Beach Trip Part 2 (Wed-Thurs)

Wednesday
So by Wednesday, we were halfway through the week, and having a great time! My mom had arranged for a professional family photo to be taken that night, but during the day we were free to do whatever. We were all finally together by Wednesday. My sister Cheryl's family had arrived on Saturday when my parents arrived, and my sister Katie had arrived with her two children. I mistakenly mentioned that her husband Scott had shown up on Saturday, but he actually didn't arrive until Tuesday afternoon. My brother Andrew and sister-in-law Meredith arrived on Sunday morning and stayed for the day, but had to go back home until Wednesday afternoon, and then came back for the rest of the week on Wednesday evening. So we were finally all there on Wednesday, which was nice! That day, everyone except Josh and myself went to the Maritime Museum, which was down by Okracoke Island where we were on Tuesday, but we decided to head in the opposite direction to Kitty Hawk, and visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. As is typical for us, we accidentally did the entire memorial backwards, so things didn't quite make sense until we got to the visitor's center at the END of our tour and found a map of the park lol! But we had fun nonetheless. Unfortunately, it was the one day I didn't wear sunscreen, so my shoulders and feet got pretty burnt....of course the day of the family photo. But hey, I guess if you are going to take a picture on the beach, might as well look the part and show that you've gotten some sun! We spent about an hour and a half on the beach taking pictures, then came back snack on leftovers and look at pictures. My mom asked each family to bring about 100 pictures that could be shown on the TV, and we got to see what everyone has been up to for the past 18 years, so that was fun! We took our turn on Wednesday evening, along with Scott, Katie, Laura, and Nicholas' pictures.

Outside the room after the picture:

Thursday

Thursday was the Fourth of July, and also my dad's birthday....the reason for the whole trip! As ANOTHER surprise for him, my mom had arranged to take him parasailing! Morgan loves to parasail, so a whole group decided to go....my parents, Morgan, Scott and Katie, and Laura and Nicholas. Morgan went up with my parents, Katie and Nicholas went together, and Scott and Laura went together! Josh and I drove out with them so he could give his permission for Morgan to go, then we went to the Elizabethan Gardens to look around until they got back.

We went back to pick up Morgan, and the three of us went to lunch before heading back to the beach house. On the way, we stopped at Bodie Lighthouse, and climbed the stairs to the top, where we had a great view of the island!

The parasailers:

The lighthouse:

After we got home from visiting the lighthouse, it was almost time to eat. My dad grilled out brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, and chickens, and we had potato salad, baked beans, fruit, chips, and, of course, birthday cake! I ate way too much but it was so delicious. Around 9pm, Josh and I headed down to the pier about 20 minutes away to watch the fireworks. Traffic was so backed up, we didn't get as far as we would've liked, but we were still able to see them parked on the side of the road, and without all the noise! Turns out they were also visible from the beach house as well, but we had fun driving to go see them!

Time to grill:

Poor Brandon got WAY too much sun:

Blowing out the candles:

Smells good:

Present time!

All in all, it was a great two days. The weather continued to be beautiful, and everyone had a great time doing whatever it was they wanted to do each day! Part 3, coming up!

Dad's 70th Birthday Surprise Trip (Part 1: Mon-Tues)

So as I revealed in yesterday's Sunday Social, I spent this past week at the beach with my family. I had alluded to it in a previous post, but couldn't say exactly where I'd be going. A year ago, my mom planned a trip to the beach for my dad's 70th birthday, and she wanted it to be a surprise for him, since it is a such a big milestone. My dad has 4 children, and we haven't all been together since his mom's funeral in 1995, so 18 years! So she planned for all of us to show up with our families and surprise him at a rented beach house for a week! The trip was scheduled for June 29-July 6, but unfortunately it happened to be the one weekend that Josh's mom had arranged to switch days with Morgan's mom so Morgan could be in a wedding, and the wedding was taking place on Sunday June 30. So we were unable to show up on Saturday, unless the two of us went without Morgan. But I really wanted her to go, because my niece Laura would be there, and the two girls got along so well at our wedding, I knew they'd have fun together. So we decided to show up on Monday July 1, and I asked everyone to pretend that Josh and I couldn't get enough paid time off from work to make the trip. That way, we could get in our own little surprise! So the plan was for my dad to think he and my mom were taking a trip with their friends to the beach, and then they would stop for some pizza on the way...when they walked into the restaurant, everyone would be there waiting! Thanks to traffic, the plans got a little skewed but that just meant he got to be surprised 4 times! First, they arrived at the restaurant, and my sister Cheryl and her husband Michael were there, along with their kids Brandon, Brittney, and Trevor. Then while they were eating, my sister Katie and her husband Scott walked in, with their kids Laura and Nicholas. They all went to the beach house and relaxed for the night, then Sunday morning my brother Andrew and my sister-in-law Meredith showed up, and lastly, on Monday afternoon Josh, Morgan, and I all walked in! So it ended up working out really well.

