What with having just wrapped up our vacation, and having an overwhelming amount of photos and stories over the course of the vacation week, I have a feeling that this will take another entire week just to capture it all here for you. I thought we'd do a "Day 1, Day 2, etc" outline-type format to make it easier on your old mama. Let's see how that works...anyway, 1...2...3...here we go!!
With the help of Papa Joe and Mama Patty, we drove down a day early and surprised Stacy, Brad and the girls. With a lot of planning and a few white lies, it worked and they were so shocked to see us! Love surprises! Then, Papa Joe and Mama Patty let us all crash with them that night so we could get up bright and early the next morning to caravan down to the beaches at OBX! Some of your more memorable quotes on that first day:
~ according to Mali, "sunSCREAM" will protect us from getting sunburnt.
Day 2:
KK rode down to the beach with us from Charlottesville. It was a very loud, messy, and entertaining trip, to say the least. Loved looking back and seeing your adorable little faces in the backseat. And we even got a little on-board entertainment ~ check it out!
Once at the beach house, we enjoyed a crazy evening of swimming galore, the excitement of each car load of family members arriving, more swimming, and even our inaugural crab hunt at dusk/dark. Needless to say, you were one tired pup come bedtime.
Major excitement at daybreak when we found a crab in our pool! (We didn't yet realize that there would be a crab (or more kinds of critters) around and in our pool nearly every morning on this trip. We picked up your rental bike later on and you got to ride around with Brad and KK and their really neat bicycle built for two. On this particular day we were also all surprised at the realization that rather than our younger girls getting into trouble, it was actually Lao Lao we had to keep an eye on. It turned out it was her idea to bomb everyone on the upper deck with water cannons from the pool ~ and you little girls loved it! Later on, we continued to watch all of you kids play in the various forms of water; "pool, hot tub, ocean, repeat" (as Stacy says). You were running, running, running like crazy all day...with little to no time for you dear old mom. It's so much fun to watch your relationships with the kids around you develop, even if it's at the expense of my time with you. By nightfall, you, Sammy, and KK went searching specifically for Lao Lao (whom you all grew very fond of on this trip) to ask her to take you on a night-time walk on the beach with your flashlights.
Daddy and I stayed up late on this particular night, chopping and prepping for hosting our big luau dinner on Monday. It took a lot longer than we thought it would and you refused to go to bed without me. Everyone else had hit the sack that night, so it was just you, Daddy and me as the last men standing. We headed out to the deck and Daddy took this picture of you and I, snuggled up in the cool evening sea air, watching the tides go in and out under the moonlight and listening to the waves of the ocean. I wish bedtime was this peaceful every night.
 |
| you may be getting bigger, but you're still my baby |
Day 4:
Enjoyed the famous Duck Donuts for breakfast, then as part of the festivities for the luau that night, I applied a ton of temporary tattoos to you, Sammy and KK and lo and behold, the Turtle Gang was born! After all of you got "inked up", Stacy and Brad were kind enough to take all of you crazy girls (big and small alike) to the arcade and then to get some ice cream. Talk about a great afternoon! That evening it was our turn to cook dinner and so we threw a luau for everyone, complete with costumes, decorations, and a pinata. It was fun to see everyone look so festive and of course the pinata is always a big hit with you kids. More playing and more hot tub time for the rest of the night, always with a lot of silliness and giggles sprinkled in.
 |
| thank goodness Daddy remembered to pack the magic marble! |
 |
| photo bomb! |
 |
| Lao Lao spent so much time with you little ones |
 |
| the Turtle Gang |
This morning found us crabbing from the docks. It was exciting for you kids, even if we didn't catch a big pot of crabs like we had hoped. Instead, we caught several smaller (but feisty) crabs, turtles, and even a big old catfish (thanks to Lao Lao)! It was pretty cool.
 |
| love your expressions ~ bracing for the wave! |
Inside, I busted out the fake fingernails we had brought on a whim. There was just something a little odd though to see such little people with big huge crazy nails. Funny stuff.
And many of my favorite kid-isms from the trip were also noted on this particular day ~
Me: "You sneaky devil, you!"
