Outer Banks Family Fun

 

This is the third summer my family has met in Outer Banks, North Carolina for a week to enjoy time together and time at the beach.  The weather was wonderful the whole week.  We enjoyed the beach, playing putt-putt, running through the sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge State Park, swimming in the pool, playing golf, walking Jeannette's Pier, and more.

Amelie and Liam were both so happy to be back at the beach.  The first time our feet hit the sand, Liam squealed and ran like he had just returned home.  Amelie learned how to ride the waves even though the first couple of days the waves were fierce.  She got the hang of it really quickly and didn't mind having salt water in her eyes, nose, and mouth.  She was smiling ear to ear!  Liam desperately wanted to join her, and by the end of the week did (when the waves were not quite so large).  I know exactly what to expect when we get back to the Gulf! :)

Amelie gave Joanna and Alaina mermaid tails made for her 5th birthday.
The girls happened to have the same bathing suit and they really had fun matching!

Mermaid's purses by the dozens washed on shore one morning.  These are egg cases of skates.

Helping Uncle Michael and Aunt Katie building a sand castle. 

Liam riding the waves with Uncle Michael

Amelie is 5!

    Last week Amelie turned 5 years old!  We had so much fun celebrating her and spoiling her for a couple of days.  Nanny, Bobby's mom, came into town for the occasion which added to the fun. We began her birthday by Bobby making her a special number "5" blueberry pancake followed by opening birthday gifts.  She spent all morning playing dress-up in her new Princess Anna (from Frozen) dress, making jewelry with Nanny, and painting nails.  In the afternoon, Nanny took her on a putt-putt and ice-cream date.  We ended the celebration with dinner at Lambert's, Home of the Throwed Rolls.  Amelie caught a hot roll thrown from across the room…pretty funny!

     Amelie was most excited about her birthday party on Saturday, Feb 22nd, with her school friends.  We had a Mermaids & Sharks party on the beach.  Apparently, all the kids devised the plan while at school that the sharks would chase the mermaids…and that is what they did for almost the entire time. :)  We were so thankful that she had 3 friends come to her party.  The weather was wonderful, sunny and windy.   I was so happy that everyone seemed to have a good time (moms and kids) and we have a couple of future play dates scheduled.  

     Amelie Joy truly is a joy to us and we are so thankful God has placed her in our family.  She is witty and smart, which keeps us laughing at her antics.  She has been in full blown create mode as of late and is drawing wonderful family portraits, castles, and modern art (various glued/painted pieces).  She is so amazing and I am honored to be her mom!! I don't know if it has completely set in that Amelie will be heading to Kindergarten next year…trying to focus on the time I have with her now!  She loves learning and loves school.  She is writing a ton and wanting to spell.  She is even interested in starting to read!  It's hard for us to believe that she is ready to begin this next big girl stage of her life!

Blue jello with Swedish fish on the spoon handle and on the top.
Maybe it was because we were waiting on the pizza to arrive, but the kids loved these!
I would often find Liam with another cup in his hand, sneaking more!
The Rice Krispies castle seen in the background was also really fun.
The kids would just run by and break off a hand full.

The Shark is circling the Mermaid getting ready to make his move!

DIY Mermaid tails for the girl guests.
These were a huge hit!  If you have a sewing machine and want to make one, I would be happy to share how I made these.  I am a novice sewer so if I can do it, anyone can!  It was super easy and well worth the fun!  It took me a little less than an hour for one tail. My average time could have been shortened had I not sewn the waist hole shut on the first one…whoops! :)   I have to give a special thanks to my mom for finding the fabric and to Bobby's mom for picking up my sewing machine to bring down to me.  Can you believe there are no fabric stores in Gulf Shores?!  :)  My mom found the fabric at JoAnn's and it was absolutely perfect!

After exhausting themselves with running, they took a break to make jellyfish.
We used water colors to paint the top of a paper bowl and then glued streamers underneath.  

Everyone eating pizza.

Watching Amelie open her presents.
If you want to make you own shark fins, just use grey fleece & cardboard and safety pin them onto the shirt.

