Stop 9: Rodanthe, Outer Banks, NC (again!)

"I just love the ocean, but I only get to visit it once a year."

That was Samantha, the 9-year-old girl from Virginia with whom the boys played during this second round in Outer Banks. She made this declaration to me, out of nowhere, a wistful and dramatic expression on her face, right before she jumped back into the waves with her boogie board.

I can't imagine.

I could barely function without the ocean after just a few days..!

Once again, I am reminded of how lucky we are to be going back home to a house that is close enough to the beach that we can ride our bikes there. Fortunately, all four of us feel that way. When we decided to skip Niagara Falls and return to Outer Banks, I was a bit worried that we were making a mistake. What if we regretted it? How could we pass up a new, amazing place like Niagara to go back to a beach place we have already been twice? But everyone was so happy and relaxed, that I knew we had made the right decision for us.

This time around, we kept the boys off of their surfboards and in very shallow waters just to play it safe. Being from Florida, shark attacks are not such a rarity, but 8 in a small area in a month was a bit more than even we were willing to gamble. The boys spent most of their time on the boogie boards riding perfectly rolling waves in knee to ankle deep water, or on their skim boards tearing up the shore. Their newest buddy, the aforementioned Samantha, was happy to join in on the fun.

There was general silliness and organized summer play:

Water balloon fight!

Check out what we can do in the hot tub!

Parachute games organized by the on-site counselors

We went back to our favorite restaurant/kite boarding spot from last time, and think we might have found Aidan Kai's future self in 15 years:

Long curly blond hair, tall socks, and glasses...too cute.

This time I was the one who got sick, so we definitely had to lay low a little bit, especially at night, but we were happy to return to our place of bliss.

Next stop: Charlotte, NC for the boys' first Dave Matthews Band concert!