Outer Banks, North Carolina

The first leg of our long road trip took us from Milwaukee to the Mitsche's beach house on the Outer Banks. It was a long drive and when we got there we were ready to relax. We had great weather for all the days we were there with 70s-80s and sun. It was a nice change from what still felt like winter in Wisconsin. The days were full of time at the beach, time in the pool/hot tub, board games, great meals, and even a fire on the beach.
It was great to have everyone together since we are all pretty far apart, us in Milwaukee, David in Madison, Michael in Iowa, Matt and Kim in Dallas, and the parents in NY. It took some planning and some travelling, but everyone was together! And we can't forget about Cassie, who may have had the best days of her life, as you will see in the pictures below. And yes, we may be crazy dog people, but Cassie is a pretty great pup. So here is the trip in pictures:

There were walks on the beach with Diana and Cassie...

There were walks on the beach with me and Cassie...

There were walks on the beach with just Cassie!

At one point Cassie saw a crab run across the beach and into a hole. After that, she searched every hole and every place looking for those crabs... even in a bucket.

Then there's the pool. This is a newer addition to the beach house, the pool, bar, and hot tub. We spent a lot of time lounging around and in the pool, and at times it was a nice alternative to the sandy beach. It was also Cassie's favorite.

She enjoyed swimming in the pool... at times she just swam laps by herself.

She enjoyed walking around the pool...

She enjoyed riding the paddle board with us...

And sometimes she enjoyed riding the paddle board by herself...

Overall, as much as we liked the pool, Cassie loved the pool.

Diana and I took some time to go kayaking in the Pamlico Sound at pea island where we cruised around and saw lots of birds.

Before everyone left we were able to get a great group shot.

And a picture of just us.

And of course... just Cassie.

But wait! what beach vacation is complete without building a sand castle and digging holes!

Even Diana got involved in the sand sculpting...

To make the sun? a starfish? no, it is an octopus!

So we took a group picture with the sand octopus.

And that's about it. We had a great time in the outer banks visiting with everyone and now were leaving to continue our road trip with a drive up the coast to NY. We were leaving nice and refreshed after a relaxing time... well Diana and I were refreshed... Cassie was just pooped.