Toes in the water

We survived our first trip to the beach as a family of four!  It was touch and go to start with...neither girl slept on the way there and then a horrible night with both girls up for huge chunks.  But once we got past that hurdle, we actually had a lot of fun.

We were at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, which I highly recommend.  The weather was perfect - albeit stinking hot - and the crowds are minimal.  We brought my 17 year old niece along with us to help with the girls, which was a GREAT idea.  Adding an extra pair of arms was beyond helpful.  Plus, we got adjoining hotel rooms, and put the girls in with my niece at night.  Hahaha!

Emma loved playing in the water, but wasn't overly fond of the huge wave that knocked both of us under at one point.  But I wasn't a big fan either.  Kate was pretty indifferent.  In fact, we tried to plan the time at the beach around when Kate would be napping (of course one of us would stay in the room with her), because it is pretty hard entertaining a baby that can't walk and won't sit still while you are surrounded by sand.

We did a few fun things while there, other than the pool and beach.  One morning we rented a 4 door jeep and drove on the beach to see the wild horses.  Pretty crazy driving in a car with no doors and 2 carseats strapped in the back.  Maybe not the safest thing but still fun.

I carried Emma to the top of one of the lighthouses - all 217 steps (up and down!).  And we ate a lot of bad-for-you food (shout out to Duck Donuts). 

I have to say, going in my expectations were pretty low, thinking we were crazy for going on a trip with 2 little ones, but we really did have a great time.  And probably one of the smartest things is that we arrived back home on a Friday, which gave us the whole weekend to recover. 

But tomorrow is Monday.  Boo!  Back to reality!

Here are a few of our sweet memories to tide us over until the next vacation.

 First time with toes in the ocean!

One of Emma's favorite things was looking for crabs on the beach...and trust me, they are everywhere!