OBX

We just returned from a lovely weekend in the Outer Banks for the Memorial Day weekend. And while we had a fabulous time on the trip, it wouldn't be a Pharis Family Vacation if everything went perfectly.

On the Friday before Memorial Day we dropped Indy off at the spa (aka kennel) and we headed towards North Carolina. Our reservation at the resort wasn't until Saturday, but Wil was concerned about traffic on Saturday, so we went down on Friday night and checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Kitty Hawk...we aren't pilots, but we did stay at a Holiday Inn Express that night...

Since we couldn't check into the resort until 4pm, we spent the morning at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk.

We learned quite a bit about the first flight and the men (who grew up in Ohio AND Indiana) who were responsible for that first flight. We learned that they chose Kitty Hawk because it was the 6th windiest city in the U.S. We also learned that the first flight lasted a whole 12 seconds and the 4th flight that day lasted 59 seconds and went approximately 800 yards. So to test how fast this was, Jon-Christian decided to try to beat that record running the 800ish yards. Fortunately, the National Park has the take off and landing marked, so we were able to conduct the experiment. I am happy to report that Jon-Christian did in fact outrun the 4th flight by 3 seconds.

After the Wright Brothers Memorial, we drove around the area since I had never been there and Wil hadn't been there in years. We drove down to Nags Head and then all the way up to Corolla, driving as far as the part of the island that you can only get to via 4 wheel drive on the beach. And while I was a bit nervous about getting stuck...we survived the expedition and even had time to stop at the Currituck Lighthouse before checking into the resort.

Oh, the resort...now I will say that there were some warnings about how "nice" the resort was on the RCI website, but we were going to be meeting our friends, Theresa and Joe at the resort on Sunday and they had stayed there before so we thought...how bad could it be. When we first drove up, we were a bit concerned about the appearance of the resort. It seemed a bit rundown, but as long as it was clean, I figured I could survive.

Once we were able to get into our room, it wasn't too bad. It was somewhat clean...unless you looked under the furniture, which was hard to avoid to since Jon-Christian was sleeping on the sleeper sofa. The decor was a combination between Miami Vice and elderly woman's home in the mid-80s. As Theresa began to refer to our condo as "The Pink Palace".

Other than the decor and the cleanliness...we had a few other minor issues...the full kitchen that we were supposed to have turned into a college dorm fridge with a 2 burner hotplate and microwave, the DVD player didn't work--which was an especially important fact on the afternoon it rained...but probably most importantly, the ceiling fan in the living room began falling apart early one morning while we were sleeping with one blade flying off of the fan and hitting Jon-Christian while he slept. We quickly jumped up and turned the fan off before the other blades caused some permanent damage to the resort or one of us.

Other than the upkeep of the resort and the dated nature of the decor, it was actually a great trip. We were easily within a few minutes walk to the beach, the pool was nice, and we loved the town of Duck! Now, we were a bit more jealous and disappointed with our condo after Theresa and Joe arrived and we saw their's...which they were disappointed in...I think until they saw our condo.

We spent quite a bit of time relaxing on the beach, playing in the sand,

walking on the beach, throwing Jon-Christian in the freezing water,

watching Anna fly her Dora kite, fishing, and riding the wave runner. Ok, so I didn't go on the wave runner, but I took pictures of the boys.

And Theresa, Anna, and I didn't go fishing, but the boys did. Unfortunately, we were counting on their fishing skills for our Memorial Day dinner...we ended up with hamburgers and turkey burgers...not judging their skills, but I'm really thankful for grocery stores and restaurants.


It was hard to leave and head back home. The weather was very nice. The beach was lovely and although the condo left much to be desired, we really had a great time and it was great to catch up with Theresa, Joe, and Anna. (Although I'm not sure that they will ever want to vacation with us again since by the time we left Wil had Anna "talkin' da smack.") I could definitely do this vacation again...and for a bit longer...and maybe even at the same resort, but requesting a different condo...

Mini-Vacation

I am looking forward to getting out of town for a few days over Memorial Day! We're taking advantage of our RCI Points Membership to head down to Duck for a long weekend. We'll be meeting our friends, Theresa, Joe, and Anna down in Duck (of course those lucky dogs are staying the whole week and we'll be heading back on Tuesday). I've never been to the Outer Banks and Wil hasn't been in years, so it should be a great trip!

I am, however, a bit concerned about my desire to cram as much as possible into the 4 days we'll be there and we may require a vacation from the vacation...but then again, we only have to wait about 3 weeks until our next vacation...our 2 week FL vacation...but again, another packed vacation. I guess I just don't do well with those laid back relaxing vacations. Oh well.

Posts...

Wow...I didn't really realize that it has been so long since I've posted anything. I guess things have been pretty busy. I've drafted a few posts, but never finished them or uploaded the pictures to correspond to them and so haven't officially posted them. At some point I will gather the time and energy to once again get caught up on what's going on in our lives...but until that happens, here's a brief run down:

We spent March 26th in memory of Bailey on what would have been her first birthday.

On March 27th, I drove to Pigeon Forge, TN to meet Heather and spend the weekend shopping and taking pictures.

Most weekends have been filled with flag football games and Tuesday nights were filled with flag football practice. Wil is also now the Offensive Coordinator (and let me tell you, he is offensive...especially the way he smells) for Jon-Christian's team, the Stafford Dolphins.

We signed up for Verizon Fios and got the "Hub" that they advertise on TV. Really cool phone!

We've looked at houses and have considered "upgrading" sooner than originally planned.

We watched Chuck, Bones, House, Lie to Me, Fringe, and The Real Housewives on a weekly basis...ok, so really it's just Jon-Christian and I that watch The Real Housewives...Wil is concerned about the influence that I'm having on his son just because he comes downstairs to watch The Real Housewives of New York with me and even adds commentary on the behavior of these women...I see nothing wrong with it...Perhaps we should take up ballet next?

We received graduation invitations from my cousin's daughter, Rebecca who will be graduating from high school and my niece, Dedra who is graduating with her Doctor of Optometry degree.

We've congratulated friends who have delivered healthy babies...Sonia delivered a healthy baby girl, Jannali in early April, and Vanessa delivered a healthy baby boy, Enoch in early April.

I spent this past weekend in Berkeley Springs, WV for a girl's spa weekend...well, that could be a long story, but we'll just say Penelope, Kari, and I celebrated Kari's birthday...

I think that's the highlights for now.