Kayaks...

We had so much fun kayaking at the beach that we did some research and used Andy's Deloitte healthy living yearly stipend to purchase our own set to take home from the Outer Banks. Score! 

We have a lot of lakes in Reston and also plenty of opportunities to use them on our various camping trips (Lake Anna we miss you!) so this seemed like the perfect time and way to become boaters once again. 

We've already had quite a few evening rides and it's been fun being back on the water waving at other boaters (we are just a nice breed aren't we?) ;) 

Bonus - Adam LOVES it, so we'll keep giving him free rides for now, but we'll look forward to him helping to paddle soon enough! 

Beach Week - Back to Williamsburg...

Starting and ending our Outer Banks trips with stops at the Williamsburg KOA seems to be our new tradition. Not only does it break up the trip (which isn't all that long to begin with) but it gives us something to look forward to as our time at the beach comes to an end. We were especially excited about our return trip this time as we had booked one of their newly renovated sites (yes, these are the things that excite us nowadays) :) 

The new sites are awesome. Brick patios and swings make for a great setting around the campfire. The sites are spacious and level. We have definitely found our new favorite site at our favorite campground! 

We finished off our fabulous beach week with pizza and ice cream and a lot of time relaxing around the campfire recounting the great times we'd had that week. 

This is what it's all about folks. 

Beach Week - Lazy Days...

Well, I suppose they weren't really lazy days, but they were wonderfully stress and work free days. We followed a routine of mornings on the beach, lunch, maybe a quick nap, then afternoons at the pool. Rinse and repeat...

Evenings were spent playing corn hole, bike riding, walking on the beach, eating seafood, and the occasional flying of a kite...

It was yet another wonderful week in the Outer Banks. 

Beach Week - Boogey Board

This summer Adam seemed ready to ride his first set of waves so we hooked him up with a mini-boogey board, waited for a semi-calm tide, and let the cameras roll...

Beach Week - Father's Day

Andy would be hard pressed to design himself a better list of activities for his Father's Day than the one we compiled this year: 

1. Drive to the Outer Banks...

2. Set up camp with beach front views...

3. Rent kayaks & hit the water...

4. Peel 'n eat shrimp & oysters from Austin's...

5. Campfire under the stars with waves crashing in the background...

Yup, I'd say he had a pretty great day! Only fitting as he is a great...make that fantastic, Dad! 

Beach Week - Williamsburg Kick-Off

We kicked off our Outer Banks beach week with a two night stay at our favorite campground, the Williamsburg KOA (as we almost always do). We had fabulous weather and one of our favorite sites with views of the pool - which was where we spent most of our time! 

They had lots of activities planned for the weekend, including making tie-dye t-shirts. We had fun dipping our tees in red and blue dye and while we have yet to get that awkward family photo in our matching shirts, we know that we've got the option, and frankly that's good enough for now. :) 

Adam swam and swam and swam some more. He was really growing into his "fins" on this trip and we loved seeing how much progress his swimming skills had made since beginning his lessons in late winter. Of course such great swimming deserved an ice cream reward!! 

Our vacation was off to a great (and already tiring) start, but with our bellys full of pancake goodness we were ready to hit to the road for the OBX!