Ever since we moved back east my mom has talked about renting a beach house in the Outer Banks....and it finally happened 16 years later! We spent the first week of August with most of the sisters and a few aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents in a beautiful beach house in Hatteras, NC. We arrived home Saturday night from Matt's 50 mile hike and woke up at 4am to catch our 6am flight to VA! Leah did pretty good. When we landed in Richmond we rented a car and drove to Amy and Tim's house in Newport News, VA. We were so glad they we were on the way so we could stop and spend time with them and they graciously let us spend the night (plus they let Crystal spend the night and took her to the airport the next week)! I wish we lived closer because Leah sure loved playing with her cousins.
On Monday we drove down the NC coast and arrived in Hatteras in time for some pool fun! I can't tell if Leah loves the pool because she just sits in her floaty and doesn't do a thing....it almost looks like she will fall asleep. Leah of course loved the attention from her aunties and others. It was fun to have all 26 of us in one house. The beach house was gorgeous with 5 floors, a bed for everyone (which never happens!), an elevator, movie room, and game area. We had our own private pool which we swam in every single day. We spent a few days at the beach and had a ton of fun boogie boarding, toured the island, saw the light house, went to the Graveyard of the Sea museum, ate at the yummy local restaurants and played a lot of games. We enjoyed a few movies in the movie room and ate way too much food! I had my 29th birthday while we were there and Matt spoiled me as usual. He decorated the whole top floor and bought me a cake. For dinner all I wanted was sea food so we went to a local place and I had the seafood platter which was delish. Matt got me a beautiful turtle necklace and an ornament to remember our trip.
We left Saturday evening to make our way back to VA. Amy and Tim let us spend the night again and we had to play a round of Settler's of Catan! I can't remember who won but I was so close! Sunday morning we left to catch our flight and thus ended our 2 week long vacation!
 |
| Leah, Juliet, and Cece |
 |
| Leah's first trip to the ocean and she wasn't too excited to dip her feet in haha |
 |
| Everyone was very anxious for Leah to crawl haha. Our cousin Lizzy was so sweet with Leah all week. She's 6 years old and so cute. |
 |
| Already planning next years reunion! That's how we roll! |
 |
| Cami and Leah |
 |
| Lincoln and Leah |
 |
| Crystal got the worst sunburn! |
 |
| Last good-bye. She entered the MTC 4 days later. |
 |
| Interesting marketing concept at a NC auto dealership |
 |
| Fun to see cousins at the beginning and end of our trip! |
 |
| Moffitt's and McFarlane's |
