Are you sick of hearing about our vacation? Okay, I know you are haha. I tried to fit the rest of the photos into this post but there’s no way people are going to scroll for that long. So I had to break them up. But if you can deal with me for just a little longer, then we can move on to the other thrilling things in my life.
One of my very favorite parts of our trip was when we went to the beach one evening at sunset. The sun sets on the other side of the Outer Banks (so it’s not setting over the ocean) but the lighting was perfect and beautiful and it was so relaxing. Nights like those are the reason I want to live near the ocean! So dreamy.
This picture of Clementine with her daddy makes me smile every.single.time.
That evening was one of the first times that I was able to set Clementine down at the beach without her crying. We ditched beach towels this trip and used our new Gathre mat to sit on instead. And if I’m being completely honest, I loved it! It’s made out of leather so the sand brushed right off of it. It was so helpful to have somewhere to set Clementine down (even just briefly) while she avoided the terrifying sand. It’s also waterproof so now it’s our go-to blanket for picnics and everything else.
Desmond went through a short phase a few months ago where he would run away when he saw the camera. Now he’s constantly “cheesing” for the camera and photobombing every picture he can. 2 year olds–they are the best and the worst…all wrapped up in one adorable package.
P.S. any chance my kids will let me pose them like this 10 years from now?? ^^
All my kids loved having Mabel along with us. I can’t wait to see her and Clem interacting more as they get older but how special is it that they’ll always have these pictures together at the beach?! They are the cutest BFFs!
These pictures make it look like our beach trips are perfect and effortless and everyone is always happy at all times, which is not always reality. I’m sure there were some stressful moments but I honestly can’t even remember them anymore. I feel like I’m a broken record saying this kind of thing but honestly, all the hard work and stress to take a large family…well, anywhere, can seem like it’s not worth it. But we came home with the best memories that I hope will stick with them for the rest of their lives. It’s definitely not always easy, I’m not going to lie. But anything worth doing is going to take a bit of hard work. And this? This was worth it! All that to say–enjoy the good moments and learn from the bad.
If you missed my other vacation posts, you can click over to see them right HERE and HERE. My final vacation post will be up tomorrow and then I promise to stop annoying you! Well, about vacation, at least 😉
One more thing! There’s a new video up on our vlog! Don has been making short little micro-vlogs for his Instagram stories and combined a few to make a video for youtube. This one has 3 short videos about our trip to the Sand Dunes, Sunflowers, and Apple Picking.