Big day for Addison!

Yesterday, Addison asked to get her ears pierced. She had originally asked to have them done for her 5th birthday last year, but she chickened out. Then this year, she kind of waved it off. But yesterday, she came and asked us again and we were like eh, why not? We were going to do it last year anyway. So we headed to...where else? Claire's! The little girl piercing capitol of the world. :) 

She was brave, though we could tell she was a little apprehensive while they got her set up and marked her ears. Thankfully, they did them both at one time, so we wouldn't leave with just one ear done. We could tell she was about to cry but she didn't! Such a big girl now!

Tubing the Breeches on a hot day!

We spent this afternoon going on a fun tubing trip in a nearby creek. We bought more tubes so now the kids shared one and me and Seth each got our own. I, of course, made sure they were the kind of tubes that have a thick mesh bottom so nothing touches our butts while we float. AND they all connect together so we could stay hooked to Seth and he could navigate us through the scary parts. 

Carter loves to get out of his tube whenever he can and swim along beside us. More power to him! That sounds like a horrible idea to me! Cold and who knows what could be lurking in that water?! HA! 

OBX: Day 7

The kids got their tie dye back today! Look how BEAUTIFUL they turned out?! The adults were wishing they had done them, too, once they saw how cool they turned out. 

By this day, I (Danielle) was not really feeling great, and was coming down with some sort of head cold. Between a headache and not being able to breathe, today was a super easy day with a little bit of the beach and mostly pool time for me (and some of the kids! They loved the pool!). 

For dinner, we headed down to Manteo on Roanoke Island to Blue Water Grill. It was so beautiful on the water and my dinner LOOKED amazing. I say looked because I could not taste it at all with my head congestion. Ugh. But we had a great last dinner as a family and then headed to downtown Manteo to walk around and shop a little. 

We enjoyed one final night at the condo and having ice cream before we all packed up and headed home the next day!

OBX: Day 6

I may have my days a little bit out of whack here, but one of the days near the end of our trip we did tie dye shirts, which was definitely a family favorite. It was literally beside our condo so the commute there was nice and short. After a quick lesson on design styles and the art of color combos, the kids got to work! 

We spent time at the beach and in the pool, like we did the other days, but we decided to head up to Duck for dinner in the evening. The first restaurant we tried had a 2 hour wait already by 5 p.m. so we opted for the Red Sky Cafe. It was good and allowed us to get to the shops in Duck with plenty of time to see the sunset and explore a bit. The kids especially loved the candy store and the beautiful scenery allowed us to get some great photos!

OBX: Day 5

Today started with amazing Duck Donuts. We've been there before but it was a first for Matt and Erin. The kids were loving being able to watch their donuts being made! Plus, the gigantic souvenir shop was right beside Duck Donuts and those five sweet kids had holes burning in their pockets ALLLL week. So they were super glad to get some shopping time! 

After breakfast, we hung out around the house and relaxed until we headed to Roanoke Island for a kid-focused magic show. It was really cute and Carter even got chosen as a volunteer. 

After the magic show, we walked around the downtown area for a bit, checking out the shops. I got quite a few cute decorations for our house! 

The plan for the rest of the day was a kid-favorite: the POOL! It was a beautiful afternoon, so I got some nice tanning in while the kids swam. ;) 

For dinner, we tried Goomba's, which was just down the road from us. Everyone loved their meals except me. It was just meh, but I'm glad everyone else had such a good experience! And, as a bonus, we even got another family picture! :)

After dinner, we headed for some fun -- go-karts and the arcade! The go-karts were such a blast. The kids loved the arcade too even though it was a total money pit.

We also hit up a local ice cream shop for more ice cream (it's vacation, so it doesn't count, right???). It was so good. Check out this picture of three generations....all dressed the same, no less! 

Such a fun day! 

OBX: Day 4

Day 4 of vacation was super windy and a little dreary which was fine, because it just meant we spent a little less time at the beach and a little more time doing other activities. Carter was a little "over" the beach on this day (he was back to being excited the next day!), so he moped a bit in the hole he dug. 

After lunch, we just spent time at our pool which was perfect for the kids. They had been begging to stay at the pool on this day anyway.

Matt and Erin were meeting friends who live in Outer Banks for dinner so we mini golfed in the afternoon. The course was cute, but the wait was a little long since you had to take a small train up to the top of the course to begin. Seth got lucky and rode with all the kids in their car. We golfed guys vs. girls!

For dinner, Oma and Opa and our family headed to Rooster's Southern Kitchen which was DYNAMITE. I got shrimp and grits with bacon and green beans, and it was seriously so good. The kids got shrimp (again...they were in their glory this week with all the kids' meal shrimp!). It was nice to relax and enjoy a yummy meal. 

After dinner, we grabbed some ice cream with Oma and Opa! When we pulled back into the house, Matt, Erin, and the kids were just getting back from their dinner, too, so we grabbed all the kids and headed across the street to the beach for some nighttime playing and photos. The kids had so much fun and the sunset was so beautiful. We really got there at the perfect time. 

OBX: Day 3

Another amazing day at the beach. The day began early like normal and the kids spent some time on the porch with Opa, watching the sun come up. The plan for the day was beach, pool, and then heading to Nags Head for dinner and the dunes at Jockey's Ridge State Park.

After some pool time in the afternoon, Seth, me and the kids headed to Nags Head a couple hours before dinner to do some exploring. We hit up some fun shops and explored the area before meeting the rest of the family at Blue Moon Beach Grille.

After a delicious dinner, we headed to Jockey's Ridge. WOW was that cool. Pictures cannot even do the beauty justice. We did the full dune walk/loop and took some pictures. The kids did many, many races down the big hills which was simultaneously hilarious and terrifying. :)

 Another family picture for the books! YAY!