We came back to the Outer Banks after our first trip there back in 2022. Every time my family got together since then, someone (usually Dad!) would say how much fun it was and that we should go back. So, this was the year!
Clara with her backpackicorn. 
We had about a five hour layover in Chicago, so Brynn and I went adventuring and made a friend at the information desk.
Brynn wanted to go and see the cockpit, and she and I were able to once we landed in Norfolk, Virginia. We were able to chat with the pilot for quite a while and learned he attended college at UND! Brynn tried out an emergency test button and then we were on our way so we could make the drive to the beach house. Tessa and fam were just ahead of us. (My parents flew with us out of Fargo.)
I had wanted to see the sand dunes this time and Monday night seemed to be the only night that worked, so Dana and I made the hour-long drive to Jockey Ridge State Park. It ended up to be an overcast evening with rain in the forecast. Otherwise, we had been looking forward to seeing the sunset there. It was still neat to see, though, and we were both glad we went.
Tuesday morning Brynn and I got up to watch the sunrise and then went back to bed.
Learning some new dance moves...
Tuesday night we did the seafood boil before family pictures on the beach.
Family karaoke/lip syncing/sing-along. This really turned out to be an entertaining time, from oldies to One Direction and Tenacious D (which is where Dana really shined).
Elise and I did yoga on the beach Wednesday morning.
This time we were able to make it the full three hours on our catamaran cruise. (Last time we were cut short due to weather.)
Dana had his chance again to pitch in.
We had a fun crew and we enjoyed listening to their stories.
It was a nice evening out on the water with a beautiful sunset.
Brynn and Elise in the midst of an absolute laughing fit at what turned out to be a fire hose of sorts spraying out of the hot tub. Ha. Unfortunately for Dana, he fell victim to it when he and I went hot tubbing a bit later that evening.
Usually Chad, Dad and I were the first ones up in the mornings so I asked Dad if he wanted to go to the community club area to do some pickleball on the outdoor courts.
There were some crusty rusty bikes at the beach house, so we hopped on those and had at least one near-death experience on the way.
Unfortunately our fun, casual playing was interrupted by two actual, real pickleballers (who coincidentally didn't know each other even) asking if they could play with us. :-( So, then we had to follow rules and keep score and all that.
My lunch pretty much every day.
Oliver and Clara had been getting quite a bit of sun, so they spent some time inside and were introduced to 'Jaws.' I don't think Clara was super impressed.
Thursday night, we four drove to Manteo for a walking ghost tour that Tessa had booked for us. It was cool and fun to see parts of another town.
There were a few days when it was quite windy which impeded our originally scheduled ping pong tournament. I was back to see if I could reclaim my championship title, but alas I was eliminated fairly early on. Oh well. It was still fun.
Congrats to the new champion, Ben, and second and third place, Tessa and Reagan!
On our daily Big Buck's run.
Brynn had her surfing lesson on Friday afternoon. Reagan and I tagged along to watch and take photos.
One last dinner out.
Clara's turn to see the cockpit (when we landed in Chicago on our way home).
It was another fun OBX trip and many thanks to Tessa and Chad for setting all of this up. 💓
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