We're exhausted...

After a lovely week at the beach on the "other side", we are home and trying to adjust to the time change and the mess that follows unpacking. The Outer Banks (OBX), North Carolina was the destination this past week for our first vacation of the summer and Luke's first plane ride. We prepared for the trip with anxiety over how he would do on the airplane without the freedom to climb and crawl but it turned out to be much worse in our mind than it actually was. In fact, our one-year-old was better behaved than United Airlines, who is now on my list. But before I get into that, let me make a recommendation for the best $20 you'll ever spend when packing for a trip. "Space Bags" are my new best friend! Not only was I able to pack all 4 of us in one suitcase but when that suitcase was 3 pounds over weight at the check in, I was able to remove 3 pounds worth of clothes and simply place them in our carseat bag- which by the way is also a great tool for traveling parents http://www.onestepahead.com/.

Now for the uglies...our flight from Orange County left at 6:45 am, meaning we were up and out of the house by 4:30 am. Yuck! Almost 4 hours to Chicago, with a scheduled 1 hour layover. The perfect amount of time to stretch our legs and get something to eat. Ha! That 1 hour layover turned into a 5 hour delay, 2 of those hours spent sitting on the runway in a tiny little plane! We were scheduled to arrive at the beach around 6 pm ET and finally pulled up with 2 screaming kids at midnight. The kids actually did great not melting down until we were 5 minutes from the house.

Our nightmarish trip out there was soon forgotten when we saw the house we were staying in. It was a beautiful 4 bedroom/3 bath house right on the sand with a jacuzzi and amazing views.

Views from our bedroom balcony...Our bedroom, shared by all 4 of us, was as big as a hotel room and complete with a private bathroom, walk in closet, and private balcony.

This was everyone's favorite room in the house, dubbed "the reading room", it was peaceful & beautifully decorated.

This was our 3rd trip to the OBX since we've been married. John's grandma lives there but most of the houses are seasonal rentals. Craig & Sharon rented "Fragile Magic" (most of the houses have names) for the week for themselves, us, Jeff, and Jeff's girlfriend, Stephanie. The weather was perfect and we spent everyday out on the sand and in the waves. We thought it was pretty pathetic that a bunch of Southern Californians had to fly across the country to enjoy beach time but it's like the old saying goes "the grass is always greener on the other side." Needless to say, we had a great time swimming, tanning, building sand castles, playing games, visiting with the east coast family, eating, eating, and eating.

Kate showing off our "princess sand castle". Our house is over her left shoulder.

Family picture at one of our favorite restaurants, Bassnights Lone Cedar Grill.