Happy Monday! We are back from the beach and trying to get back into our summer groove. I made very early orthodontist appointments for the kids this morning and I am not sure what I was thinking.

We had the best time at the beach! We spent some time with Jeff’s brother’s family for a few days. The house was exactly perfect for us! There were four bedrooms and we woke up to this gorgeous view! We could all walk back to the house as needed and it was lovely.

We went only went out to dinner one night in the cutest town, Manteo. The views were beautiful over the Currituck Sound.

My friend, Val, recommended the cutest bookstore in Manteo. Downtown Books was closed in the evening but Luke and I went back the next afternoon. We had a great time browsing and picked up a few books for ourselves.

We moved houses on Saturday and moved in with Jeff’s whole family. Saturday’s weather wasn’t great so we went to Sam & Omie’s for the last hour while we waited for the house to be ready. Sam & Omie’s has been around in the Outer Banks for a long time. I had a most delicious drink, the dreamsicle!

This house was great, too! There was a ton of space, a pool, a hot tub, and it was close to the beach.

The rest of the week had the most gorgeous weather! The sun was shining all day, it was hot, and there was a lovely breeze. We spent a ton of time on the beach each day! The kids played in the ocean a ton. They boogie boarded, surfed, body boarded, and jumped waves.

In addition to all that daytime fun on the beach, we had some nighttime excitement, too. On Sunday evening, Jeff and Jack went for a walk on the beach. They found a team of volunteers watching a sea turtle nest. Luke made friends with the lead volunteer/nest parent, Michelle, and she was amazing. Every evening around 9, I checked in with Michelle and the turtle team to see if there was any action on the nest.

On Thursday evening, we got a text that there was a sink hole on the nest meaning the turtles were making moves towards coming out. We hung out at the nest for a little over two hours and were rewarded with the most amazing experience – watching the nest boil. It truly brought a tear to my eye. I felt just like Lovie, Cara, and Linnea from Mary Alice Monroe’s The Beach House series. It was just incredible! And then as we were walking back to the house, the sky lit up with a shooting star from the meteor shower.

On Saturday, I made it to the beach for sunrise. I love sunrises and watching the day begin. It was another fabulous beach day!

I’ll share some more later this week, but that’s a little bit of our beach time. We are going to spend today working on laundry and hanging at the pool. Have a great day full of sunshine and books!