Teva Time!

We strapped on our Tevas this past weekend and headed to the Outer Banks with our friends, Jason and Heather Pollei (by the way, toddler Tevas are my all time favorite hand-me-downs). We had such a fun time! Just one tip for anyone who might go to the Outer Banks over Memorial Day weekend: don't go to church in Nags Head! I have never experienced anything like attending church at Nags Head. Little did we know that every Memorial Day weekend, hundereds of singles head to the Outer Banks to spend time with other singles. There isn't an official conference, but they just all go that one weekend to be together. So we showed up at church and found people directing traffic from the street next to the church. We walked in and found that their small ward building was STUFFED with people. There were chairs along every available open wall. There were people crammed into the foyer, along all of the hallways (both walls), in every room, and in any extra space. We were sitting in the Primary room, and there were people filling all of the seats and people along the walls standing. There were even people standing in the little alcoves by the restrooms. Someone finally opened a window in the Primary room, and people gathered OUTSIDE of the window to be able to hear. They announced that there were close to 1,000 people attending sacrament meeting that Sunday. I have never seen anything like it. Just three words: claustrophobia and fire code. We had a great time! Our friends from our 4 years in dental school in Chapel Hill, Jason and Heather, and their three girls, Madelin, Halle, and Meagan, were fun beach companions. Cletus and Jason enjoyed bocce on the beach (even though they scared away a lady sunbathing by throwing those heavy wooden balls over her) ...


Hayden and Madelin were raised almost as siblings in Chapel Hill since they lived next door, saw each other every day, played and grew together. They were fast friends again and enjoyed playing together. We hope it lasts!
We shared a house together in Nags Head - 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. We had a game night every night we were there after the kids were in bed. We ate so much junk food: M&M's, popcorn, chips and dip, cookies, ice cream ..... Hey - it was vacation!
Some of the other fun things we did were:
Putt-putting at night,

Visiting the Wright Brother's Memorial (with Hayden the airplane),


Saw the Outer Banks aquarium,

Played on the beach,
Saw the Bodie Island lighthouse,
Flew kites at Jockey's Ridge state park and played on the dunes,
And finally, had our family pictures taken on the beach. I don't know why I put our family through the stress of trying to get that perfect family picture on the beach. We've tried before. I guess my goal is to have all of us dressed in coordinating outfits, looking beautiful, and to have the picture look like someone just came along and happened to snap a picture of us walking along together on the beach looking great. Unrealistic and silly, I know. The process involved a lot of crying and a spankin. But, here we are smiling .....

I like the one of Kate screaming best. Well, it's good to be home, but I love going to the beach and I hope this summer holds at least a couple more beach trips.