What I did on my Summer Vacation and other stuff

Our trip to the Outer Banks was truly a vacation to remember. We took 3 days to get there so that we weren't rushed and grumpy. We got to our townhouse and didn't even have to check in. We had the code for the house and it worked and all we had to do was unpack.

Here's a picture of the townhouses around us:

Ours is the one the left, that lovely Pepto Bismol Pink!

Here is a picture of the upstairs. This is from the balcony in the kitchen, looking toward the dining table and living room and then porch. The middle floor had 2 bedrooms, each with their own full bath. The bottom floor had a 2 car garage. The townhouse came with everything from linens to utensils. They even stocked dish soap and other staples for us!


And then there was the amazing location. (You've got to remember that I booked this all online. Even when I'm very careful, sometimes you never know if it's as good as you hope.) We were across the street from The Wright Brothers Memorial:

And we were just 2 blocks from the ocean, with free parking and public access:


The weather was phenomenal the entire week so we were able to go to the beach 3 mornings. Russell started out a bit tentative but by the 3rd day, he was going out beyond the breakers with me, diving under the waves and riding them in! He loved the beach. Definitely our grandson!

We were just minutes from Roanoke Island. The first evening we went to the outdoor play called The Lost Colony. It was a great play. We could only take pictures before it started, but you can see the amazing stage and that was only the beginning!


My brother and sister-in-law joined us the last couple days to share in Russell's Pirate Adventure with us. My SIL made an amazing pirate outfit for Russ and we knew they'd enjoy savoring the adventure with us. Here's the cool pirate outfit:


On the Pirate Adventure, the kids went on a boat, found a map, found a message in a bottle, found a pirate, shot water cannons at the pirate:


and, of course, found treasure:


We did other stuff, like visiting the aquarium, digging for real shark teeth (Russell found a bunch!), flying kites on the beach and hanging out. We even found a place that sold Chocolate Italian Ice! And we were able to bring some back to the townhouse and snack on it for a couple more days.

One of the best parts of the trip was discovering that the townhouse we rented is now renting for almost 3 times what we paid! It just makes it feel so much more satisfying knowing we got a good deal!

I can hardly believe it's July already! Since we've been home, we've spent lots of time at the pool. I can even watch all 5 g'kids, as long as at least 4 of them are wearing floaties.

We had a big celebration at the house for Christy's birthday. We can still fit about 35 comfortably.

It's good to be home (thanks to Pam for watching and spoiling Beast for me!) and it was great to have been on vacation. I think Russell will remember it for years to come. A grand time was had by all. We made special memories and that's what it's all about.