Beach Vacation!

We’ve just returned from our first legitimate family vacation and it was very enjoyable. We rented a beach house with about 8 other families on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. There were actually 2 houses of people on the vacation. Both were identical and had about 16+ people in each. The houses were next door to each other and we opened the gates in the back yard and roamed freely between the two pools.

The houses were huge, each with its own pool and beach access. The 12-bedroom house was very nice and expansive enough that we did not “bump” elbows and get in each other’s way. We had our own room and bath on the top floor.

The true test of our family vacation is whether Chloe had a good time and I am happy to report that she had a blast. There were 9 kids under the age of 6 in the house, so there was always a play pal around to run up and down the stairs of the 4-story house screaming and yelling.

The vacation started like any other we take---hurried and stressed. We had planned to leave mid-morning on Friday, June 29, but things interfered and we did not leave New Jersey until 4 p.m. after we hurriedly packed the car. We drove about 4 hours and stayed in a hotel in Maryland. It wasn’t until we got to our room and started to get ready for bed that we realized that Matt’s wash kit, with his prescription medicine, was on the couch at home. Luckily our 24-hour pharmacy was able to get us a week’s worth of medicine for Matt (which of course insurance didn’t cover).

Saturday morning had us on the road again headed for North Carolina. After some traffic and a stop for groceries, we arrived at the beach house. We were the last family to arrive, so most had already settled in at the pool. The kids got to know each other and we got to meet all of our housemates for the week. We took Chloe to the beach after sunset to see the sand crabs. She wasn’t as amused by the sand crabs as were and when we returned to the beach on Sunday morning she didn’t want to walk for fear a crab would get her.

Most mornings were spent at the beach and then after lunch we would move to the pool. Matt played golf a couple of times with the other men in the houses and managed to get out on his bike for a couple of morning rides. Chloe and I were able to see a Cinderella play on Roanoke Island and go shopping at the outlet mall too. One morning we took a family outing to the sand dunes in Nags Head and Chloe slid down the dunes and flew a kite.

We celebrated the 4th of July on the beach setting off fireworks and watching the surrounding towns’ firework shows. We also had a 3 nights of catered events and on the 4th had a 8-man reggae band.

Most of our time was spent relaxing, meeting new people and making new friends. Chloe loved swimming in the pool with Daddy and splashing in the ocean with Mommy. But, I think if pressed she would admit she enjoyed the company of her new pre-school pals.We left the Outer Banks on Saturday, July 7. We drove to stay at a friend’s farm outside Fredricksburg, VA. On the farm, Chloe got to ride a tractor with Daddy and feed carrots to the 3 horses.

We returned late afternoon on Sunday. Chloe is absolutely dark. We put spf 50 on her every two hours and she tanned beautifully. Matt looks rested after the vacation and I just looked burned.

We had an awesome time in NC and we hope to create a great family vacation memory/tradition by returning next year.