Monday, May I...Vacay/Coupon/Goals!

Last week we were on vacation.  It was the perfect wrap up to a wonderful summer.  I really think you see how quickly your children grow during the school year but this year I was nearly taken aback by how quickly they have grown this summer!

Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina is our go to family getaway spot.  We've been really blessed to have a great place to stay the past two years.  Unfortunately, this year was our last year in the condo we've been lucky to rent form a some great folks close by.  They decided to sale earlier in the year.  It really made this trip bittersweet.

No worries though!  We hope to be renting a unit close by next time :)

Instead of bombarding you with picture after picture I made some collages of the highlights of our week away.

We are beach people!  Each of us LOVE the ocean - despite this year's shark activity - and just hanging out on the beach.  This year was so much fun since our Little Man could enjoy the water with us.  And no worries - we were shark free!  There was a brief call out of the water due to two sharks being seen from an airplane.  However....I'm not sure if that was legit or just people starting something up.

Our Tuesday was a bit dreary. We woke up to gray skies so we decided that would be our Southport day.  Southport is the town I want to move to when I win the lottery.  I actually picked out just the house I want while we were there (if you have 1.5 million we can totally go get it today).  Last year we spent the entire Southport adventure looking at the places from the movie Safe Haven.  (I know what you're thinking, I'm a Nicholas Sparks fan.) You're dead wrong.  My husband happened across that movie last year before our trip and had to search out all the hot spots from the film.)  This year we just enjoyed the shops (especially Ocean Outfitters) and lunch at Fishy Fishy.  If you love historical port cities you would love to Southport.  It is beautiful, historical, and so quaint.

On the last day of school my daughter received an award from her teacher.  It was the high achievement award.  With each award the teacher gave a little prize.  Our girl got a kite.  The beach and kites fit together like peanut butter and jelly.  We saved the kite all summer for this trip.  Needless to say my husband LOVED tinkering with the dollar kite and the kids enjoyed the sand and surf.

I had to share these melt my heart (and maybe yours too) shots of my kids on the beach together.  Our daughter was pleased as punch to play in the tidal pool building sand castles and then out in the ocean with either myself or her dad.  Our son was in full motion the whole time!  He chased a sea gull 400 yards and you should have seen those tiny legs going!  He also enjoyed yelling "Ouch the sharks are biting me" then he would point to the sharks on his swim trunks.  Truly, these are the best memories because they will never be this age again at the beach.

Our last day at Ocean Isle was so much fun.  The kids were busy in the sand and water and we enjoyed playing with them and people watching.  There were some memorable folks....

*The Jersey dad who enjoyed showboating his soccer and handstand skills (yes, he was sober thus it was no fun to watch)....
*Smoker mom in her mesh shorts and a twelve inch cigarette hanging out of her mouth while she mouthed off at her kids....However, she wasn't really mouthing at them she was really funny and very very kind...
*Tattooed princess...she had a garden gnome on her arm....life size!
*The angry NCSU alumni who was not very personable after we threw him the Pack sign (day one) and complimented him on his State visor (day three).

While we were around the southern coast we had to hit up Calabash, NC for dinner one night.  We enjoyed fresh seafood (and a huge steak) from Dockside Restaurant.

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It is always hard to come home after vacation.  Normally, we take our vacation earlier in the summer but this year it worked out to have it at the end.  There are some perks to an end of summer vacation like....

Being a bit more accepting of the fact you drove by a house that had pumpkins in the side yard.

As a decoration.

Oh.my.lord.

Hey you know how I mentioned we visited Ocean Outfitters?  Well I think you should go check out their website and take 10% off your order with this code:  OCEAN2015

Go ahead and stock up on your favorite Southern brands like:  Southern Tide, Salt Life, Southern Marsh, Simply Southern, Vineyard Vine and more!

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It is the LAST week of summer vacation here.  My goals are:

1.  Have a successful Monday. I have some stuff on the table I want to rock out.  I know that is vague but pray for me, God knows the need.

2.  Have a successful back to school shopping trip with BOTH kids?  We're talking haircuts, shoes, a few new clothes, and the rest of the school loot.

3.  Savor this last week of having a two year old and a soon to be second grader.