Corolla, NC

The day after swim champs we packed up and headed to the Outer Banks, NC with my parents.  The trip down was more eventful than I would have liked with a few missed exits and a little unwanted stress, but we all managed to arrive at the house safe and in one piece.  This was our 6th Outer Banks beach vacation and I think if I were to take a vote, it may have just been the best one yet.  Each year it's different, sometimes we have gone with friends, sometimes with both sets of grandparents (sans G-ma Harris), sometimes with my parents, and sometimes for family events: two of our kids (Liam and Gavin) have both been baptized in the Atlantic Ocean at the Outer Banks.  This year we stayed up on the Northern end in Corolla.  In fact, we were a mere mile to the end of the paved road and the wild horse preserve!  The beaches here were unlike any other we've experienced...relatively flat and wide and even Jonah was able to walk out 30 yards into the water and the waves were only up to his waist.  This made for great boogie boarding for everyone and we all spent hours "catching waves".  We decided that even though getting up to the Northern tip of the Outer Banks adds another 30-45+ minutes of driving, that the beaches and smaller crowds were worth it.

This beach week was a needed break for all of us. There was no schedule, no executive education, no swim team, no tennis team, no piano, no violin, no cello, no math, no typing, no writing, nothing but a big wonderful empty slate.  Each morning we woke up to new adventures to be had.  There was a fun chalk board calendar in the house and each day we filled with things like: boogie boarding, skim boarding, Duck Donuts, walk on the beach, paddle ball, game night, movie night, knot tying, fishing, afternoon reading and naps, Steamers shrimp for dinner, an evening and morning thunderstorm, swimming pool games, hot tub time,  and on and on.  Jared was smart enough to take a photo of the beach house's chalk board!

Our house was only one house off the ocean ("semi ocean front") and a mere a two minute walk to the beach access which allowed us the freedom to come and go throughout the day.  The first two days we did nothing but spend time at the beach boogie boarding, skim boarding, digging in the sand and playing a game Jonah made up called "Pow-Pow" where the boys would slam themselves into the waves.  (This actually resulted in some serious swimmer's ear by the end of the week that required a visit to the doctor and a course of antibiotics and pain meds.  Caleb and Liam were absolutely miserable for several days after we got home.  Looking back, it seems obvious that "Pow-Pow" was not such a great idea...)

Besides almost biting off his tongue, this was one of the many times C. would slam ear first into a wave:

More photos of Jonah playing Pow-Pow:

Skim boarding.  The boys all have their own boards and spent more time in pursuit of the perfect wave than anything else that week.  They often wait for 5 minutes or more before they would decide that the right wave just came in.  I tell you skim boarding looks so easy when the boys do it.  They wait for the right wave, throw the board, run to jump on it, then skim into the next incoming wave.  But, it is not simple.  This year both my dad and Jared made their attempts and it only took a few runs before my dad took a hard spill and only a few days' worth of runs before Jared pulled an inner-thigh muscle so badly he had to walk backwards part of the way home and take baby steps for the rest of the day.  There was no camera around, so I'll preserve the image of that moment of pain and agony in my mind forever and remember that I could not stop laughing.  Doubled over in pain, drool dripping down from his mouth, total agony.  For the record, after the deep breathing and baby steps, Jared was laughing too.  (He said "I was acting 20 instead of 40..")  That was the end of skim boarding this trip for Jared!  But the boys never stopped.

One of the evenings after the tide had come and gone, there was a perfect training ground for Jonah to practice his budding skills.  He didn't plan on getting the water, so before heading to the beach he had chosen (despite parental advice) to not put on his swimming suit.

I really do believe that one of these days Gavin or Caleb are going to lose a portion of their tongues.  It's unbelievable how often their tongues take part in their physical activities!

Boogie boarding.  This was the one activity that everyone could do and there was little to no risk of injury.  Even my parents were in the water catching waves:

 Finally there was just plain ol' fun in the sand.  We had to make a quick stop at the Ace Hardware store for more real garden shovels because somehow they got left back in C-ville and you really cannot dig well in the sand without them.  There were random kids on the beach who would see the rapid progress we were making in digging some hole or another and ask to borrow one of the shovels.  Jared shared with the parents where we got them, so hopefully they weren't sold out!

Here are the beginnings of what would become a giant hole surrounded by a mote and castle towers.

The boys also decided to try to see what would happen if they dropped a paddle ball down a crab hole.....they found out those holes were much, much deeper than they ever expected - and required much excavation to retrieve the ball! 

I loved watching Caleb with Jonah....this little boy loves his biggest brother!

There were paddle ball games going on at some point every day and Jared and I reached a new personal best: 409 hits in a row!  One evening we pulled out some kites because you really can't spend time on the beach without getting them out at some point.

We pretty much stayed around the house with a few exceptions, including the one tradition of eating out at Steamers where you order the fresh shrimp by the pound.  We also discovered a new Mexican restaurant, did a bit of souvenir shopping and climbed up the Corolla Lighthouse.  It has been several years since we walked those 200+ steps and I kept thinking back to the last time we were there and Caleb refusing to walk out onto the top platform due to vertigo.  This time I was behind him and watched as he hesitated for a second and grabbed the side of the door, but then made his way out having overcome the fear of heights that had paralyzed him so many years ago.  Both Jared and Caleb even managed to hold on to the railing, but Jared couldn't quite let go of the door frame....he too has a marginal phobia of man-made heights.

Grandma was on the hunt all week for sea glass and a particular kind of shell.  She found tiny, I mean tiny peaces of sea glass and came away with some fun shells.  My dad on the other hand was searching for heart shaped shells for Mom and she had them all laid out the night before we left.  So fun!

Lastly, Caleb needed to pass off a few more requirements for his fishing merit badge, specifically learning to tie some knots and catching a fish.  He passed off both of these with my dad and despite the odds they had given themselves, 70/30 they did indeed catch a fish!  A grouper.  Unfortunately no camera was around to catch the moment - it was only the two of them, out earlier than the rest of us.

Going to the beach every year is something I look forward to, starting in December.  I love the salty water and the power of the waves; I love the soft warm sand on my feet; I love that we all come back to the beach house from the sandy beach every day and skinny dip (boys together, then me by myself) in the pool to get the sand out of all our crevices; I love not having a schedule; I love taking long walks on the beach and listening to crashing sounds of the surf; I love being together with the people I love most in this world and the people I would not survive without.