Beach Vacation!!

So apparently I'm only blogging every 2 months or so now. Life with a toddler :)

       We just got back from our long awaited beach vacation!! We saved up all those credit card points we got from our flights to Ethiopia and were able to score a sweet little condo on the beach at the Outer Banks.  The Outer Banks is quickly becoming one of our favorite places to go.  It is so untouched- so much natural beauty and there's hardly any tourist attractions at all- which we love! That might make us a little old- but we love getting away from the crowds, and going to the Outer Banks in October will do just that! We were staying in Hatteras- which is the farthest south before you have to hop a ferry to get to Ocracoke- we could literally see the ferry from our balcony.  We had the beach and the pool to ourselves and it was wonderful!! Ryah LOVED the water.  She wanted to go back and forth from the beach and the pool all week.  She would wake up from a "nap" I say nap very lightly because she did not nap well at all that week, and grab her bathing suit- still wet from the morning out and say "going pool!" It was so much fun to see her be so excited about getting to go to the pool and the beach for a whole week. This was the first time she'd been in a pool! I don't know how we made it all summer without going to the pool.  It was also nice for both of us to have daddy to ourselves for a whole week!! We haven't had that much uninterrupted time together since Ethiopia- and I wouldn't call that a vacation ;) and I doubt Ryah had any idea what was going on. So this was much more enjoyable! We had one chilly day- and we ventured out to the aquarium that day, also a lot of fun.  It was pretty great for Ryah's attention span and she loved watching the fish. She wanted to sit in front of each tank and watch them looking for Nemo :)  We had a great week enjoying the beautiful scenery and weather together as a family and I would say our first family vacation was a great success! We can't wait to go back next year!! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the week!

First Day at the pool!

The view from our balcony- I wanted to sit there all day!

Riding the waves!