Vacation Week

I can't believe it's August already!  4 weeks until school starts, 4 weeks of camps left, 2 weeks until we find out who Aidan will have for his Third Grade teacher, and 1 week until Preseason hockey practice starts!  What a crazy summer it's been!

But, this past week was fun, blissful, restful (sort of), and just a nice family get away at the beach.

We don't like driving in traffic and, in fact, can't really tolerate it even to go to the beach.  So, we have altered our plans a bit over the years.  We left on Sunday morning--early--and actually arrived at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina after only 4 1/2 hours of driving!  We had actually been on the road closer to 6 hours, but that included potty breaks and a stop for breakfast.  We made the best time getting down there ever.  That set the stage for a perfect week!

We stayed, like last year, at the Hilton, which is located immediately on the beach just after crossing the bridge to get out onto the Outer Banks.  Aidan was very impatient, so I had him get his suit on as soon as we got into the room so he and Pat could go down to the beach while I got us settled.  He was ready as soon as the cart was empty!

Our view from our room was perfect.  Just right to sit and have a beverage and just watch the beach goings on.  The figure in blue near the center of the below picture is Aidan. . .Pat is sitting in the chair just the left.

As luck would have it, the weather turned very chilly the very next day!  But, honestly, it was absolutely gorgeous.  Just a lot cooler than you would normally have in July in North Carolina!  Mid to upper 70's prevailed the remainder of the week, which set up some very chilly water temperatures.  In fact, I don't think I have ever felt the Atlantic Ocean that chilly this late in the season.  Ever!  But we still had a blast on the beach!

 Day 2 view with my morning Cuppa. . .

Can you see Aidan's hands clenched?  He was so cold!!  In fact, this was Aidan 5 minutes later. . .

And the ocean actually began to look chillier by the second morning there!

 But, the hat was still needed!!!  As was the sunscreen!!!  70spf was the order of the day. . .

We also spent a day several miles north at the 4 wheel drive beach.  This place was so awesome!!  It was nearly empty. . .we didn't see any Bankers (wild ponies) but we did see evidence of them. . .

 Can you believe how empty that is???  We were practically alone!!!

Aidan had a lot of good practice learning how to do his new skim board. . .

 And then we built an Alligator. . .I know.  Most people build sand castles.  But, anyone can do that!!

Ont he way back from the 4 wheel drive beach, we stopped off at the Currituck Light House and toured the grounds.  Beautiful!!!

And just so you don't think I just scanned in a post card for this picture. . .

I had Aidan get in the foreground!  : )

As mentioned briefly, Aidan got a Skim Board and practiced it all week.  He really was getting pretty good at it by the time we left!

And when he needed to warm up, he would head into the in door pool. . .where he met another little boy.  I couldn't resist a slow mo jump in!!!

Sadly, as all good things do, our beach trip ended all too soon.  We headed back on Friday. . .and apparantly, a lot of other people now do that too.  The roads were jammed!!!  We did stop at Bass Pro Shop for lunch, but still it took over 9 hours to get home!!  Not happy campers. . .

But, home we arrived.  And just in time to go Back to School shopping for Tax Free Weekend!!!  Where I discovered that Aidan has moved on from Gymboree.  There is no longer anything there that he likes.  At all.  We were only at Dick's Sporting Goods, Old Navy, and The Gap this year.  Sad. . . and end of an era. . .

With a final purchase at Lids 

we headed home. . .

But, there was one final thing we did on our week off.  The Annual Caps Shoot Out!!  I had not signed Aidan up at Ashburn for the Shoot Out because it was held there while we were on vacation.  But, I did sign up for Reston. It was full, so he was placed on the Waiting List.  I got the call while we were in North Carolina that he was in, so we headed up to Reston right after church yesterday.  The boys had three shots in three rounds. . .and Aidan is now moving on to the Semi Finals!!  This will be held at Kettler Ice Plex, which is were the Caps practice, on September 7th.  Two of Aidan's team mates were at the Ashburn Shoot Out and are also moving on to the Semi Finals!!!  Woo Hoo!!!

So now it's Monday and I'm heading back to work.  Have a great week!