The Outer Banks Our First Full Day

We arrived at the house in the evening the night before, so we just unloaded the car, ordered pizza and relaxed after the long drive.  The next morning, we had a plan to go grocery shopping and get our bearings in this new location.  We stayed in Salvo, which is between Rodanthe and Avon and it is a very recluse sort of place.  We had to drive about 30 minutes to get to the grocery store and the place was mobbed since its the only big grocery store in that part of the Outer Banks.  We made a couple of other stops along the way.  This is a general store that had an excellent wine selection, but you wouldn't know it because the kids lived in the toy section.  Ani Rose is an expert shopper.  She grabbed a basket and started loading it up.

The general store had a big, orange cat sleeping on the porch.  He got right up and came over to the kids once he saw they had ice cream.

That is cotton candy flavored ice cream.  Its disgusting, but that cat licked the lid clean.

There were kisses from the kids' toy horses before we left.

While I was in a local artist store that had a small, but wonderful yarn selection on sale, Todd took some pictures of Norrin on a nearby dock.

After dinner, it was time to go to the beach.

We would always go around 6pm.  It was still warm, the water didn't seem as rough and there was practically no one on the beach.

This picture really catches where I am right now.  I'm in the worst physical shape I've ever been in, but I'm absolutely and completely in love with my family and I couldn't look or feel any happier.

Norrin and I headed back to the house before Ani and Todd. She looks a little upset in this photo...

But she got over it when she realized she could still continue to cover herself in a thick coat of sand.

Norrin was an expert frog catcher.  Every night a hundred frogs would decorate the outside of the house.  It was a little freaky to me, but Norrin loved it.

I, of course, established a knitting nook for myself.

The Outer Banks...The Sequel

We had another vacation in the Outer Banks. We loved it so much the first time, we had to go again. And just like last time, there have been well over a thousand pictures taken by our family photographer, Todd Milligan. So, just like last time, I'll break up the posts as time and our children allow :). We like to take the drive down in segments. This time we stopped in Salisbury, MD. Our hotel room was about $100 cheaper than Ocean City, MD and they have a free zoo and beautiful playground for the kids to get their energy out before the longer half of our journey. Ani Rose loved the zoo because, well, she loves all animals. Norrin just liked trying to spot where they were hiding most of the time. The playground was right next to the zoo and it was huge and well taken care of. The kids loved it.

Ani Rose was too busy and excited to see the next animal to "take a cheese" with her mama.

The landscaping in the zoo was amazing.  Huge trees, tons of shade.

Ani had to stop and say hi while she waved at the animals.

Don't worry.  We didn't let him fall in...this time.

Norrin spotted turtles and fish in the water and he loved showing them to his baby sister.

Supermodel Norrin working it for the camera.

Ani Rose didn't have as much success with the tight rope as her brother.

The sandbox was really fun...with the exception of the amount of sand sticking to Ani by the time she was done here.

Peach Picking

One day, this lovely couple asked us to go peach picking.  They brought itty bitty Xyla and...

they brought big sister, Juniper.

Ani Rose thought we were picking apples and that's what she called them the entire time.

She understood instantly what the game was and was very happy picking peaches...I mean, apples :).

She would reach way up high for the tiniest peaches I've ever seen.

Norrin's goal was to get as many as he could in a minimal amount of time.

Ani Rose would call attention to us whenever she thought Da or Norrin weren't giving us proper peach picking respect.

Norrin had so much fun.

And did a great job filling up his bag.

Ani Rose wanted to hold the tiniest peach in her bag on the way back.  It was so cute.