Beach Bums

Evan and I are back in Carrboro after a wonderfully relaxing week at Emerald Isle with the Drescher's and McDonald's. It was one of those vacations where no one really did much of anything - everyone got up when they wanted, headed to the beach when they felt like it, and then we all came back together for dinner each evening. This year, each couple had a night that they cooked dinner for all 10 people staying in the beach house. It ended up being a great strategy - mom wasn't stuck at the grocery store every day, and no one went broke trying to feed that many people on multiple nights. Still, we went out to eat a few times. The first night at the beach, after everyone had arrived safely, we headed out to dinner at a local seafood restaurant because it was Abby's birthday!

After dinner it was back to the house to open gifts so Abby could wear her birthday hat that she got that day from South of the Border. Great way to start the trip!

All the girls getting dressed up for Abby's birthday!

After dinner and celebrations on the first night

The house we got for the week was wonderful - plenty of room for everyone to have their own space, and a great open kitchen/living room that brought everyone together. Not to mention a relaxing pool and hot tub....

Tuesday night was my parents' turn to cook for the family. After some delicious BBQ shrimp, my mom brought out an amazing chocolate trifle...in honor of Evan's (early) birthday! After dinner he opened some gifts (which kick-started his excitement for more to come in a few weeks).  Below Evan is showing off his new print of Canaan Valley by Eddie Spaghetti, a local WV artist. It is going to look great in our living room!

The house we rented was pretty far down on the island. At this point the island is very narrow - depending on which direction you looked, we stayed in a 2nd row house facing the beach or a 2nd row house facing the sound! It was a beautiful week, so we did our best to take lots of pictures every night.

Friday, our last full day at the beach, ended up being the only day we got rain all week. During the storms we went to the movies and shopped around at some of the local stores. The weather cleared up by dinner, so we headed to Beaufort - about 30 minutes away - for our last evening out. I finally got a shot of the entire group before we headed out!

Had to have a silly picture...

 It was a beautiful evening in Beaufort, and as you can see from the pictures, we were picking out our new yachts as we walked along the boardwalk...

A huge thanks to mom & dad for taking us on such a wonderful vacation. We love you!

-Molls