA the Fruit Bat, is the third of the beach house's resident dogs. She is only a year old and is a smiley, sassy piece of work.

Nic's favorite- the ocean at night.

During the family photo shoot in Manteo

Twinning with my cousin David, who does lighting and sound for Paparazzi in Kitty Hawk.

Damon saying hi to the ocean for the first time this summer.

Wilder water during our next day trip. I thought being knocked around more would be a deterrent for Damon, but it didn't even slow him down. He makes friends wherever he goes and was playing ball with friends old (senior citizens) and young. 

Awwwww. Again, check out Amy's work at Seaside Topsail Photography on Facebook!

Wet your whistle

 

Hello, Atlantic Ocean. It's been awhile. We missed you! Thanks for providing so much wet, sandy fun, new friends, and plenty of summertime photo ops!

 

How I wish I was there right now as the dishwasher is chugging away and the boys are bickering in the basement. *sigh*

 

Anyway, here are Care Bear and her Hinrew doin' their thing:

 

She eventually abandoned him and was doing her own thing, which is jumping waves. We liked this one because it looks like she's kneeling on a wave. To a kid who is obsessed with all things Percy Jackson and Poseidon, that's pretty cool.

 

There were tons of adorable crabs popping in and out of the sand. I had a great time just sitting in the sun and admiring the puffs of sand and how they scuttle. Dada got pretty crispy early on in the trip, unfortunately, so he tried to stay out of the rays as much as he could. He did have a good time in the water later on in the week, and I'll get to those pictures later.

 

These are especially for Aunt Sherri, who requested them specially. Which do you like better- fronts or backs?

 

And then, where else would Liam be but in a sandy hole? He found them or made them on every single beach we visited. Carrie dug a lot, and he snuck in, just like a crab!

OBX Trip 6

 

We're back!

 

We spent a week in the Outer Banks- did you miss us?

 

We knew we didn't want to get stuck in DC traffic on our way there like in previous years, so we left Thursday afternoon and made it the first four hours without stopping. Dada took over the driving at that point and did the next two hours to Breezewood.

 

From there, it was only two more hours to Uncle Rob and Aunt Jana's, where we crashed really late and then had some cousin time in the morning before hitting the road again.  

 

*REMIND ME TO UPLOAD PICTURES FROM MY PHONE*

 

Believe me, you'll want to see them. There are pictures of the cousins in dress up costumes having breakfast together. Priceless.

 

Anyhow, since we weren't in a huge rush, we left midmorning and putzed our way down the coast. We stopped at Assateague Island to see the wild horses: 

 

 

That's right, you're seeing as many in the above photo as we saw. Zip. Zero. They must be really good at hiding. We did hear some but the dense foliage between the path and the giggling, shy horsies was too thick for us to find them. They were a few days away from the annual pony swim and roundup, so maybe that's why they were being extra cautious.

 

We made it to the beach house Friday evening and were greeted by my aunt and uncle's mixed breed puppy, Hacker, who is all brindled wiggles and kisses and powerful tail. We were sorely tempted to bring him home with us. Annie, their German Shepherd, needs more time to warm up to people but remembered us and allowed us to love on her even when she'd broken a tooth and wasn't feeling her best. We missed Dutch, who'd passed away last fall, but we had lots of puppy love while we were there.

 

We goofed off a lot at the ocean this year as the temps were just about perfect and the kids were less afraid of the waves. There are plenty of pictures to come, but here are some taken at the pool: 

 

Dada and I even got our annual dinner date at the Black Pelican sans kids. He had an amazing halibut dinner with sour cherry butter sauce and a tasty veggie medley involving Swiss chard, red onions, and some others. I had Chef's Pasta, which is penne in roasted red peppery cream cheese sauce with humungous scallops and shrimp. I delighted in my leftovers later on. And we got a walk on the beach in the almost full moonlight.

 

Aunt Lainie has been decking out her deck in teal and a soft green, so naturally we had to get a picture mid-act.

 

 

We clean up pretty well. And Dada's in snazzy white pants. And no, you may not have the cute, sleeping urchin. He's ours.

 

Miss Maudie had her 86th birthday while we were there, so of course we had to celebrate. She brought glow sticks for the kids, which ranked her even higher in their esteem, if that's possible. I called in to Damon to tell him she was there, and he hollered, "Miss Maudie's here? I LOVE Maudie!" He couldn't get out the door fast enough.

 

Here she is on the phone with Nana, who helped us sing "Happy Birthday" to her. And somehow Maudie got one trick candle, to everyone's amusement and the kids' wonderment:

 

Lainie's friend Linda came for the birthday party, too, and cheerfully took a million pictures of us. Here's one with everyone's eyes open and smiling!

 

Birthdays at the beach are exhausting.

 

I have probably 100 ocean pictures but I hear beds being jumped on so I must go parent awhile.

 

*REMIND ME TO BLOG ABOUT THE TRIP BACK*