Young House Love

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A Beach Vacation To Duck

What’s the perfect cure to a paint and primer hangover? A trip to the beach. And what’s the perfect way to spend your fourth wedding anniversary (yup, today’s the big day)? Why sharing those beach photos of course (since we’ve pretty much covered our wedding/anniversary stuff in the last three years of Wedding Week). Off we go…

Clara Smiles On Beach

In honor of the long holiday weekend, we said goodbye to our freshly grellow-ed kitchen and hello to sand and sun thanks to a little road trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We usually do the beach thing in Delaware at my parents’ place, but since my siblings, cousins, and I insist on having babies and expanding the family (the nerve) we’ve outgrown it a bit. So instead we all pitched in to rent a place in Duck, NC where all 21 of us – which included five kids under the age of two! – could clock some nice family R & R. Well, as much as you can clock with five babies around…

Beach Sea Light House

Even if rest was limited, fun certainly was not. Clara and the beach continue to become BFFs – she was equally happy in the sand and the surf, which made her water-lovin’ mom and dad very happy. We found a sandbar that kept the waves calm and the water shallow enough for lots of time in the water (most of which was spent “jumping” waves and laughing hysterically).

Clara Fun At Beach

The house we rented also had its own private pool in the backyard (as did all of the homes on our street – which was really nice) so there was lots of calm water play going on away from the beach too. Clara has recently learned to say the word “ball” so she was thrilled when my aunt supplied a huge bag of them to hoard play with in the pool. They seriously are her new most favorite things in the world.

Beach Clara Pool

Except for some crazy humidity, the weather was generally great the whole time. And we used the only overcast day as an excuse to visit the Wright Brother’s Memorial in Kitty Hawk. It was surprisingly fascinating to walk around the grounds where the first flight actually took place (even for two non-aviation buffs like ourselves). There’s Sherry sitting on a stone to mark where the first flight ended after just 12 seconds and 120 feet (the stones behind it mark three other flights that day, the last and furthest being 852 feet and 59 seconds long).

Oh, and there I am standing in front of part of the monument that seemed, well, fitting. Just look at my smarty pants pose.

Beach Wright Monument1

And did you notice the ball that Clara was holding in the pic above? Yeah, it’s a bit of a theme this trip. She extended her new found love of spherical objects to balloons as well. My sister Emily and my cousin’s daughter Elsa celebrated a shared birthday during our trip, so Clara broke out her party dress and went absolutely bonkers watching the balloons float around while grandparents and aunts and cousins looked on. We have about twelve more photos just like this.

Beach Clara Balloons

If you’re still itching for more beach photos, we’ve got a bunch more on Flickr. And while we secretly hoped our beach house would be worthy of a House Crashing post (like these), it was sadly pretty generic. And understandably so (since not-too-precious rental decor seems to make the most sense – especially when 5 babies and 16 older kids/adults come flooding in and make themselves comfortable). But one design choice that did catch our eye was this fun shaker shingle treatment in the interior stairwell:

Beach Shingle Hallway

It mimicked the shaker shingles on the exterior of the house and served as sort of a beachy twist on wainscoting. Probably not a look that we could pull off in our own house, but it was right at home in this seaside setting:

Beach Shinge Hall Close

And since our beach house didn’t fulfill our design cravings for the trip, we headed out to troll some local thrift stores and home furnishing places while we were there. Let’s just say there were lots of things that we wanted to bring home… and then there was a giant curly haired bear nutcracker (we’ll be back with a post about those finds a little later on). For now we’ll leave you with the first photo of all four of us that we’ve ever taken. As in since Clara was born. Shame, shame, shame.

New%20family%20pic

Only took us 13.5 months to accomplish.

Anyway, has anyone else hightailed it out of town after a big slash tiring house project? Did you pick up any souvenirs for your home while you were gone? Did your kid develop a strange ball obsession while there? Did you finally take a family picture after waaay too long?

