With Fathers Day coming up, I thought this would be an appropriate post.
This past week we had our annual summer beach vacation. This year we chose to explore the Outerbanks. We always hear how beautiful it is out there, so we couldn't wait to see it for ourselves and explore more of our lovely state! The Outerbanks is almost like little bits of land all connected by bridges, on one side of the land you have the beach, on the other you have the sound, so no matter where you are, it's just beautiful and always so much to do! Wonderful beaches, cool waters, but not too cool, every beach is so different, in terms of soft sand, vs slightly more stone and shell, the girls loved picking shells and building their sand castles. Funny how the days of sitting on the beach sunning yourself and reading a book changes with kids. I was lucky to get 2 pages in on the beach each time, before being summoned to jump in the waves, or help build something. We definitely got tanned playing in the sand, but no uniform tan. Besides daily beach visits, we filled our days with some good NC eating (including some treats - the infamous Duck Donuts! this is now my new favoritie donut - just so happens to be one that has opened not too far from us!) we had some decent fried fish and popcorn shrimp (almost all seafood in NC is deep fried), and Eastern NC BBQ (vinegar based sauce vs the thicker bbq sauce one is used to or expects) The vinegar gets me each time tho, catching my throat, but it was really good. Noones beats Backyard BBQ's hushpuppies tho!
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| crossing the sound |
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| yummy Duck Donuts |
Once the girls got their beach fix for the day and were ready for a nap, Rod and I drove around and saw the other towns along the Outerbanks. We got to see some lighthouses, Addi and I climbed up the Currituck Lighthouse (220 steps - Addi made it halfway on her own), and Emma and Rod climbed the Bodie Island Lighthouse (214 steps, Emma climbed without help from daddy both up and down). The tallest lighthouse in North America is the Cape Hattera's (257 steps) which we did not climb as the kids wanted to fly their kites instead. We drove to Rodanthe (unfortunately no town of Rodanthe sign to take a cheesy photo by) we had to stop by the "Nights in Rodanthe" House (story written by an NC author, Nicholas Sparks, which was made into a movie) - crazy to think they moved from house from the ocean to be more inland. It's quite scary to see how close some of the houses are becoming to the ocean.
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| Inn At Rodanthe |
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| Currituck Lighthouse |
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| Jockey State Ridge Sand Dunes and Kite Festival |
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| Currituck Heritage Park |
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| Emma climbed to the top! |
Some more exploring and fun activities like a Kite Festival at Jockey State Ridge, Hummer Tour to see the Wild Spanish Mustangs. The road to see the mustangs are only accessible by 4x4, the road is actually considered the highway and it's amazing how busy that road is, cars driving, people fishing, braaing and then houses along the way too. It seems like a novel idea living out where you have to drive through dunes to get to your home. The mustangs were a little smaller than I imagined, but still quite something to see on the beach, in people's driveways, in people's "yards". As we sat in the hummer watching some horses making their way to the sound for some water I did laugh at how family back home would probably laugh at us sitting in this 4x4 not being able to get out the vehicle watching these horses cross - a whole different experience to seeing the Big 5!
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| Hummer Tour to see the wild mustangs |
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| horses chilling by a house |
Even with so many activities, we had plenty of down time and Daddy Time!!! Which is always the best on these trips - the girls and I love it so much, we get all his attention with no interruptions of work. And daddy sure loves to spoil the girls on these trips - extra treats, surprise purchases of souvenirs, more time for games and silly play - daddy really goes out of his way to make each day fun and exciting. I get spoilt that with all the Daddy time mommy gets a bit of quiet time, all the girls want is "daddy daddy" - like music to my ears!
So with all that being said - I want to say an early HAPPY FATHERS DAY to a great husband and father to our girls - we love you more than words can say, you look after us so well, giving us everything and more than we can ever ask for. It was such a special week that the girls were extra sad to see you leave today for your trip to Sweden, Emma balled her eyes out when you left the car, cried half the way home. Addi says with a tear building up in the corner of her eye, "I'm not crying, but I might!" We love you and THANK YOU for being the best dad for our family, we wouldn't be where we are if it weren't for your hard work, dedication and love both at home and at work!! You're our world and we can't wait for you to come home again and celebrate a Fathers Day Weekend!
xoxoxo
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| Kite flying lessons |
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| Wright Brothers Memorial |
