The Outer Banks Vacation

So for vacation this year we tried two new things. First, we went with the Baughmans and their kids. Second, instead of Destin we went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. With one exception (to be explained in a minute), it was a fantastic week away! Ready for round two! Oh wait, that won't be for a while...

Different sand, higher waves... not my normal beach, but how can you NOT like what you see here?

Our view from our tent set-up. Before the tent snapped in half. Apparently winds are higher on the Atlantic.

Kelsen in the giant hole that Dave dug her. We couldn't get her out until we introduced her to the water. Then we couldn't get her out of that.

Yup, the discovery of the waves spelt doom for all those who attempted to get her to go back to the tent.

I discovered a love for Kindles/Nooks for reading books on this trip. I highly suggest reading The Hunger Games! Great book!

Teaching Kelsen the finer points of surfing. "Okay, pop up. No, do less. No, do more. Eh, you'll get it. Let's go surfing!"

Sam braving some serious waves. They were not kind to her clothes.

Brooke in her cute little cover-up. Precious!

So the one thing that was annoying? The giant pipe running down the middle of a beach for a "nourishmen" project. Luckily the week before they were in front of our house and had moved down, but it was still pretty inconvenient... and ugly... and there ALL week. More on that later.

A view of our beach house.

Drunk on the beach.

I found me a blowfish!

A very attractive fish, no? This thing did NOT smell good.

We tried to help her build a sand castle. She wanted to build a sand mound.

The Outer Banks Part 2

And the vacation pictures continue....


Yay, a group shot!

Me and the wife on the night we went out for our anniversary. She's hot, just sayin.

Not the most flattering angle, but required self-shot.

My feet in their natural habitat.

Look, the giant pipe! It's still there!

Our house was the one on the left... behind the pipe...

Pretty beach. I'll give you that, Atlantic Ocean. I had my doubts!

Waves were insane the last few days we were there. Check out how far the wash came up.

Picture day! Brooke with her adopted daughter.

The camera lovers her! Me too!

Hello, wind in our face. Can't die down for a moment to let us snap some shots?

Mmmm... sand tastes good, doesn't it Kelsen?

Our best shot at the Baughman family photo. Everyone smiling and looking in the right direction-ish!

Our last family photo with just the two of us? Scary...

Kelsen had enough of pictures, on to this game!

Love this section of the beach... should have found this before the end of the week!

Me and Haley hanging out while the others play on the beach.

NOW THEY TAKE THE PIPE AWAY??? RIGHT BEFORE OUR VACATION ENDS???

Glad it took til the last day to see rain clouds roll in... great weather all week!

Getting ready for the sunrise on our last morning....

There it is! Sad day/great week. Kinda wish that we could have been pipe free the WHOLE TIME, but I guess if that is my biggest complaint about vacation, I can't really complain.

Lighthouse

One afternoon we ventured out to see the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, a humongous brick lighthouse with something like 250 steps to the top. So of course we had to do it. After waiting in line with a rather annoying volunteer in our way (who would NOT let a 2-year old child have a sticker until AFTER she climbed the steps), we finally got to go check out the awesome views up top.

Apparently you can't go up there during a lightning storm. Something about it being a massive electrical conductor? It looked brick to me... brick is safe, right?

Waiting patiently...

Only slightly concerned about the slats up top being about the same size as Kelsen...

Awesome views of the island, ocean, and sound. Best to look out, not down...

And now I'm afraid of heights. Really I'm afraid of the impact when I fall, not the height.

Adding a little bit of cute into the beautiful scenery. Dave's eye not included.

Okay, Dave, we'll let you in a picture, too.

That is a lot of stairs. No sweat. Okay, a lot of sweat.

And little did we know that the drive back would include one very upset child and an amazing set of lungs... but the lighthouse experience was fantastic!