The Sink Family!: #sinksinthesand2018

A few years ago, we were craving time away as just a family of 4. We love vacationing with our family, but you've gotta make sure to spend time with just the small few closest to you. So two years ago we decided to take a fall trip away to Massanutten. We loved it, so we did it again last year. Earlier this year, Georgia decided we weren't doing a big beach Sink vacation, so I decided our fall trip would be to the beach. Last year when we went to Corolla with the Trevillians/Overstreets, it was a bit chilly and we couldn't even play in the pool or ocean... so I figured, what's the difference in going in October when it's chilly anyway?

I searched high and low for the perfect house right on the ocean. Since we were going in the off-season, we were able to afford something close to the sand and waves. Not only did we book something oceanfront, but when we arrived, we immediately heard the waves from INSIDE the house. I had the feeling our week was going to be exactly what we needed.

Saturday

made it to the OBX and just finished up lunch, burning off 3 year old energy

....still killing time at the Super Wings

this photo is titled "The moment Ella fell right into the Atlantic Ocean"
Don't worry, not to be outdone... Sydney did it about 37 seconds later

and this is our view for the next week... just perfect and so relaxing

Sunday

I peeked out of our bedroom door when I woke up and saw this gorgeous sunrise

We didn't bring many groceries with us, but we made sure to bring coffee. So Daniel made us coffee, and we drank it on the ocean and let the girls run around before heading out for breakfast and groceries

E L L A

S Y D N E Y

Big chair
Two little girls
What's a better way to kick off vacation than with hot, fresh Duck Donuts!?

Sydney

Ella is in donut heaven

We went for a walk to find seashells, and loved finding these "pools"

what a gorgeous emerald ocean... and it was this color most of the week

ahhh... it was naptime, so I grabbed a glass of wine, opened up the door to hear the ocean, and worked on updating this bad boy (which I'm ALWAYS behind on!)

hanging out in the hot tub

The weather was so, so perfect. For our morning coffee, we did leggings and tees. During the day we were comfortable in bathing suits. And each evening, we threw on sweatshirts. I don't think we'll ever get so lucky again, so we soaked it all up!

running off some energy after dinner before ice cream and the sun set

my people

my main squeeze

gorgeous, gorgeous

doesn't get any more perfect than this

Monday

ready for a fun day

#doublesinks

Running away from waves
Jumping over waves
Building sand castles
Finding seashells
The world's largest sandbox
=Pure bliss for our sweet girls

Ella wanted to jump over waves over and over

ran down to fill up their buckets

waiting for the waves to roll in

running away from waves with my girl E

Syd's turn

snack break

really enjoyed bundling up during naptime with this cutie

wave runners

me and my girls

just look at that amazing sunset sky

salty kisses and starfish wishes

A local photographer was offering sessions under the Milky Way. Apparently it's rare, so we decided - why not?? We headed out Coquina Beach at 8pm when it was super dark. We had to wait our turn with sleepy girls, but they did great. It was a really neat experience, and I'm glad we did it :)

After we came back from the Milky Way pictures, we tucked the girls in and grabbed a blanket and headed out to the sand to look at the stars and listen to the waves <3

Tuesday

Jeanette's Pier after a delicious breakfast at Sam and Omie's

yup

making a mer-man

Syd's turn

and finally Ella

rinsed off all that sand and had lunch
STOP! All the heart eyes!

my best guy

We got all cleaned up and headed to the Black Pelican for a really, really delicious seafood dinner. The girls were delighted they had their dinner served on frisbees.

sweet crabby girls

waiting for our table

After dinner and ice cream, we headed back to search for crabs on the beach

"yook, syd! a trab!" -Ella

Wednesday
We took a short break from the sand and sun to visit the aquarium in Manteo.
It was awesome. We arrived right after they opened, and there weren't many people there. It was perfect because the girls had some freedom and got to roam around, while Daniel and I were able to really see some of the exhibits. Since going out is so stressful, this was such a nice treat!

hanging out with the alligators

happy, happy, happy

trying to reach the sting rays

Momma's favorite: the jellyfish

scuba divers doing a Q&A in the Shark Tank

After we finished up at the aquarium, we tried out an open-air restaurant on the S Nags Head Pier called Fish Heads. Not only was the atmosphere awesome, but the food was delicious.