This Vacation We Took... Part One, Beach Pics!

Last week we took a nice long vacation- a whole week! It has been about four years since Mark has taken off a whole week for work, including when Anna was born, so we all three completely enjoyed our time together! First, we headed to Gigi and Ru's lake house, so we could drop off the doggies and split up the long drive to the Outer Banks. I'm pretty sure Anna Kate would have been completely satisfied to just stay at the lake for a whole week, although once we got to the beach she was equally thrilled to go there too!

We rented a tiny two bedroom cottage right on the beach of Kitty Hawk, and it was wonderful! Mainly the being on the beach part, as the cottage was very old and nothing glamorous but it met our needs perfectly! Most of our days included a slow breakfast on the porch looking at the ocean, a trip to the beach, lunch on the porch, Mommy and Daddy on the beach while Anna napped (with monitor), and more beach time or an activity after nap. It was perfect!

Here are some (a lot) of the adorable pictures we have from our time by the ocean..

My cutie out on the beach!

Finding shells with Daddy

Running away from the waves- the water was COLD!

Swimming with Daddy. Did I mention the cold water?

Our daily set up- baby pool and chairs by our little beach house!

Catching crabs with Daddy...

Nope nope nope

Anna enjoyed her first real popsicles by the ocean. She began asking for them everyday when we reached the beach. Unfortunately, she also learned the word hospital this week (because we saw one, didn't visit!) and she now asks for hopsipcles...

Most favorite activity? Chasing birds...

Running to the birdie! (Daddy in the background)

"There's the ocean!"

I'll give you two guesses who dug this hole... 

Soaking in one last beach morning before we left.

By this point in the trip Anna was sure Mommy wouldn't come to the beach without snacks... She also knows how to unzip a zipper... "I'll have one of these... and one of these... oh and some fruit snacks"

Love these beach bums :)

Anna giving Daddy a big thank you hug for taking her to the beach!