Coquina Beach ~ Outer Banks

I love when people share great destination spots. I've never been much of a "crowd" person. Being out enjoying the peaceful nature is much more my thing. It seemed God just knew which direction to point us... yes He knew I needed a nice relaxing break away with my family... and boy did we get just what we hoped for. We had the perfect Inn with so much character and amazing views and the ladies from the Inn told us what beach was best to go to. They were right on! We went to two beaches on the Outer Banks and the one they suggested was by far the best. Not many people, great parking, large bathrooms, changing rooms, showers, lifeguards and a nice boardwalk to the shore. Here is Coquina Beach...

The beach was Kaelyn's favorite part of our vacation. If she had her way we would have never left the sand and water to do any other exploring. :) The boogie board was her absolute favorite which I'll share more pics of soon.

 

If you have a favorite beach location I would love to hear about it!

No more baby

I guess I should have known that when K drew and painted a family picture last week of her as a baby (note the really short hair) holding her parents hands that my baby was no longer a baby. 

This week it was all about showing what a big girl she is. Sigh. I'll miss the baby stage... it went by way too fast. But it is exciting to see her experience new adventures and enjoying it the entire way.

 

She started school! 

She was excited and confident. Her first day was way harder on mom than it was on her!

I am thankful it went so well!

 

Monday, her training wheels came off, so she's been riding every day this week and loves chasing me! :) It sure didn't take her long to get the hang of it.

Her father couldn't be more proud. :)

 

Thursday was our 9th wedding anniversary. 10 years since he asked me to marry him! Wow!

He's my best friend.

 

Kaelyn painted this for us at grandma's house while we had a quiet meal out.

Hubby is on the left and I'm on the right. Her artwork makes me smile.

An amazing husband and daughter... I couldn't ask for anything more. ♥

Peaceful stay near the beach

We needed to get away. When hubby and I both have jobs from home it is hard to come by uninterrupted family time. It took quite awhile to decide on a vacation destination. We knew we wanted to go to the beach. It's been five years since we've last been there and we would be celebrating our 9 year wedding anniversary a bit early. At first I was researching the west coast, but just couldn't find a place that wasn't overcrowded and would be kid friendly... so somehow I came across Roanoke Island Inn on the east coast. It fit us perfectly! Charming, peaceful, close to the beach... a real home away from home. Dee and Sarah were so welcoming and helpful during our stay. (Just one of the many things they did was go out of their way to find goat milk for our daughter who is allergic to dairy products. It is not easy to find around that area!)

The inn had lots of character and the views were beautiful! This is our breezeway/deck area that had open views to the backyard as well as the waterfront:

{backyard of Roanoke Island Inn}

{backyard~view towards the inn}

Kaelyn found her hat early on during the trip. She loved it and wore it almost all the time.

Sadly it got left behind at the last restaurant we ate at before getting to the airport. :(

Hopefully it didn't get thrown and another little girl can enjoy it.

That is our breezeway/deck area above. The right leads you to the rooms and the left takes you to the "reception" area...

Such a cozy space and their is a well stocked pantry/kitchen area where you can help yourself to snacks and drinks any time. And if you happened to forget something, no worries, it is probably there or they will find it for you. Awesome!

We were given a family suite. Kaelyn had her own little room. She had her own tv and dresser on the other side. Sleeping went so much better since we had our own rooms!

Our room was huge with a vintage flare. All the rooms are unique... just the way I like it. :)

The view at night couldn't have been better.
I highly recommend the Roanoke Island Inn if you are looking for a charming, peaceful getaway. It honestly was the best place we have ever stayed!

Back to real life

So hard to say goodbye to the warm weather, soft sand, amazing dunes, charming Inn and so much more. But we are back home and my body is trying to get used to the cooler temps. Never did I think I would come back to 50 degree temps in August! Uggh. Gotta love SD! :)

More photos coming soon.

Expecting!!!

No, not me, but sweet Melissa from The Polka Dot Pickle is!

She contacted me right before her maternity shoot to get one of my First we had each other prints for their session. Melissa was so great to work with and best of all she shared the photo with me! I was so excited with how it turned out I had to post it. (with permission of course) Cean One Photography did a fantastic job. Such a cute family! :)

I cropped this one so you could see the print a little better:

You can just see how much this little one is loved already. :)

Congratulations you two!

If you have an Enduring Arts print I would love to see a photo of the space it is hanging in or how you used it!