Wow...that's all I have to say about our past week on Hatteras Island in North Carolina! What an amazing time in a beautiful part of this country! Jason's mom and stepfather (Jo & Greg) were kind enough to take us and Jason's brother, Jared, and his girlfriend, Erin on an unforgettable vacation from Sunday, 5/30-Sunday, 6/6! We also got to spend some time with Granny, who also came along! Jo and Greg rented an AMAZING house on the beach and we had a blast! Hatteras is my favorite beach that I have ever been to and one of the main reasons is that the island remains uncommercialized! Once you get off the mainland you'd be hard pressed to find a McDonald's, Taco Bell, Food City, Chilli's, Applebee's...I could go on and on. What we did have is some AMAZING, FRESH seafood at every meal from places including Rocco's, Happy Belly's, Dinky's, The Jolly Roger, The Quarterdeck (not the chain), The Sand Bar, The Fish House, and the Froggy Dog...among others! I dreaded returning to "reality" and having to eat non-seafood again!
Okay - enough talk...onto what you're all really waiting for :) Here are some pictures from our trip!
This is Connor, on the 9 hour drive (turned into 12 hours for us with all the stops we had to make with Connor), excited about his first vacation at the beach!
That night, Sunday, we ate at one of our favorites, Rocco's! Here's Connor with his daddy and his Uncle Jared!
Before we left for this trip, I was trying to figure out what to do without the gym all week :) Since I'm a cardio addict, I came up with an idea to take our hiking pack and each morning Jason and I could walk Connor along the beach! Here I am, with the boy on my back, for our very first 6 AM beach walk!
You may remember that we came to Hatteras with Jo and Greg in 2007 and that Jason had to get stitches (right before our engagement pictures) because of body boarding...well, you will not see any bodyboarding pictures in this blog this time and this is why....this is what we saw washed up on shore the very first morning after we arrived...
Half way through the walk, Jason and I switched and he got some exercise!
Later that morning, after Connor's nap, we decided to take him to the pool! he LOVED it! Here are some pictures of Connor swimming in the pool!
We decided to take Connor back down to the beach, later that day! Here he is showing us his "rock star" look!
Jared and Erin on the beach!
The Ratliff boys...
That night, we got ready and headed over to Dinky's for an awesome dinner! Here are Jo-Jo and Granddaddy Greg!
Connor and I, waiting for our table!
Jo-Jo and Granny at Dinky's
Connor, eating his crunchies...
On Tuesday morning, we all headed south to the next island, Ocracoke! This is Connor, driving the car while on the ferry!
Jo and Greg, after enjoying a delicious lunch at the Jolly Roger!
Jared, Erin, Greg and Jo!
The ladies in Ocracoke!
And the gentlemen!
Connor, wearing the hat Granny bought him in Ocracoke!
Here is a picture of the house we stayed in, "Summer Place". It was AMAZING!
Wednesday morning, taking our beach walk!
Our rivalry...
Next, we headed to the Native American Museum!
This was a special drum that you were supposed to make a wish on :)
Outside of the museum was a nature trail...
We headed over to the Fish House for lunch, after the museum! Here, Connor had his first hush puppy and loved it!
Next, we headed over to Cape Hatteras, to explore the lighthouse!
Unfortunately you cannot climb the lighthouse with a child carrier on your back, so Jason opted to sit it out and I climbed to the top!
This is how Connor was when I left...
And this is how he looked when I returned just 15 minutes later...
At the top!
He woke up a little later for a picture by a mini lighthouse!
With Granny, later that day!
Hanging out at the house!
Later that night, we headed over to the Sand Bar for dinner!
On Thursday morning we headed over to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum!
Later that day, we decided to go back to the beach!
He was really nervous at first, but after singing to him and letting him "dance" in the sand, he was ready to put his toes in the surf!
Our family's feet!
My new, all-time favorite picture of Connor! Great work, Jason!
Friday morning, on our walk...
Friday we decided to head north to Roanoke Island to hit Festival Park and learn some history! It was amazing! This is Connor, playing with the mirror, at the restaurant we ate lunch at!
At Festival Park there is an entire village set up to show the history of the English colonizing the island. It was amazing. We found this in the Indian village...for those of you who love LOST like Jason and I did...does this remind you of Jacob's mother? :) Sorry for those of you who have never watched LOST, there are a LOT of LOST pictures to come...
Hmmm....looks like some sort of sonic device to keep the man in black from entering the Other's camp...
Jacob's Cabin?
This was an exact, true to life, replica of the Elizabeth II that the English colonists first came to Roanoke Island on! It was SO cool!
The Man in Black's donkey wheel?!
Playing the game that Jacob and the Man in Black played, as boys... :) I told you, we are HUGE dorks!
Connor and I with the Colonist who told us all about the ship in an amazing aceint...he looked a little bit like Orlando Bloom!
Walking around the colony, we found this guy! Connor was not too sure about him :)
Playing with Connor in the gift shop!
\At the museum at Festival Park!
We tried dressing Connor up like a colonist, but he was not too happy about it...said we were smearing his image!
With the indians...my little Squa...
Jacob's cabin again?
Boogies the pirate!
Boogies the colonist!
Back at the house after an eventful day!
Some awesome souveneers that Jo-Jo found for Connor!
Later that night we had a BLAST! The only thing I can say about this picture is...WHAT IS ON YOUR HEAD...and is that a seagull?! Inside joke...
Granddaddy looking like a pirate!
Daddy and Connor "sharing" coffee Saturday morning!
We hit the stores our last day!
Our last day at the beach with Boogies!
Sad that he has to leave the beach tomorrow :(
We hope you've enjoyed! This is officially the longest blog I have ever done and SHEW - I hope you all enjoy it! We love you all!
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