Vacation Part 3

As promised, the last of the Vacation adventures...

Thursday was my Sister's birthday, so we start the day by all us girls going out to breakfast at a really great restaurant called "The Dunes". It was SO much fun and kinda nice to get away from the kids for a bit ;) While we were away, Ben got to go for a Treasure hunt with Chris, and our Cousins JD & Nick on the beach. It was actually JD's idea, he "buried" some treasure for Ben to find with all of his new cool pirate gear. It was TOO sweet, and one of Ben's FAVORITE things he did on vacation!! Thusrday night we had Turkey (I know ~funny huh?!?) for Erin's b-day dinner, it worked out great, with the amount of people that were there it was awesome! Then we had Yummy birthday cake & cupcakes!

Friday was our last day at the Beach :( We started the day by heading out to Brew Thru to get our annual shirts. Then we came back and went for a walk on the beach to pick up more seashells. We couldn't swim in the ocean, it was TOO windy & the lifeguards had the "no swimming flags up". Then we came back up to the house and the kids decided they wanted to go swimming in the heated pool. Since dadddy wasn't feeling good, Mommy got to freeze her hiney off watching them play in the pool. For dinner, we went to Kelly's restaurant & Tavern. We got our own special room and the kids behaved wonderfully!! Miss Emma fell asleep on the way to the restaurant and was asleep up until the bread came to the table (as some of you know, Emma is our carb Queen). Ben ate wonderfully especially after uncle Shaun let him use his crab claws as "food punchers". Ben used them to eat his chicken tenders ~it was quite a funny site :) All in all a wonderful trip. We went back to the Beachhouse and hopped in bed so we could get up early to head home.....

Vacation Part 2

Just what you all have been waiting for, more Vacation highlights...

Tuesday, we took the kids to the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. We had such a fun time. Nana, Uncle Shaun, Aunt Mandi, Uncle Danny, Aunt Lesli & Cousin Michael all came with us~ talk about a gaggle of Gilligan's (and Scheurer's) ;) Miss Emma Kate LOVED the Sea Otters and Ben Loved watching the divers in the Shark Tank. We saw a ton of really cool fish, sea turtles, Sharks & Stingrays. Then we went to lunch at Big Al's Soda Fountain. A really cute 50's inspired restaurant with a Jukebox & dance floor. The kids & I had a blast dancin' around waiting for our lunch to be served. Dinner that night was Ben's favorite (and mine): My uncle Greg's Italian Sausage pasta (though of course Ben just ate the sausage part ;) ).

Wednesday, we took the Ferry to Ocracoke Island. On the drive down to the ferry docks we got to see The Bodie Lighthouse & Cape Hatteras. Ben was loving that! Once we were on the Ferry, we got to feed the Seagulls. Boy were they hungry, they come so close to you, it's truly amazing! Our first stop once we got to Ocracoke was My Uncle Greg's Friends House. The Barry's have an adorable house & Mr. Barry invited Ben to go out on his boat. So Ben, Chris, Uncle Greg & Cousin Michael all got to ride in Mr. Barry's boat. Oh yea, the best part, Ben got to DRIVE the boat ~ he was doing doughnuts in the harbor ;) We ate lunch outside with a fabulous view. Their were pelicans all around, they're SO pretty!! After lunch, we headed over to the Ocracoke Lighthouse. The kids got a kick out of going inside to look around.
Our last stop before heading back onto the ferry, was Teach's Hole (the PIRATE shop)! Ben got such a kick out of seeing a "real live pirate" and getting to pick out some pirate gear! As we were leaving the store, Ben & the "real" Pirate got into a Dual and Ben won!!! We got back on the ferry, fed some more seagulls and headed back to our Beach house. On the way home, we stopped by Cape Hatteras so Ben could get out of the car and see it up close, he thought it was SO cool!! What fun we had!!!

Stay tuned for even more Vacation adventures.....

Vacation Part 1

After two fun-filled days in the car, we FINALLY arrived at the Beach House in Nags Head, N.C. Saturday. The kids were SO excited, we got the BEST room in the house (it had a walk in HUGE shower and whirlpool tub)!!! The first thing we did was put on our swimsuits and went for a walk on the beach!! It was wonderful! We were so excited to get there early enough to be able to go out on the beach. Ben & Emma got to play in the sand, then Papa buried Ben!!
After we worked up an appetite, we ate dinner at a lovely restaurant named Miller's overlooking the water.

Sunday we got up early and put on our suits and went out for a day on the beach. The kids had a blast picking up SeaShells!! Papa buried Emma in the sand, she LOVED it and didn't want to get back out. Benny & Daddy waded in the water, then we all went up to our heated pool (Yeah we were spoiled!)!!

Monday was another beautiful day at the Beach, Chris & I swam in the ocean while my mom watched the kiddos play in the sand. It was wonderful even though the water was FREEZING!! Then I took a cat nap while Chris & the kids made an AWESOME Sand Castle complete with a Bridge ;) It was wonderful until I went inside and noticed I had forgotten to put sunscreen on my legs...Red is not really a great skin color (yikes) ;) Needless to say I learned my lesson on that one. After we cleaned up from the beach, My Uncle Greg, Ben and Michael made brownies!! Ben loved being the Seus Chef (though I don't think he'll be hired by any fine eating establishments any time soon (see pics of him eating the brownie mix))!! What a mess, but he had a total BLAST!

Stay tuned for more Vacation pics in the next few days........

Swimming!!!

This weekend was our first attempt in the pool since last summer. Ben, Emma & I went to my parents Friday AND Saturday to swim. The kids did GREAT, which is awesome since we only have 4 days til we go to the beach!!! I was SO worried about Mr. Ben ~ Who does NOT like getting water on his face, but he was fine!! PLUS this year, he's in a swim vest (I can't believe what a big boy he's becoming!!!) When he first got in the water, I thought Uh Oh he's not going to come in and then he did and he's been doing great ever since!!! Miss Emma loves her little swimmy intertube thing (yea that's the technical term ;) )!!! She loves being a "big girl" in the water!!! PLUS they're both super tired out from all the swimming!! YIPPEE!!!
On that note, I'm off to bed!! ;)