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…
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…
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).
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
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.
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?
justy says
I love your blog! You have a cool house, great DIY ideas, are both wonderfully funny writers, but Clara is really the icing on the cake. She is so CUTE- love her big smile!
Jenny says
WONDERFUL family photo!
Ali Harris says
We were in Duck last week too! Not quite as big of a gathering…7 adults and 4 kids 4 and under. We love the Outer Banks (and it was a welcome break from the Mississippi heat and humidity)!
Caitlin says
You forgot to mention the highlight of your trip–the crazy fan that flagged you down on the side of the road! Seriously, it was SO COOL to meet y’all in person! It is just a shame we were leaving town or else I could have spent the whole day following y’all around. Juuust kidding!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- that was too funny. The whole family got a kick out of us “getting recognized” – but we love to meet readers! Even if we’re all awkward and blushy!
xo,
s
Kelly says
Hi…I love, love, love the outer banks. When we lived in Chesapeake, VA we would go there in the summer and rent a house in Kill Devil Hills…down the road from the Wright Memorial. It is such a special place, I really enjoyed seeing your photos. Thank you for sharing them with us. It brought back many wonderful memories of our special times there with very special friends and all of our wonderful kiddos.
Kelly
Gina says
I totally think that you guys win the “Most Adorable Family Ever” award!! So cute!
Andrea says
Cool!! Did you see any skydivers while you were out on the beach? One of my very, very good friends owns http://www.skydiveobx.com/ Maybe next time you could try it out :-)
YoungHouseLove says
We did see that! Amazing!
xo,
s
Elz says
Haha! We just left the outerbanks not 3 days ago! I also got my picture with the ‘genius’ memorial! It was too perfect not to pretend to be dastardly clever in front of it!
Angela says
Happy anniversary!
Chrissie says
Happy anniversary! Clara’s toothy grin just kills me, she is too adorable :-)
Vanessa says
Hi and happy anniversary! Quick question: where did you get Clara’s rash guard swim top? They are so hard to find in plain colors!
YoungHouseLove says
That was a hand me down from her cousin, but I think it might be from Target. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jasmine says
Wow.. I have never seen shake singles done inside a house and have it look good. We have 2.5 walls completely covered with shake single IN OUR BATHROOM! It is the first thing to go this summer with our DIY renovations! Wish I had photos to show you how awful it is.
Jill says
I love the outer banks!!!! I am trying to find a house for a late september vacay… and I am about 97.4% sure that I’ve looked at that same house online! What’s the name of it, do you remember? Small world!
Glad you guys had fun!! And I love the Bean’s lil dress! Bought that same exact one and sent it to my friend’s lil Larkin up in Lynchburg Va. ;) Awwww. I just love Clara’s smile with those cute bottom teeth!!!
YoungHouseLove says
I think it was called Sea Light? Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Briel K. says
I Love the family picture! What a great shot! Clara’s dress is also pretty darn cute. :)
Heather says
Oh you just made me so jealous! We went w/ my husband’s family to the Outer Banks three years ago, and it is still my favorite vacation to date! Aren’t those houses amazing? Waking up and going to sleep to the sound of the beach- ahhhh, love. That museum was great- I have a pic by the same rock! :0)
Kari says
Happy Anniversary! Did you guys carry on the tradition of taking photos in a photo booth? And did you capture a family pic with John holding up 4 fingers? Just curious!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes we did! More details on the whole anniversary thing soon!
xo,
s
Heather says
First, I must say, I love the family photo! Very nice! It was worth the wait!! Second, I love the photos from the Wrights Brothers museum! I just visited the OBX for the first time back in April, and we went there, too! Well, I was chaperoning our 8th grade end of the year trip, so I went with about 40 eighth graders, but it was such a cool place to visit! I loved seeing the monuments showing where those “first flights” landed! Did you guys also visit Jockeys Ridge up the road, a HUGE sand dune?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve visited that on prior trips (so cool) but didn’t make it there this time (tired babies – haha). Next time for sure!
xo,
s
Kita says
Cute! You guys are so photogenic!
Liz says
Happy Anniversary a couple of days late…I just wanted to add that your wedding was major inspiration for ours! (Just married in June) I just posted this on my blog a couple of days ago, I credited you guys for the picture…thanks for all the inspiration in other parts of life, too!!!
http://simply-active.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-wedding-outdoor-california-picnic.html
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, your wedding was gorgeous!
xo,
s
anne says
I love that Paris map picture as well, and guess what….at a local paper store here in Atlanta, in the section with the fancy papers to use as wrapping paper, etc… that are along the wall, they had a print just like this for $3.99!!! I already had it in my head, before seeing this post, to go get it, and frame it. Super cheap and unique piece of art work. Plus, I am a sucker for anything français! anne
YoungHouseLove says
Woah- such a deal!
xo,
s
Rachel Beasley says
So cool- I was there, also! My mom lives in Kitty Hawk (in Martin’s Point, the very first neighborhood/light you get to after the bridge…just turn left!). She watched our kiddo while hubs and I went on a “Duck Date” on Saturday. Duck is one of my all time favorite places. Next time, check out the park! It is small, but GORGEOUS.
Rachel says
Happy happy anniversary!! What a great blog post… Looks like you all had such a blast :-) and I love your first family photo! Love th blog and all the amazing things you’re doing on your new home. We just purchased our first home right after Christmas and we have yet to totally even unpack haha oh well. Slowly slowly lol. Thanks again for giving me something to look forward to each day on your blog :)
Steph says
Ha! We are in Duck, NC right now. We go every year. :) Sounds like you guys had a great time!
Emily says
Great post! Quick question…what do you use for swim diapers with Clara? I searched your blog and didn’t find anything. We are trying to get pregnant and you guys totally convinced me to cloth diaper!!
YoungHouseLove says
We got two hand me down fabric swim diapers from Clara’s cousin, but we have seen them sold at Target too (and have even heard that BG cloth dipes can also be used in a pinch).
xo,
s
Kim says
Looks like a great vacation. LOVE that family photo!
Bernadette says
I LOVE those shingles in the hallway. Totally couldn’t get away with it in my home (wait, maybe…okay…no) but LOVE the concept.
Great weather, hope you enjoyed the ocean breazy break from the paint huffing. All those layers (and layers) of paint and primer. I almost cried for ya’ll’s heartache.
Bernadette
@ b3hd.blogpsot.com