These are a few of my favorite things- from our Outer Banks trip in August.

A couple of these pics are ones Sharon took and a few from my phone are poor quality. Even as picture heavy as this post is, I could not bring myself to narrow it down any more. Even this does not convey how truly wonderful this trip was! 

Z saved her major tantrum for the END of our long day of flights, then zonked out in the car as we drove through lush Virginia.

The first evening there, R and I took a walk on the beach together. We saw paper lanterns like in Tangled, buckets full of crabs that some kids were catching , and a big deep hole in the sand. She told me "Thank you for taking me to see that walk. I'm  glad you were there." That walk is such a precious memory to me.

We spent all day switching from the pool to the ocean to the house. It was exactly what we needed. 

The house was absolutely incredible. We had Grandpa Don and Carmen and all the West Virginia kin as well as John and Carolyn (with Carolyn's daughter the last couple of days) and the entire Anderson Clan. 

This is a picture of B teasing and squirting his little sister. I love to see the dynamic between my husband and his siblings. It is like getting a flashback of him as a kid. I can see he was a pain.

R learned to put her face underwater. She was so proud. She still talks about it. She and and her cousins were so brave jumping into the pool with no one to catch them.

It made me so happy how much R bonded with her West Virginia cousins.She still talks about them and tells me that "tomorrow we are going back to the vacation house to be with those girls."

We had several rainy days on our trip and though we were forced out of the water, we got to spend lots of quality time hanging around the beach house watching the Olympics, talking, and teasing. This time to talk and bond was the best thing about the whole trip.

B and the girls had endless water blaster fights.

We loved watching the storms over the water and the beautiful rain clouds. Just after I took this picture I went out and joined Sharon and James on the gazebo. We were soaked in the first second.

Sometimes we still swam in the rain.

One evening, Janet and I took our big girls out for a walk on the beach. It was perfect. We got to talk, see dolphins, and they had so much fun playing in the surf. We walked pretty far and they were getting whiny on the way back, but just then someone started lighting big fireworks off on the beach. So we kept walking home until the fireworks were bursting just above our heads. It was magical.

I love this picture because everyone in the background is joking and trying to figure out what bizarre Olympic sport we are watching.

I had a hard time getting the girls to leave the pool and come down to the beach with me, but once they did they had a great time playing in the sand.

Catching waves...

and throwing them back.

I loved just laying on my boogie board and floating on the waves. It is one of my favorite feelings in the world. Rhoda loved it too and we actually got to see a sea turtle when she was out there once with me.

R idealizes her big girl cousins.

Watching her on the boogie board made me so proud. She is fearless.

We love cousins!

Another night we all lit sparklers on the beach. the kids were squealing and laughing. It was magical.  This walk with all the Anderson brothers and sisters was a blast. It is so fun to hear their banter and watch the kids play together.

My hubby is an avid beach comber. I didn't know this when we got married but it is one of the many quirks I absolutely adore about him. Z is definitely following in his footsteps. They will make a great team once she gets tall enough not to dump out the bucket every time she bends down.  

Run from the wave- one of our favorite games!

Once the others turned back, Basil and I decided to walk down to the pier. It turned out to be a very deceptive pier. It was much further away and much larger than it looked from where we started. There was a video arcade inside the pier house and probably close to a hundred people along its boardwalk fishing. It was nice to get some time to talk with my hubby even if our feet felt like they were going to fall off and the sun was long gone by the time we got back.

I love to see baby D holding on to his mama. She is a great mom and he knows it!

I don't think I have had such a relaxing vacation since we had kids. There were so many loving relatives there willing to look after our girls and make sure they got fed that Basil and I were actually able to read and spend time together. I even got to sit down and work on a puzzle which I haven't been able to do in years.

Basil loved to play pool with Rhoda (yes there was a pool table as well as a pool). He also spent evenings playing video games with his compadres.

It was wonderful to be able to spend with Grandpa Don again. B has bonded so much with his grandpa. Don is such a wonderful man. We had missed our semiannual visits to see the West Virginia family since we moved from Cleveland. 

Z was content to sit by her Dadoo and eat fresh fruit all day. She was in heaven.

As prepared as we may look for the airport, we were not prepared for delayed and missed flights, reroutes,  R losing her shoe in the airport, last minute rental cars, crashing unexpectedly at Holmes new house for a day, and getting home 24 hours later than expected. Still, that could in no way dampen our very damp but absolutely incredible family vacation.