Young House Love

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A Beach Vacation To Duck

What’s the perfect cure to a paint and primer hangover? A trip to the beach. And what’s the perfect way to spend your fourth wedding anniversary (yup, today’s the big day)? Why sharing those beach photos of course (since we’ve pretty much covered our wedding/anniversary stuff in the last three years of Wedding Week). Off we go…

Clara Smiles On Beach

In honor of the long holiday weekend, we said goodbye to our freshly grellow-ed kitchen and hello to sand and sun thanks to a little road trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We usually do the beach thing in Delaware at my parents’ place, but since my siblings, cousins, and I insist on having babies and expanding the family (the nerve) we’ve outgrown it a bit. So instead we all pitched in to rent a place in Duck, NC where all 21 of us – which included five kids under the age of two! – could clock some nice family R & R. Well, as much as you can clock with five babies around…

Beach Sea Light House

Even if rest was limited, fun certainly was not. Clara and the beach continue to become BFFs – she was equally happy in the sand and the surf, which made her water-lovin’ mom and dad very happy. We found a sandbar that kept the waves calm and the water shallow enough for lots of time in the water (most of which was spent “jumping” waves and laughing hysterically).

Clara Fun At Beach

The house we rented also had its own private pool in the backyard (as did all of the homes on our street – which was really nice) so there was lots of calm water play going on away from the beach too. Clara has recently learned to say the word “ball” so she was thrilled when my aunt supplied a huge bag of them to hoard play with in the pool. They seriously are her new most favorite things in the world.

Beach Clara Pool

Except for some crazy humidity, the weather was generally great the whole time. And we used the only overcast day as an excuse to visit the Wright Brother’s Memorial in Kitty Hawk. It was surprisingly fascinating to walk around the grounds where the first flight actually took place (even for two non-aviation buffs like ourselves). There’s Sherry sitting on a stone to mark where the first flight ended after just 12 seconds and 120 feet (the stones behind it mark three other flights that day, the last and furthest being 852 feet and 59 seconds long).

Oh, and there I am standing in front of part of the monument that seemed, well, fitting. Just look at my smarty pants pose.

Beach Wright Monument1

And did you notice the ball that Clara was holding in the pic above? Yeah, it’s a bit of a theme this trip. She extended her new found love of spherical objects to balloons as well. My sister Emily and my cousin’s daughter Elsa celebrated a shared birthday during our trip, so Clara broke out her party dress and went absolutely bonkers watching the balloons float around while grandparents and aunts and cousins looked on. We have about twelve more photos just like this.

Beach Clara Balloons

If you’re still itching for more beach photos, we’ve got a bunch more on Flickr. And while we secretly hoped our beach house would be worthy of a House Crashing post (like these), it was sadly pretty generic. And understandably so (since not-too-precious rental decor seems to make the most sense – especially when 5 babies and 16 older kids/adults come flooding in and make themselves comfortable). But one design choice that did catch our eye was this fun shaker shingle treatment in the interior stairwell:

Beach Shingle Hallway

It mimicked the shaker shingles on the exterior of the house and served as sort of a beachy twist on wainscoting. Probably not a look that we could pull off in our own house, but it was right at home in this seaside setting:

Beach Shinge Hall Close

And since our beach house didn’t fulfill our design cravings for the trip, we headed out to troll some local thrift stores and home furnishing places while we were there. Let’s just say there were lots of things that we wanted to bring home… and then there was a giant curly haired bear nutcracker (we’ll be back with a post about those finds a little later on). For now we’ll leave you with the first photo of all four of us that we’ve ever taken. As in since Clara was born. Shame, shame, shame.

New%20family%20pic

Only took us 13.5 months to accomplish.

Anyway, has anyone else hightailed it out of town after a big slash tiring house project? Did you pick up any souvenirs for your home while you were gone? Did your kid develop a strange ball obsession while there? Did you finally take a family picture after waaay too long?

Comments

  6. Kristen @ Popcorn on the Stove says

    First… Happy Anniversary!

    Second – that looks like a great vacation! Glad you enjoyed yourself. For our Fourth of July, we decided to stay home (and go to a pool party/bbq) and watch the Macy’s Fireworks from Fort Wadsworth.

    Third – I oddly like that shingles-in-the-house look. Maybe it could work in a mud room? Perhaps this will be a laundry room make over??

    Reply

  7. Sara says

    Ooooh! In 9 days my family will also be staying for a week in Duck!! We go every year and even got married on the beach there 7 yrs ago. We love carrying on the tradition of family beach trips especially with our 21mth old daughter. This will be her second trip to the Outer Banks! Looking at your pics made me all the more anxious to get there myself!!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  11. Michele says

    Happy Anniversary (belated) I have been obsessed with your blog for quite some time. I love the family portrait, adorable!

    Reply

  12. Kelly says

    Happy anniversary! I’m from NY but was just north of you in Corolla while you were in Duck! We really had some beautiful weather– Looks like you took full advantage of it!

    Reply

  13. Carrie says

    WONDERFUL family picture!!! blow it up and frame it! (could that catch on as a phrase to mean boo-yah?!) happy summer!

    Reply

  14. Jess says

    My family has vacationed in Corolla, NC (just north of Duck) every year since I was little. The last trip we had 37 people and two houses! We always go the first week of June, which also happens to be when my birthday is!

    PS. Clara is so adorable in that polka-dot dress!

