We enjoyed a wonderful week in Outer Banks, North Carolina!
Our beautiful
home away from home on the beach! We shared the house with three other families - the Huffmans, Bettingers, and Shupes - 23 people all together! It was a BIG house!
Heading out for a walk on the beach on Sunday.
Summer and Hannah enjoying a beautiful day!
Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy... this picture was taken about two minutes after we suggested to Andrew that we not swim in the ocean on Sunday. The soaking wet Andrew responded, "But I wasn't swimming...I was looking for sea shells!" Right.
Logan LOVES sand!!!
The Andersons, Huffmans, Bettingers, and Shupes all together for FHE. Cindy did a really fun lesson comparing Sundays and Sundaes. Good things to do on Sunday were yummy toppings (chocolate, caramel, sprinkles, etc), while not-so-good Sunday activities were not-so-yummy toppings (sand, grass, laundry detergent, etc). It was a huge hit! Treats were, you guessed it, SUNDAES!
The kids really bonded during the week! There were suprisingly few fights, condsidering that there were 15 kids (ages newborn-10 yrs) in the house! Since being home, Andrew keeps asking if he can have a playdate...with all the kids from the trip!!!
The water was FREEZING... but we all took the plunge anyway! You kinda get numb to it after awhile!
Our first day on the beach, poor Logan fell over in the water and couldn't get up, thanks to the waves crashing over him and pulling him down. It scared him so much that he wouldn't even get near the water after that without his Daddy!
Bryan and Logan watching the waves.
While in OBX, we visited the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, where their famous test flights took place. It was even Wilbur Wright's birthday on the day we visited, so we got in free! Bonus!
I can see why this place would be perfect for testing gliders an airplanes, there is a nice high hill to launch from (Big Kill Devil Hill), a great stretch of field below the hill, and it's pretty windy up there!
The thing that struck me the most during the visit was how grateful I am for those like the Wright Brothers who have that unbreakable pioneer spirit, who never give up on their vision, no matter what the odds. 
One of our outings in OBX was to the 
It's a LONG way down!