OBX Annual Visit -- First Beach Day of 2014

After a long journey from Alexandria to Southern Shores, the family finally made it to its beach house for its annual week vacation in the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

Evie made a beeline to the beach to get some water  and sand for construction of her sand walls (which Ellie liked to call balance beams resulting in tiny destructive foot prints trampling Evie's work).

Ellie spots another balance beam!

Aaahhhh... nothing beats the sun, the ocean... 

...and throwing sand! 

Time to rebuild...

...with help from little sis!

After a quick visit to the beach, Evie, Ellie and Dad head to the water to rinse off the sand. Ellie, it's awfully challengng to rinse off the sand if you are jumping over the waves with Dad!

Ba's 80th Birthday and Dash for Dad...

The family was excited to celebrate Ba's 80th birthday this weekend!  Ba helped Ellie get blinged up in some beautiful bracelets before posing for this picture (Evie was outside having a water gun fight with the other kids). 

Ba surrounded by three daughters, two granddaughters, and one great-granddaughter. 

Four generations! 

Ba and her great-grand-children! 

The next morning, it was off to the races for our sixth Dash for Dad on Father's Day.  Evie did some stretches to prepare for the big race - the kids had their own Super Hero Kids Dash prior to the adults' 5K. 

Ellie gets in her cape and is ready to fly from Opa's shoulders. 

She's off like a speeding bullet!  Evie was going so fast, we couldn't even catch her on film... 

The two fathers show off their numbers, despite us skipping the race this year... 

However, the girls really got into their warm-up routine, doing some stretches - 

- and jumping jacks! 

Ellie was above it all. 

 Alas, Daddy was not to run this year, but there's always next year! 

Aw, these girls and their silly faces. Even though we didn't run the 1-miler, we still enjoyed at least a couple of delicious smoothies! 

Don't worry, Evie, there's always next year!

SIDE-TRIP! A fun detour on the way back from C'ville

On the way home, we decided to make a quick stop to go strawberry picking at Hollin Farms.  Evie really got into it, saying "I could do this all day!"  

Ellie, not so much, but that could have been because she just woke up from a nap and was more interested in snuggling.  

Evie peers through the leaves to see if she can find some juicy pickin's.  Strawberry picking quickly replaced the obstacle course as the best part of the weekend. 

Daddy and Evie with an amazing view in the background. 

They proudly show off their bounty. 

The family stopped by Naked Mountain Winery to enjoy a tasting and picnic lunch before hitting the road again for home. Evie tried out her photography skills to capture this shot, while Ellie is doing a dance routine in the background. 

Evie got a close-up of Ellie whose chin was covered with strawberries!  This was an outing we'll be sure to make an annual tradition! 

Wahoo-waa! The girls experience UVA, Reunion-style!

The family headed down to Charlottesville on Saturday to celebrate Mom's reunion and enjoy a fantastic day at UVA.  First stop was the new arts complex, where the girls enjoyed running around an installation in front of the new theater.  The "On the Fly" sculpture took UVA students and the artist 3 weeks to complete.

Next stop was Bodo's Bagel on the Corner. The girls were in heaven, each eating their favorite topping - cream cheese for Ellie, butter for Evie.  A lot of the cream cheese got all over Ellie's face, but she seemed ok with that.

Mom loved sharing UVA with her little girls, although they weren't very cooperative when it came to photos.  Then again, those delicious bagels can be distracting.

But hey, if Mommy can get some good hugs, it's all good. Next stop was dropping off Evie at "Kid's College," where she put together an amazing art book using cyanotype printing.  Everyone was impressed with the detail she put into her drawings, including the flowers she placed on her outfit.

Meanwhile, Mom, Dad and Ellie visited the bookstore for some UVA gear and strolled around Grounds.  Here Ellie is hamming it up, running around Hume Fountain.  Silly face reigns again!

There's always fun when there's a fountain nearby.

Mommy and daughter share some hugs on the Lawn in front of the Rotunda.  While on the Lawn, we also had a Katie Couric sighting, who was carrying her pillows to her Lawn room.

We picked Evie up at 3 and then head over to the Kid's Carnival, where Evie and Ellie were in moon bounce heaven.  Their favorite was the obstacle course with the big slide at the end.

Ellie loved the bubbles coming from the bubble machine and danced to the tunes.  Later that night, the girls attended the fiesta dinner and fell in love with churros as their new favorite dessert.

The next morning, before heading out of town we stopped once more at the Lawn to take some pictures with the girls.

Finally Dad gets from behind the camera and poses with his girls. They had some good daddy-daughter bonding time on the way home from the fiesta the previous night.

The girls loved the serpentine walls of the garden as we explored the pavilions on the way out. The paths were fun to run around in...

...but Evie loved taking a closer look at the flowers.  We had a great time in Charlottesville and hope it won't be another 5 years until we return!

Summer weekends mean pool, parties and fun!

The family capped Memorial Day weekend by celebrating Ellie's birthday at Ba's house. Our little princess looked like a regular Shirley Temple. 

Ellie is overjoyed when she opens her Kristoff and Anna set of dolls.  

Everyone sings Happy Birthday as she blows out the candles for the (next to) last time... there would still be cupcakes for her actual birthday, of course! 

This weekend we had perfect weather to celebrate Leena's seventh birthday at our pool.  Ellie loved her floatie and was quite good at paddling after her sister. 

Evie and "Pec the Toucan" were inseparable. 

Ellie is such a ham. 

Finally, today the whole family got to play in the new playset in our backyard.  Evie checks out the treehouse...

... before she and little sis try going down the slide together.  Probably an experiment we won't recreate.