Traveling with five kids is always an adventure...one that becomes increasingly unpredictable based on the distance traveled and the length of stay. No matter how carefully you prepare, things never seem to go as planned. What we have learned over the years, however, is that if we just go with it instead of fighting the current we end up having fun just because we're doing it together. Some of our favorite memories have come at the most unexpected times and in the most unusual situations. Because being together is what really counts.
Instead of a party this year Cassidy asked if we could visit the aquarium on Roanoke Island and so we planned a weekend excursion to the Outer Banks. We took off right after school on Friday, eager to start having fun. In Williamston, we stopped for dinner at Chop Stix (Cassidy's choice). The restaurant claimed to be the "Best Chinese Buffet" in the area...there really should be some regulations about who is allowed to stake that claim. What we found instead was the saddest little buffet on earth...there were only 2 other people in the restaurant. Joey and I promptly declared this to be "Adventure #1" on our trip and the kids, with equal enthusiasm, treated the buffet as if it truly was "THE BEST!" Lily declared the eggrolls to be the best she'd ever eaten, Cassidy discovered that she liked chicken and broccoli, the boys were thrilled to get some JELLO, and Emerson ate her fill of "noo-nles." Joey and I spent the meal laughing making jokes about the sign of the buffet that read, "An extra fee will be charged for too much wasted food from the buffet." "Oh my gosh, kids, you better eat everything on your plate or they're gonna charge us more money!!!"
Here are a few of my other favorite moments from the weekend:
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| Ready for the day! A friend of my BIL let us use his family's beach cottage for the weekend! We were so happy to be able to spread out in their place instead of being crammed into a 1-bedroom suite! |
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| Heading up to Jockey's Ridge |
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| The wind whipped sand mercilessly at us...there was wailing and gnashing of teeth. |
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| Jockey's Ridge was salvaged on a little hill we like to call "Fake Jockey's Ridge!" |
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| Climbing on a dead tree helped, too! |
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| Joey insisted on a picture so that people would know that we were actually there! |
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| Getting silly with the shark statue at the aquarium! |
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| Love Him!!! |
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| Watching the otters...Emerson's favorite. |
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| Helping sick turtles at the turtle rehab center |
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| Diagnosing her turtle |
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| Caring for his turtle |
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| Emerson got accidentally dunked at the touch tank. |
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| Eli LOVED petting the rays! |
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| Finn said this was his favorite part of the trip! |
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| It took Lily a looooooong time, but she finally petted one! |
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| The sharks were Eli's favorite thing! |
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| Happened upon this place for lunch...Guy Fieri approved from Triple D! LOVED IT!!! The food was amazing and our waiter - who is an ECU Pirate - was the best! Not only did he take great care of us, but as soon as we walked in and he saw our ECU shirts, he turned the game on so we could watch while we ate! :) |
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| Dare County War Memorial...love that the kids asked if we could stop and look at it! |
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| Posing at the Wright Brothers first flight sculpture. Joey and I had never been to the monument, so we were even more excited than the kids to see all the history! |
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| It was a steep walk up to the monument, but what a view from the top! |
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| It was so windy that I was hesitant to put Emerson down! :) |
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| Exploring Fort Raleigh |
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| What a awesome weekend...and it all counted as school time!!! :) |
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