Last week's vacation

This might be a long post that no one wants to read.  And that's okay, because really, it is just for our memories!

Last week's vacation was amazingly relaxing.  Andrew and I both commented on how much our family needed it, and we are so grateful that we were able and had the opportunity to make it happen.  The kids all got along, Robert laughed along with us, and it just felt as though we were all working together, instead of against each other.  The kids all really enjoyed it as well.

We stayed further north than we've ever stayed before, and it had some pros and cons.  Everything was pretty newly built where we were, and it also gave us the opportunity to try some restaurants we'd never tried before.  Sadly, we weren't overly thrilled with any of them, but none of them were awful...just overpriced.  I know many do vacation on a budget by staying in and cooking dinner at the rental house, but that's not our style.  For Andrew and I (especially me who doesn't like to cook) the best part of vacation is eating out.  Our favorite meal was Thursday evening at a place called Owen's.  It was recommended to us before we made our first trip to the Outer Banks (this is our fifth), and it is the only restaurant we've eaten at every time we've been there.  It is truly fabulous, and has enough selections that we could probably eat there more than once during the week...we just can't afford to do so!  Everyone loved that meal.  We also found a cute little cafe in Rodanthe.  We were going to make the trek down to Hatteras, the roads were flooding and with more rain the forecast it was making me nervous (the downside to being on the island while a tropical depression is in the area).  We turned around and found this little roadside restaurant.  I had a fabulous hot dog (nothing fancy, but SO good) and Andrew had the best fish tacos ever.  He even said that was his favorite thing he ate all week.  We had ice cream a couple of times, and discovered a soundside boardwalk had been built in the five years since we'd been there.  That was awesome for our shopping on Wednesday.  We were all at the beach together Tuesday morning, and Andrew took the kids back again on Saturday.  We took our bikes down, and Andrew got up and rode many days.  Robert went with him in the rain on Monday, and Thomas rode with him to breakfast on Saturday.  Thomas also had his first road crash that morning as he came too close to a trashcan, but fortunately the car he was trying to get out of the way for gave him a very wide berth.  The tiny pool at our rental house was too cold for us, but the bigger community pool was a little warmer and Thomas especially enjoyed spending some time there.  Friday morning Robert and Andrew rented kayaks and spent some time out on the sound.  We all spent lots of time in the rental house's hot tub, and the kids enjoyed the xbox and watching TV.  We visited two lighthouses, and all-in-all, just really enjoyed our time together.  There truly are not words to express our gratitude for this blessing!