Comments

  1. Kim says

    We live at the beach (Charleston SC) which is fab, though it does get crowded on holidays.We headed to my parent’s lake place instead because for the kids, and us, too, the lake is quite different and fun. We even saw a fireworks show by boat! Our ball obsession was picking up peaches-soooo good!

    Reply

  2. erin says

    i love duck!! we have a family house there, got married there and *almost* drove down last weekend. but you know, traffic and tourists and all that. ;)

    i can’t wait to see what shops you highlight- in case i’ve missed some. did you happen to visit duck donuts? please say yes! best.donuts.ever.

    Reply

  4. Sarah says

    We are practically ditching our big slash tiring house project in the middle of the madness! Redoing paint + floors in FIVE rooms (basically everything but the kitchen and the bathroom). Flooring is on order, but it may be after vaca when it gets installed. Two rooms painted, and three more to go. Leaving next week to go camping for a week – longest vaca in 6 years, and I’m super pumped. :)

    Reply

  5. annabelvita says

    Awww luckily the first family picture is a real good one!
    This weekend I had a hen do (should I be saying bachelorette party?) and went dancing at my friends farm in the country at a Ceilidh. Hooray. Can’t wait for my first beach trip this year.

    Reply

  6. Kim says

    So I’ve been reading for a while but never posted… just wanted to wish you a happy anniversary. We also live in Richmond and have a vacation home in Duck. Have some of those grandparents babysit and hit Blue Point for a nice anniversary dinner… and drinks on the lawn! (reservations required) Let me know if you need any other suggestions!

    Reply

  9. Andrea says

    OMG! Myself and my whole village (idiots may or may not be appropriate..)go to OBX every year around the end of may! We have about 20-30 of us all together so we do the huge house thing too. Love that place. Glad you had fun!

    Reply

  10. Michelle says

    Hello! I have been following YHL for a few weeks now. Thank you soo much for all the inspiration and support. I’ve been motived to paint and re-decorate the hallway, living room and dining room thanks to the two of you :) My husband would like to thank you too…haha!! :)

    If possible, could you tell me who you rented your house through at the Outer Banks? My mom is turning 60 next year and it is her request to go back to the Outer Banks (we went almost 20 years ago as a family and LOVED it).

    Thanks in advance.

    Reply

  12. Nancy says

    Happy Anniversary! We just got back from a family beach “vacation” in North Carolina, too! My husband’s family does goes every other year to Holden Beach. Except there were 60 of us with 19 being 10 years and younger. Looks like you’ll be there in no time though. :) Actually, we don’t really call it a vacation, now that I think of it. And we’ve totally given up on trying to get a family picture. The house you stayed in looks really lovely!

    Reply

  14. Necole says

    My husband and I have been married for 10 years and have three children ages 3-7. We have yet to take a family photo. Bad mama.

    Reply

  16. Angela says

    Honestly, that family photo is wonderful—everyone looks natural and relaxed, everybody’s eyes are open, and no one is giving a *derp* face. I’m pretty sure this has never happened for me in all my years. Way to go!

    Reply

  20. Erin says

    Happy anniversary! :) I can’t wait for your post about the shopping scene down there — I’m headed to Corolla next week for my first family vacation with the in-laws!

    Reply

  23. Ashley says

    Happy Anniversary!!!

    Also, My cuz and I who absolutely adore this blog were just in Corolla, NC last week. Whole family rented a house as well. If I would have ran into you guys I would have peed my pants! Pretty sad I didn’t :( but I know the place had wonderful weather and was so awesome, glad you had a good time!

    Reply

  24. renee says

    Happy Anniversary!

    I adore the family of four shot, but honestly, the first pic of Clara on the beach is so frame-worthy! Love all of her big girl teeth.

    You guys work so very hard for us, we are happy you are getting some R&R time.

    Bless your awesome marriage & fam!

    Reply

  27. Kait Strang says

    Small world, my family and I just got back from a big group vacation in Duck, NC too! It’s really the perfect place to go with a large group. We stayed in the Schooner Ridge development and also had great weather. I’m glad to hear you guys got a well deserved break.

