Beach trip!!

Ok, I know our beach trip was a loooooong time ago (nearly a month!), but this is truly my first opportunity to blog about it. The last month has been CRAZY with the settlement, the vacation, the move, the illnesses, etc. All to be covered over the next week or so, but let's just start with the vacation, shall we?

We started out on a rainy Saturday morning (September 26th). We of course had to swing by the new house first to make sure everything was properly locked up, since as of about 2:45 p.m. on the previous day IT WAS OURS!!!! Settlement was quite quick, and relatively painless (if you don't really think about what you're signing!), and they handed over the keys! Surreal, and exciting.

Here it is....

Oh, and yes, that is our new (well, new to us) minivan in the driveway which we had bought I think 2-3 days prior to this. We now need a second car, and we needed one big enough to accommodate a THIRD carseat, so there you have it. I am now a minivan mom!! Truth be told, I love it! It's quite comfortable and has more power than you might think. And of course, it's a Honda.

Just look how comfy the boys look with there new carseat tray tables for eating and playing:

The Legos were a welcome distraction during the 5+ hour drive to OBX, as the portable DVD player we bought would have been if we'd been able to get it to work.....

Luckily, the weather in North Carolina was much better than home, and much better than it had been in the weeks leading up to our trip. People who vacationed in OBX in the few weeks before us had a lot of rain and less than warm temperatures. It was raining when we got there, and raining when we left, but all days in between were perfect!

Probably the biggest outdoor hit for the kids was the hot tub:

but they liked the pool too...

Check out Max's high-flying jump into the pool!!

He's also a contortionist, apparently!

Multi-talented, that kid!

Here's a view of the back of our house from the end of our private walk-way to the beach:

As great as the private walk-way was, it basically just stopped when it got to the dunes and you had to climb down the rest of the way! It was a bit treacherous for the older people in our group - not to mention me at 7 months pregnant!! It was clear that at one point there had been stairs that were probably taken out by a hurricane or something. You can bet that I suggested they be replaced in the comment section of our departure survey!

It's kind of a cool picture though....

Indoor activities included more legos:

TV watching and peanut eating:

Chillin' on Daddy's lap:

Coloring:

Snacking (in cute matching OBX t-shirts from Mimi):

Hiding in cabinets:

And being spun around in a chair by Grand-dad:

There was also eating. A lot of eating. As is tradition, each couple is reponsible for one night's feast (breakfasts and lunches are pretty much ad hoc). Here are some photos of the table on the night that it was our turn and we (read: Mitch) prepared a Mexican meal of tacos, refried beans, Spanish rice, and all the fixins:

Yum!!

Let's hit the beach, shall we???

I know it looks like he has a bad sunburn on his face, but he doesn't. He did get a little bit of sun on his face, but it wasn't that terrible.

Last year, Tyler was the one who enjoyed the surf. This year, it was Evan.

In fact, Tyler was scared of the water this year. Every time Mitch and Evan were out there, Tyler would keep close watch and yell "Look out! Water's coming!" every time the surf came in. And Jake would keep a close watch on him.

Tyler was always quite relieved when they made their way back up the beach!

Other OBX adventures included a trip to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

214 steps to the top observation deck. Here are some pictures of the view:

Most in our group made the trip up.

A few of us didn't!! Again - 214 steps to the top!!! Mimi, Grand-dad, and I decided to sit this one out. Mitch took a picture of us on the ground!

Time to climb down!

Also part of the park where the lighthouse is, is some sort of nature/wildlife preserve. Not sure what makes it a nature/wildlife preserve... Seemed more like just a walk-way over a swamp to me.

We did encounter this itty-bitty little snake. The little boys were thrilled!!

The Holmquist clan:

And us:

And finally, on the last afternoon, there was a trip to a local playground where Tyler, Evan, and cousin Max had a blast.

(in more cutesy OBX t-shirts from Fammy!)

I forgot about camera orientation on this video of Evan on the slide, so forgive me if it gives you whiplash!

I was better on this one!

On our final morning, the boys made sure to give Mimi some extra loving before we loaded up the car and headed home. It was to be a loooooong day. More on that in the next post!