Our Party of Five: Vacation!

Well if you can call it that ;) We headed down to the Outer Banks of NC the last week of September for a little rest and relaxation and some quality family time. At least we were free from work, the computer, the majority of phone calls, etc. I was nervous planning this endeavor since we had three little ones under three, how in the world would we manage a trip to the beach????
Just thinking about packing for everybody- not the clothes part, but the "accessories" made me shudder...But we did it and somehow we managed to get it ALL packed into the inside of the minivan, including the five bodies!! We had bed rails, 2 pack and plays, a travel swing, toys galore- both inside and beach, floaties for all, an inflatable pool, 2 booster seats, beach chairs, beach umbrella..the list goes on....but Todd methodically packed the van with Bob precision (my dad is the ULTIMATE packer), Todd would have made him proud! ;) and we were off.
Well let's just say the only sunshine was the evening we got there and the following day, the rest of the week was rainy, windy, and chilly. But we did try to make the most of it, what else can you do? We made it to the outdoor pool once, the playground a hand full of times (this was Lucas' obsession since you could see it from our balcony- he LOVES climbing anything), and even the beach twice. The OFF season really was in full effect so lots of touristy stuff was closed- Todd was really looking forward to taking Lucas on the go-karts :(. But we did get to the aquarium, played at Kitty Hawk Kites, enjoyed the rec center and the indoor pool (when it wasn't storming), and even made it out to dinner twice! We tried to find budget friendly options. It was definitely a bummer with the weather slump but we did have fun just hanging out too. We watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (cute :)) and played Memory, took some walks, read some books, painted and colored, played with cars and trucks,and watched a little Dora and Diego :) Peyton did hit a milestone that week, she finally ventured out on her knees! I have another post about that one ;)
All in all it was a good week, I think next time we'll aim for either early summer or maybe around Labor Day ;)