You: "I am NOT a 'W'!"
You told us you were "hummitating" (aka meditating) by the pool...see for yourself:
 |
| hummitating ~ haha! |
And finally, KK told us that our house has an "alligator" (aka elevator) and then you told us that you needed to use the "fly-swapper" (aka fly swatter) to get the pesky flies that kept getting in. Perhaps it's all of the swimming putting water in your ears, or perhaps it's just the simple joys of talking with little children, but for the rest of the trip, that is how I referred to each of those items. Love it!
Day 7:
Rainy morning was saved by craft time with Stacy, making cute little flip flops!
Thankfully the sun broke later and you were able to jump waves on the beach and spend some time in the pool with Papaw.
 |
I love this picture and the next of you "rescuing"
KK from the waves |
 |
| perhaps "hummitating" again? |
 |
| Team Grandma |
The day ended much like it began, with more rain. However, before bed that night, our skies were graced by a
double rainbow. Beautiful way to end the evening...
 |
| your mom and dad...not too shabby, eh? |
 |
the double rainbow even brought the boys
out from downstairs to enjoy it |
And a beautiful sunset to boot!
 |
by this time in the trip, you were anti-camera...
however Daddy and I took advantage of the sunset and
here's proof that we do actually clean up nicely |
Day 8:
Our final full day at the beach house was a gorgeous and sunny day, from morning until late in the afternoon. An expected gift after all of the rain forecasts throughout the week. It was beautiful and we all took full advantage of it, soaking up sun and water nearly all day long. It was on this particular day that you decided to get serious about learning to swim and made HUGE strides in the water! I was so proud of your persistence and your ability to face your fears. I can't wait for you to show your private swim instructor all of your progress when we get back!
 |
| washed up horseshoe crab |
 |
| Lao Lao and I walked on the beach that morning |
 |
| Mommy, being silly |
 |
| Mama Patty and Papa Joe |
 |
| view of our beach house from the ocean |
 |
| senoritas ~ Stacy and Mommy |
 |
| Memaw and Papaw ~ our shutterbugs |
 |
| hang 10! surf's up, dudes! |
 |
| oh, Daddy! |
 |
| Daddy and Alex |
 |
| silly KK |
 |
| snuggled with Sierra |
After we got dried off a bit, we headed up to the Corolla lighthouse where we took a wild horse tour with the Corolla Wild Horse Fund. The proceeds go back to helping the horses and we got to learn a lot about the peninsula and its horse population. Very cool stuff.
That night, all of us mommies and daddies went out for a bit to celebrate our last night on the OBX. When we got back and as I was putting you to bed, you asked, "Mom, can we stay longer than 7 days next time?" (aww...so sweet). A tell-tale sign that you had a wonderful and marvelous vacation. I'm pretty sure we all did.
The next morning after Stacy, Lao Lao and I watched our last sunrise over the ocean for this year, we headed out bright and early for home. It was hard to say goodbye, but we're hopeful that Stacy and her family can all come to visit us in Ohio in September. We spent a total of 13 hours on the road, a little longer than normal because of all of our stops. By the time we were about 2 minutes from home, this was how slap happy you were...
But after driving such a far distance in one day, there was nothing more awesome than pulling up to see Audrey Ayi, Sophia, Cori, and Bella (Cori's friend) in our yard, waiting with huge smiles to welcome us home. Sophia had painted a picture just for you and Audrey had created a beautiful piece of sidewalk art right in front of our entire house. It was such an amazingly heartwarming welcome after such a long, long day.
The giddiness of the drive carried over into our time at home. Audrey Ayi stayed and hung out, chatting with us until late, and while I tried to unpack, this is one of the many things that the two of you got into...
 |
| crazy girls! |
When Audrey plays with you, she has such a joyous laugh, clearly living in the moment and having the time of her life. The picture above exemplifies this. It warms my heart that you not only get to spend a week on vacation with so many wonderfully fun and loving people, but that you get to come home to someone who adores you as much as your dad and I do too. Makes my heart feel like it could burst into pieces.
Love,
Mama
