We had a lovely vacation this summer with my family at our traditional stomping grounds in Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.  The weather was nice and sunny every day except for one afternoon when it stormed. It was perfect weather for the beach where we spent several hours each day in the water, playing in the sand, and having picnic lunches. Once we arrived at the beach Finn rarely sat down. He constantly ran back and forth from the water to our sand play area with buckets of water, which he dumped immediately and then ran back for more. He love it.  He is at a great age for playing at the beach. He went out in the water with daddy, and Grandpa and Grandma many times (despite my worry of sharks!). He really wanted to let go and be the first to catch each wave. He kept telling Papa and daddy to go out further!

Here is the beginning of our trip. We hit the road by 7:30 am – I was impressed we met our goal departure time 🙂  Finn is all cozy in his pj’s with his fuzzy blanket and animals, and of course his sunglasses.  Our first stop: Tim Horton’s, for some doe doe’s, of course!

Guess who we ran in to at our first pit-stop at the Tamarack exit in Beckley, WV! I had missed a text message that they were going to be stopping there and we were getting ready to leave when Kevin spotted mom and dad walking nearby in the parking lot!?

Our first night we spent in Durham and ventured out for some ice cream after dinner. (top photo compliments of Amy!). 
As tradition has it, we stopped for lunch at Sharky’s once we arrived in Ocean Isle Beach. It was perfect timing and we enjoyed a yummy pizza, sweet potato fries, and chicken!  While we were waiting to check in at our house we enjoyed some time outside on the deck. 

Once we arrived at the house it was full on play mode followed by an evening trip to the water after dinner. It was a beautiful sunset that evening. And the days that followed were pretty much wake up, eat, beach, eat, nap, eat, sleep, repeat!

Cousins in matching new vacation pajamas!

Daddy and Finn are about to get a big splash!

Dad took a photo of me,

Trying to take a photo of them doing this:

But they were moving a bit too fast for my phone/camera…..so here is a better look:

Finn and RoRo spent lots of time sharing the chairs.

Special beach treat!

This is what Finn looks like after a day at the beach 🙂

And if you can’t tell by the smirk on his face, this is him pretending to sleep. He’s snoring too.  We had a nice family dinner overlooking the water. We were able to watch the sun set and capture a family selfie. 

Graham was posing with a fabulous smile, asking me to take his photo in these! Such a handsome boy. 

G and Finn having some fun chats.

 

Dad took these next two – good ones!

Piggy back rides on Grandma!

Grandma and Grandpa spent lots of time on the floor building really cool trucks, cars, towers and such with the new magnetic set they brought for the kiddos. 

It’s always fun to play with the couch pillows…..where’s Grandpa?

Hitting the big waves with Grandma and Grandpa!

Heading out with Papa and Daddy. 

Snack time: rainbow goldfish and drinks! Uncle Andy had them each sit on a pillow 🙂

And this photo is right before we departed for home, at about 6:45 in the morning on Saturday!

Can anyone find Finn? His keepsake this year was a large stuffed turtle – you know, it was the year of the turtle with the ride and all. 

And here are many lovely family photos that Amy took, not that you couldn’t have sensed the focus and quality is far better than mine – but wanted to give credit where credit is due! Check out the crazy reflections in the sand and water! Amy treated us to another family photo session on the beach this year. We are so fortunate to have her share her gift of photography with our family. When we arrived at the parking lot to head out to the beach we realized there were turtles to see! Amy was able to capture that too 🙂 There are several awesome photos – I can’t wait to get some prints!