Trip Part One: The Beach

The first part of our trip was spent in Duck, NC at the beach. However, before we could enjoy the sand and sea, we had to get there. By car. 21 hours total over 2 days. I was really dreading this part of the trip, but it turned out to be really great. We drove through some really beautiful country. I am now officially in love with West Virginia and wonder why I never investigated WVU in Morgantown for college. What a gorgeous place! I wish I had some great pictures, but my camera just doesn't do the Appalachian Mountains justice.

Finally, we arrived here:



Yes, that walkway leads right down to the very uncrowded, shell-filled, white sand beach! The house was amazing, and in addition to being oceanfront, it also had this, which turned out to be a godsend for the 7 children in attendance who weren't too crazy about the ocean waves after an hour or two:



A little background on who was there...My dad re-married 2 years ago to a recently divorced woman with 2 grown children and 5 grandchildren. It continues to be very important to them that their now blended family know each other - despite that fact that we're all grown adults and live all over the country. So, this is the second family vacation that my dad and his wife have planned for all of us - 15 in total. Since my parents were married for 32 years before my mom died, this is my first experience with the whole blended family thing - which, though difficult and awkward at times, I'm quite sure is far more disruptive and traumatic for children than it has been for me as an adult. (Although, my 30 year-old sister is definitely struggling to adjust). Anyway, it helps me a lot to view the situation through Jenna's eyes. This is the only family she'll know. She never met my mom and calls my dad's wife Grandma Lu - which makes me sad, but I am okay with it. Her 5 "new" cousins will be potentially her only cousins on my side of the family, and I am so grateful for them. She adores them:





It made my heart sing as only the heart of 'Only Mom' can to see Jenna running around all week with the other kids. Yay for kid-filled vacations!

We spent 6 full days in Duck eating great food, playing games, boogie-boarding in the ocean, making sand castles, and watching the kid's nightly performances that they put on for us in the "movie theater" (aka the home theater in the house).

Here are a few more pics from the beach before we headed up to DC for Part Two of our summer vacation:





At the Wright brothers museum in Kitty Hawk, NC:


And finally, a little down time: