Trunk or Treat

Every year we kick off the halloween festivities at church with a chili cook-off and trunk or treat for the kids.

This year we took a mummy, a warewolf and Repunzel with us.

The fan favorite: the donut on a string game.

OBX: Family Pictures

We had a three-day family picture marathan this summer. It started in Ohio at Lake Erie. We weren't sure if my brother was going to make it on the family vacation this year, so we went to Lake Erie before leaving to take some pictures with him. Unfortunately the sun/shadows were kind of a pain that day (and the not so attractive sun bathers there that day).

Here are my parents first. Aren't they still a cute couple?!


After smiling for awhile we had to give ourselves a break. Not pictured here, but hilarious, are the first four or five pictures when Chase didn't realize we were making silly faces and he was smiling nicely in the middle of all our funny faces.

Okay, what's the vote...normal color or colorized (see below)?

Once in OBX, we found out last minute that Travis was going to have to go home earlier than expected so Whitney and her family hurried to get ready for quick family pictures with him before he left that afternoon. It actually turned out to be the best lighting of the three days, but the kids weren't really feeling it.

So the next day the rest of us took our pictures. Unfortunately by the time we were all ready the sun and wind were in full effect and so was the squinting and awkward shadows and none of the kids were really in the mood (neither was I...I was a little crabby that morning!).

Love the pose little diva!

After a lot of not so successful shots, we headed up to the house and tried the shade of the driveway. Still not it, exactly.

FINALLY, in a last stitch effort we tried the porch and I actually love these...

Possibly my favorite of them all, the celebration afterwards. Thanks Grandma!

OBX: The Lighthouse

Spent one morning at the Currituck Lighthouse.

My cute brother, Chase and my even cuter nephew, Grayson.

And my cute sister and her family. It was really windy on top of the lighthouse.

OBX: The Rest of the Trip

We spent the rest of the trip reading, bike riding, eating (a lot!), laughing (a lot!) and just enjoying being with family.

Here's one of our ice cream sundae parties (this one in honor of Presley's birthday).


Dinner at our favorite restaurant ended with some bonding on the pier. Love this picture!

And it wouldn't be a trip to the Outerbanks without Duck Donuts. Every morning fresh (made to order) donuts were waiting for this kiddos when they woke up.

OBX: Crabbing

It's Outerbanks tradition, hunting for crabs at night. Discovered accidently our first trip there, it is now what my boys look forward to most! This year we even found them scurrying around during the day.

At night the boys made some friends to help us with the hunt.

OBX: The Pool

My favorite part of the trip? The pool in our backyard (or technically, our front yard). What better way to relax than poolside in between playing in the ocean and digging in the sand!

Paige cruised around the pool all by herself with her water wings.




It wouldn't be a vacation at the pool without the catch game. I played to, but there definitely won't be any pictures of that posted here!

OBX: The Ocean

The water was pretty cold and the undertow was crazy strong, but we still had a blast playing in the ocean.


These girls are adorable!

Most entertaining were the adults in the water. Here is my Uncle Mark getting pounded by the waves. My mom would kill me if I posted the pictures or videos of her, but let's just say the videos provided hours of entertainment for us in the evenings.

OBX: The Beach

If possible the kids would have spent the entire trip playing in the sand! Each day they tried to build a castle bigger than the last day.


Ty Guy is a good builder but an even better designer and supervisor!

My niece, Presley, cracked me up in her big hat eating her snacks and sweet little Gray was sick most the trip so he slept a lot.

Best little buddies in matching suits!

The boys loved hanging out at the beach each morning with dad before the rest of the crew was up and moving.