    Reply

  17. Amanda @ Our Humble A{Bowe}d says

    Happy anniversary!! I love the family photo. Sherry, you look great in yellow. :)

    We we out of town last week. Nothing crazy, just an in state vacation. No big project to flee either. But, like Clara, our son has developed an obsession. Rather than balls, he likes spoons. He used to favor his metal baby spoons, but he has graduated to our nice silverware.http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2011/07/07/inspiring-exteriors-the-daly-mansion/
    Yeah. Strange, huh?

    Reply

  18. Bethie says

    We took a vacation to London after renovating our house in DC. And now that we live in London and are sprucing up our place here, I’m about to head back to DC!
    Our latest project was giving some life to our daughter’s nursery. A friend of mine painted a mural. You can see before and afters here: http://www.miltonsmanor.blogspot.com

    HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

    Reply

  21. Tiffany B says

    Happy anniversary guys! That family picture is so perfect. I bet you’ll put it in the wall gallery :) Definitely worth the 13.5 month wait!

    Reply

  22. ginai says

    Your family is so beautiful, thank you for sharing your life with us all… so inspiring.. and Clara is like a lil old soul.. she is so precious! and looks exactly like YOU Sherry Petersik! ((:

    and… John, always so sexy!!

    Reply

  23. CarrieK says

    Happy Anniversary! Stayed around home for the 4th, but leaving tomorrow for Dewey Beach! WooHoo! Can’t wait! We also have a house booked for a week in OBX next month. It’ll be my first trip there. Great vacations this summer!

    Reply

  24. Dusa says

    We did the OBX beach house rental thing a few years back – we were all the way at the tip of the Banks in Corolla. We loved all the decks, especially the one that gave us a view of all the surrounding fireworks!

    Reply

  25. julie g. says

    The perfect family photo. I think we know which wall that will be going on in the house!

    Our sons are 6 and 8 and believe it or not our first family photo was just taken at a block party. The onyl down side…we are all wearing “My Name Is…” tags on our shirts!

    So glad you enjoyed yourt getaway. It’s amazing how the Outer Banks has managed to keep the same atmosphere all of these years and remains unbeatable for family togetherness.

    Reply

  28. Amy says

    Looks like you guys had a great weekend! I’m hoping to get to the east coast sometime soon…but a 9-hour drive just seems so…daunting. Is Clara walking yet? She is just about the same age as my niece (born Marcy 9, 2010), so I always think about their progress as being similar.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      She’s taking a few steps here and there but crawling is definitely still her primary means of transportation. We’re not rushing things though- both of our parents warned us that when we started walking a lot it turned into running pretty quickly. Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • heather says

      Watch out. I stood up, looked at my mom, and ran full tilt without falling at 9 months old. I never took a “walking” step. Before she knew it I figured out how to climb gates.

  32. Sarah says

    Really? It’s the first picture since she was born? What about the pic that the Washington Post took of you guys? :)

    Reply

  33. Rebecca @ the lil house that could says

    I looove the Outer Banks! My family once rented a house for a week there (actually 3 houses, it was a huge reunion type thing). So much fun. So much in fact that me, my husband and 2 friends rented a condo there for New Year’s last year. The condo was definitely crash worthy and the highlight of the trip. The record low temperatures? Not so much. Needless to say we spent a lot of time in that condo….

    Reply

  34. Laura says

    Happy Anniversary, and what a beautiful picture! My daughter is 4.5 months old, and we still don’t even have a family photo of all of us together…minus when I was puffy-faced and one week postpartum. That’s definitely not frame-worthy :).

    Reply

  35. Anna says

    Happy Anniversary!! Mine too – 7/07/07!! Wish we would have been as smart as you two and taken annual photos. Cute idea!

    Reply

  36. LittleMissEclectic says

    We rented a home in Duck over the weekend of the 4th a couple years ago. It was right in the middle of the island and we watched the fireworks from the balcony. I love that little town- such a great place to vacation. We ate some awesome creme brule at the blue something or other??? and I bought some great art from the Gallery there!

    Reply

  39. Tash says

    Clara always makes me smile.

    Looks like a great trip. Can’t wait to go to OBX for the first time later this summer.

    Reply

  41. Risa says

    Beach vacations are the best! Where did you get Clara’s awesome polka dot dress? It’s so summery! (love the ‘genius’ pose btw lol)

    Reply

    • Kayla says

      noooo – that probably means it will be hard to find :( its amazing! i love how you guys dress her in clothes that are feminine yet not too girly girly (i.e. all pink and bows). I don’t know if it’s intentional or not but it’s really nice, in my opinion :)

  45. Laura says

    I totally understand! My son is 7 months and we still haven’t gotten a picture of the family together yet. There’s always someone behind the camera. Maybe by 13.5 months we will :)
    Happy anniversary you two!!

    Reply

  47. Rachel says

    I’ve been trying to get a family photo for a long time. But since our family consists of myself, my husband, a dog, two cats, and a turtle, its next to impossible. Our Christmas card picture last year was the closest we got with the dog and one cat visible. The other cat was hiding behind the tree and the turtle was in the same room. So close!

    Reply

  48. Adaena says

    We already had a vacation to New England planned, when we had to make a very last minute move. So we hightailed it to Boston only two days after switching houses. I thought I’d be all stressed out being only half-way unpacked, but leaving was the best thing I could have done! I came back and felt so refreshed and ready to tackle all the projects!

    Reply

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