OBX - Days 6-7

Day 6: Growing up, both my sister and I were very finicky about the sand and much preferred the pool. Thankfully, my kids did not inherit this sensory issue; all three of them love both the sand and the waves. If there were any complaints, it was only when we they were told we had to leave the beach for the day.

I think Reid would have been happy with just the sand. He loved laying in it and even tasted it a few times.

To try to prevent all those freckles that have started popping up over the past few years, I bought a fun beach hat which everyone got a kick out of.

Keeping up with Caleb, Hadley, and Reid was easier this year than on past vacations. They spent a lot of time just playing with their sand tools or collecting seashells. That said, we were actually able to sit down a little in our beach chairs and relax. Having four adults to three kids definitely made a difference too as Courtney and my mom helped entertain and watch the little ones. They make great playmates and babysitters!

Caleb was big on collecting shells. One day in particular he said he was looking for ones to make jewelry for NaNa. She even helped him. :)

There's that hat again. :)

Look what NaNa did! Now that's good babysitting. :)

That evening we split up for dinner again, trying a restaurant called Mulligans which had pretty good crab soup. Afterwards, we tried out a state park we spotted on our way to dinner Sunday night called Jockey's Ridge State Park. As we drove, the ocean was to the left side of us, but on the right was a large area with big hills of sand that people were walking on. Needless to say, it caught our attention. After doing a little research, we found out it was a state park with free admission. One website described it as a 426-acre park and stated that it had "the largest natural living sand dune on the East Coast." It was just so intriguing we had to check it out...and we had no idea just what an incredible experience we were about to have.

The kids spotted some wildlife as soon as we got started - a raccoon.

There they are - beach buddies. Just another pic showing how Caleb was glued to his Aunt Courtney all week...

Whose toes are those? Courtney, Caleb, and Dave!....In most parks, you wouldn't think to go barefoot, but that's part of why this one was unique. Right at the entrance we found shoes laying everywhere. While the grown ups debated for a moment whether to add ours to piles too, Hadley wasted no time yanking off hers and throwing them aside. Then the rest of us followed suit.

I have never in my life seen any place to compare with this park. Acre after acre huge rolling hills of sand invite visitors to climb to the top for incredible views. With the ocean in the distance on one side and the sound on the other, there was something to spot to matter what direction you took. Unlike the rough sand and shells on the beaches, the sand there was extra fine and even therapeutic on the soles of our feet as we trekked through it, climbing one hill after another on our journey. Dave had heard that the sunset over the sound was incredible to watch, and we planned to arrive just in time for the amazing daily scene God creates on the horizon there.

Just doesn't do it justice!

Down one of the sand hills, people were even "surfing" on boogie boards. Hadley kept saying, "I'm going to surf da dunes!"

We made it up the first one...

Just look at this place!

More sand than I've ever seen in one place. 

It kind of reminded me of an outstretched desert but with a cool beachy breeze in the air.

See the background? Lots of people enjoyed flying kites - a typical activity in the park from what we read.

For pretty much every good picture I take of this kid, I have to catch it between his silly faces!

Reid loved the sand so much he was putting handfuls of it in his hair. One guy looking on laughingly said, "No, no, no" as he watched him, shaking his head at our sand loving boy. It was a good thing we got him a haircut before we came or we'd have had an even harder time getting it all out. He may even still have some in there!

Reid decided to take advantage of all the room to roam and took off followed by his big brother.

Gorgeous!...Those little "specks" show you just how huge this place was. Wide open spaces!

Out in the middle of NO WHERE, this kid pipes up, "I have to go potty." Oh brother!

This one definitely needed a bath!

We will definitely be coming back to Jockey's!

Day 7: Our last day on the beach, we were just as excited to get back out as we'd been the rest of the week with the sad knowledge that we only had a few more hours to play and soak up some rays that morning before our beach time was over for this summer. More sand play and splashing in those salty waves commenced as we tried to squeeze out the last drops of our vacation.

Hadley loved for my mom to hold her up and block the waves with her back. I think NaNa almost got knocked down a few times for Miss Hadley Jayne and Caleb both!

We didn't see any sharks while we were there. THANKFULLY! But, when we arrived home, Courtney found out there had been several sightings several miles down the coast from us where whole beaches were evacuated. Yikes!

That night we traded off for our final night of seafood. Dave and I tried Jimmy's seafood buffet, which despite mixed reviews was pretty decent in my opinion. As much as we enjoyed the food though, we were just thankful to have another date night out. Since we hadn't had one since May, having three in one week was quite a treat.

Later, I wanted to take the kids back to the beach to fly kites since we enjoyed it so much the first time. To our disappointment, two of the kites weren't really working right (they must have gotten bent), but we still had a pleasant evening, making the most of our last chance to get our feet in the sand.

Caleb tied the tail from the broken kite around his head, pretending to be a Ninja Turtle, so Reid wanted to do it too.

Before we left, the setting sun even made the lighting just perfect for these beautiful silhouette style shots.

We are already eager to get back to the Outer Banks next year, trying to decide whether to get the same place or not. We loved the convenience of being so close to the beach and the pool access plus the cottage was adorable, but we didn't like having to cross the road and only having a shower (not a tub) - both which were not best set up for our kids. Additionally, we'd considered moving a little farther down the coast to the more secluded section called Hatteras versus being in the heart of Kill Devil Hill's commercialism. So many options! I don't think we can go wrong thought. What a great vacation spot!

Next time we'll already have a few favorite places to revisit and will have to plan for some things like the Wright Brother's Memorial that we just didn't have time to fit in....How many more days 'til our next trip?