My parents provided breakfast and lunch foods, and then each family was scheduled to provide dinner for the group one night of the week. We left Leesburg around 5:30am on Monday, and stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel on the way. Then we arrived in Frisco, NC about 12:30pm after driving through some on and off downpours...the forecast all week was rain, and this was not a promising start! But luckily, the sun came out when we arrived, and stayed out for the rest of the week. We didn't do much that first day, just hung out around the house and then went grocery shopping; we were scheduled to make dinner the first night. Lucky for us, since we have enough trouble cooking for two, Stouffer's came through and we were able to make a meal to serve 13. If you're on my Facebook, you've probably seen my beach album so I'll just provide a couple of pictures from each day.

 On Tuesday, Josh, Morgan, Laura, and I took the ferry to Okracoke Island for some lunch, shopping, and ice cream! We got a quick downpour but it cleared up just in time for us to get back to the house and relax before yummy Mexican food for dinner! Even though we had delicious burritos for lunch at Gringo's Tacos, you can never have too much Mexican food in one day! After dinner, Josh and I relaxed in the hot tub with some wine....but of course Morgan had to get some hot tub time in as well!

We did so much on each day, I'll just make this Part 1, and I'll post about the rest of the week in another blog entry (or entries)! But the week definitely got off to a great start!

Sunday Social

I've missed a couple of Sunday Socials lately, so I am ready to get caught up! Here are this week's questions:

1. What is the best trip you've ever been on? Hands down, my honeymoon. We went to Disney World.... Josh and I are huge Disney fans, and we had SO so so much fun. Partly because we were newlyweds, and partly because it was the first trip we'd been on, just the two of us. We enjoyed every single aspect of Disney, and I can't wait until we get to go back for an anniversary trip! I also just got home yesterday from a pretty awesome trip to Cape Hatteras in North Carolina (pictures and descriptions to come)!

Honeymoon:

Cape Hatteras:

2. What is your best idea for a girls' weekend trip? It's hard for me to imagine a girls' trip because I can't picture taking a trip without my husband. But either going on an action-packed weekend to NYC, or a relaxing weekend to a river or beach would be a fun girls' trip, I think.

3. What is your best idea for a couple's trip? Josh and I have a lot of fun going wine-tasting so I think a weekend of winery-hopping would be a good idea. We went to stay at Shenandoah Crossing cabins last year, and went to wineries and Luray Caverns and all sorts of random places, and we had 60-degree temps on Saturday, and snow on Sunday, which made is super cozy. I would love to do that again. Also, visiting Napa Vineyards or something similar in California would be a lot of fun.

4. What is the best vacation on the cheap? Cruises are a lot of fun and not a ton of money; we got engaged on a cruise to Mexico, and the whole cruise itself was $750 per person, which included food as well. The only extra expenses are alcohol, the flight to wherever the cruise leaves from (in our case, it was New Orleans, 2 weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit), and any side excursions when you dock at the different locations. We also took a weekend trip to Baltimore for a Yankees-Orioles series, and only spent about $500 altogether for the hotel, tickets, and food. And when we went to Jamaica, it was about $79 per night at our resort, not bad at all! But next time we'll probably go for an all-inclusive place to stay. We like to spend money but we are also pretty good at planning short weekend trips on the cheap. We aren't picky and don't need 5 star hotels and $200 meals to have a good time!!

On our cruise to Mexico:

Weekend trip to Baltimore:

Jamaica:

5. What is the place you most want to visit? I would LOVE to go to Italy, and Josh wants to as well, especially since he is Italian. I'd also love to go to Spain, and take a cruise on the Mediterranean and visit Greece. And lastly, Josh and I are planning on possibly moving to either Florida or (most likely) Austin, Texas, when we're able to move out of the area, so I'd like to visit Texas at some point before we put down our roots for the rest of our lives!