We kicked off our summer in the Outer Banks, NC!

As usual, we drove from Pittsburgh to my mom and dad’s beach house in Kill Devil Hills and spent a little over a week with them. We had such a wonderful time taking a break from normal life.

Some of my favorite moments:

• Finding two starfish while walking on the beach with Jimmy and showing them to the kids.
• Having Dakota with us for her first beach trip!
• My dad teaching me how to use their charcoal grill.
• Going to a bookstore and gourmet food store by myself and browsing without feeling guilty because there were three adults with the kids.
• Mini golfing with everyone. I beat Jimmy hehe.
• Visiting a restaurant with live music and watching Sadie hold and dance with Dakota.
• Playing at a park with the kids. We chased them and raced and they were so happy.
• Escaping rainy and chilly weather in Pittsburgh and spending as much time as possible outside.
• Riding bikes with Jimmy and Sadie.
• Spending uninterrupted time with my parents, Jimmy, and the kids.

How about some of my favorite pictures from the trip?

We went out to dinner at Outer Banks Brewing Station one night (they have the best soft pretzels 🥨) and there was live music outside. It felt so good to soak up with warm weather and watch Sadie dance with her baby sister.

I say this every time I post about the Outer Banks, but if you ever go, the one thing you must do is visit Jockey’s Ridge State Park. The sand dunes are just unreal and always changing. It’s gorgeous!

Jimmy and I made it out on a lil date night! We went to a steak and seafood restaurant and then shopped for shorts for Jimmy because we forgot to pack them haha.

I love this picture of us cycling with Sadie. I pretty much just watched her the whole time with that exact smile on my face. I am feeling so nostalgic about her growing up lately. She’s a kid now and it’s just… how did that happen? I’m so proud of who she is becoming. These summers spent at the beach house will be core memories for her and I love that I get to see it happen right before my eyes, but also want time to slow down.

Jimmy played and played and played with the kids all week. I felt so blessed that they had that time together. The kids adore their daddy and him having time to give them extra attention was simply the best.

We visited our home away from home church, Son Rise Church of Christ. It’s really special to worship with fellow Christians at a church that truly feels like home. My mom and Sadie matched dresses and it was so sweet!

Jimmy requested we go on a run together (!) so we made that happen a few times! We did a mile each run we went on. These were some of my first times running postpartum, so that was nice! I’m thankful my mom and dad could hang with the kids while we did this.

Our little beach baby! It was wonderful to take Dakota to the beach for the first time 🐚

We visited one of our favorite fishing piers and saw quite a few fish that people had caught. The kids were fascinated by sheepshead fish because they have teeth that look like human teeth!

We drove Jimmy’s truck onto the beach at the Oregon Inlet and we all really enjoyed it. The beach is calm and the kids ran wild playing and flying a kite.

It was so sweet watching Sadie and Mordecai work together to fly a kite 🪁

We cherished every moment with my mom and dad. So thankful for their hospitality and love 🫶

And that’s a wrap from our trip! We had such a joyful, blessed time and can’t thank my parents enough for having us. We’re driving home as I type up this post and I’m in that weird in-between time of being sad our vacation is over but also looking toward our normal life. All the emotions!!

Here’s a vlog from when we left Pittsburgh and our first day in the Outer Banks! I didn’t film any other days because we were just living in the moment!