I love this picture!
I found Liam and Bobby cheap shark shirts at Walmart.
In case you were wondering, Bobby wore a shark fin all day too. ;) 

Establishing Our Beach Living Routines

We have quickly settled into living at the beach routines. When the weather is above freezing (crazy I have to add that clause), we head to the beach for a sunset stroll or a morning spent playing in the sand. We fish, dig huge holes, play tag, collect shells, jump off the sand cliffs just to name a couple of our favorite activities. 

 

Liam and Amelie love playing with the sticks. 

Near our house is a bridge over to the beach.  Amelie and Liam love racing up and down.  We often will walk to the beach here if we are not wanting to get too sandy.

Amelie and Liam playing in a  large hole/tunnel Bobby and I dug through the sand cliff.

It took Bobby and I over an hour to dig it, but we were proud of our accomplishment.  However, we were too afraid of it collapsing to let the kids crawl through…although they didn't want to crawl through.  

Liam holding a ghost shrimp which is the bait Bobby catches and uses to fish.

Liam loves fishing just like his dad.

Amelie is an expert sand cliff jumper these days.  We race from the sea oats to jump off the cliff.

We have also enjoyed reuniting with our snowbird friends. Bobby fishes with about 4 guys regularly and they all love our kids. What I have found mildly amusing is that even people that we hadn't met last year knew us. I have had more than one person say, "Oh, you're the one who lost the fishing pole out to sea." (story here) Yes, that was me. Glad my reputation proceeds me and we have joined local beach lore. ;) Sounds like that story was enjoyed long after we left last year. 

You can see our friends spread out fishing along the shore.  Liam will walk to each of their buckets to keep tabs on who has caught what.

The town house feels like home even though most of the things within the house are not owned by us. I guess because it is familiar. We did bring a toy box full of toys with us.  It feels like a lot of toys since they were used to only having what could fit in a duffle bag.  The kids continue to love sharing a bedroom. 

Playing in (and destroying) their bedroom on a day it was icy and snowing outside.

Bobby and I have a king size bed which allows us to sleep the entire night without even coming close to touching each other. It's SO nice. ;)  We also have loved having bathtubs again…and huge ones at that. The kids have enjoyed a good number of bubble baths lately.  Since it is a jacuzzi tub, we occasionally turn on the jets which brings forth an explosion of screams and giggles.  

Bobby and I have continued to stay busy with our jobs.  We love who we work for and are so thankful that is the case. We are working normal hours again since we are on the same time zone which has allowed for us to go to bed at a more respectable hour. 

Both kids attend preschool 3 days a week. Amelie absolutely loves going. She counts the days until it's time to go again. She loves her friends and her teacher. Liam on the other hand is not as sold. Poor guy. I'm hoping with time he will enjoy going and not miss his family too much. Bobby and I have been able to focus on work as well as go on some lunch dates. We have found that by the kids going to school, we are able to have more quality time with them when they are at home. I'm thankful the preschool is such an amazing place with good staff. 

First day of school in front of the school's playground.

When it has been uncharacteristically cold, we play inside, drink hot chocolate, watch movies, and make crafts. We also went bowling for the first time as a family and the kids had a blast! 

The ball was almost too heavy for Liam to manage, but he would not accept any help.  He did drop the ball a couple of times but it never managed to drop on anyone's toes.

Amelie spent time lining up her ramp and had her own style in pushing her ball.  

When we are not playing at the beach we are going to story time at the library, playing at the "Wood Park" playground, and walking around the zoo.  Since the large castle themed playground is across the street from their school, we have spent many afternoons there playing.  Some of Amelie's classmates have joined us which makes it even more fun.  Our other favorite after school activity is to run through the zoo.   The kids love feeding the animals.  It's a really nice zoo with a good variety of animals.  We found out that the cats are fed right after the zoo closes.  Since we go an hour before the zoo closes, this explains why they are so active.  One day, Bobby decided to talk to the tigers and he got talked back to…multiple times.  At one point, the tiger stood up and swatted at the fence.  I did not get that on video but I did get the tiger talking a little.  

After 3 cages of tigers and 1 of lions (all who were pacing and vocal), I caught this video of Liam telling Bobby he did not want Bobby eaten. 

We love having the beach for our back yard. We are loving this city as well.  The community is small and offers lots of fun activities for families. We are hoping to get more connected and meet some people our age. ;)   Who knows what the future holds, but for now we are loving beach life!!

Walking on our dock on the backside of the townhouse over the lagoon.