    Reply

  30. Alisya H says

    Such a beautiful family! My boyfriend comments that you should start a Christmas family photo tradition – or stemming from this one, one every anniversary! xx

    Reply

  31. Marla says

    Hi,
    Love your blog, I look forward to reading all your DIY stories. We are looking to rent a beach house for next summer, how did you find this beautiful beach house? We are trying to find something in the VA or NC area. It’s so hard to find something that will look as good as in the ad/picture.
    Thank you so much !!!

    Reply

  32. Donna Huebsch says

    Clara and her ball obsession remind me of our daughter, who was fascinated by balls and balloons as a baby…let me tell you, it can persist for years! She is now 16, still has a huge ball collection and each birthday we rent a helium tank and fill the place with balloons.

    BTW, very nice family photo!

    Reply

  34. Courtney says

    Not going to lie, at the very end when John wrote “the first picture of all four of us” I gasped and thought to myself “is Sherry pregnant??!!” and got a little excited!!! But then I scrolled down and saw Burger. Silly me, what was I thinking!! :) Happy Anniversary!

    Reply

  35. Funnelcloud Rachel says

    This makes me wish we did OBX over the 4th instead of over Memorial Day (which we’ve done for the past 8 years straight), when it’s too cold to swim.

    Love the pics of Clara and the balloons!

    Reply

  37. Laura says

    we spent the last two weeks of june moving into and decorating a new apartment in richmond…needless to say, “hightailing it out of the there” was the only right thing to do! we were also in NC, but in an area more south of the OBX.

    Reply

  38. KT @ KT's Refinishing School says

    Happy anniversary! Beach vacations with family are the best! Every summer my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all get together at our lake house in Michigan. There are usually 20-24 people with us and I know as the older cousins marry and have kiddos, the numbers will continue to grow…not sure how we’ll fit everyone but it always works out :) This summer my hubby and I get to stay in a newly renovated space that was formerly an attic–should be fun!

    Reply

  39. Jenn says

    There is nothing sweeter than the sheer joy of little ones and their balloons. Those pictures made me grin ear to ear…and congratulations on the family picture! It is precious!!!

    Reply

  42. Krysta @ Domestic for Dummies says

    We have never gone out of town after a big project but we always go out for a nice dinner that night to treat ourselves!

    That is such an awesome picture of all of you…definitely worthy of the gallery wall! Happy Anniversary!

    Reply

  43. Melissa@Julia's Bookbag says

    Precious, absolutely precious!!! My daughter was NOT into the beach when she was that age and I’m from Hawaii! So when we traveled back for visits, it took awhile for her to embrace the sand & surf…

    That family photo is FABULOUS and needs to be up your wall stat!

    Reply

  44. Carrie says

    One day I want to move to the Outer Banks. Maybe when I grow up.
    This morning I had to write down the date and I thought- it’s John and Sherry’s anniversary. Ya know, cause we are best friends and all. I felt weird. :)
    The picture is lovely!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Old Navy baby! Love that sweater. And you’re right. Burger’s totally giving us Blue Steel. Which is better than Hot Panting Dog (which he gave us in a few other shots, along with Squirmy). Haha.

      xo,
      s

  48. Sara says

    Do you use a cloth swim diaper for Clara? In our family pool my little guy has been going commando (no disasters so far, thank God) but obviously we can’t do that when we go on vacation. Curious what you are doing.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We got two cloth swim diapers as hand me downs (from Clara’s cousin Elsa). They work really well so far! Thank goodness no poops yet. Haha.

      xo,
      s

  49. Sara says

    I finally had nice family pictures taken last month, I figured it’s about time too since we’ve been married 10 years next month and our girls are 3 and 5. My youngest Reagan is 3 years old today :)

    Reply

  50. Charlotte says

    OMG!!! I can’t believe you guys were so close to me….I live about an hour away from the OBX. I’m glad you guys enjoyed your trip and Happy Anniversary :)

    Reply

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