More from the weekend ....

Our daughter Jacquelyn and son-in-law Bucky 

treated us to a steak dinner 

for Fathers Day

and it was delicious!!!

We had steak, fresh tomatoes, corn on the cob, baked potatoes

cucumber and onion salad and blueberry pie

After dinner we went on a walk...

Declan and Avery were very proud to walk the dogs by themselves

right at the end of our street is the sound

Bucky stayed home because the pie was in the oven

he took this picture from the front balcony

after such a busy day these 2 cuddled up worn out

so sweet

and the picture below is the next day when they

were leaving to go home

It was a fun time

later....

Beach .....

After the Kite Festival we went over to the beach

it was a beautiful day and the kids had so much fun

Declan is very nervous about the ocean but not Avery....

she didn't want us to hold her hand, told us she was fine!!

we told her NO WAY...ha!

So cute carrying their own chairs and their buckets

we got back to the house and they wanted to play in the

little swimming pool

later....

Family Carnival .....

the week after we moved to the beach 

our daughter, son-in-law and 2 grandchildren came to visit

We went to the Family Fun Fair on the sound on Friday night

it was a fun time, small, clean and not crowded

Avery Grace had never ridden a ride before so she was very excited

it was a beautiful afternoon, perfect weather

The Soundside is a nice little park down in Nags Head

for all kinds of events

Avery had never been to a carnival before so she was really

mesmerized by all of the games and prizes

Declan and I rode the roller coaster

He was a little nervous when it started to go

But then was having a wonderful time

right in the middle of the picture you can see Jacquelyn

and Avery riding. Avery smiled and laughed the whole time

Declan was so worried about her....he was afraid she would be 

scared and cry but she loved it

Declan loved going through the obstacle course

they played a game and both won a prize

later....

Making progress ....

Lots to do around here as we settle in to our new home

on this little sand bar called the Outer Banks

We have been here 2 weeks today

here is my Virginia wall

the top picture is our previous home in Glen Allen

Jacquelyn and Bucky had an artist draw this as a gift to us at Christmas

the little picture is a cool picture of the state of Virginia done

by a local OBX artist. Our awesome real estate agent gifted us this

and the long picture is the state of Virginia that I cross stitched

many years ago when I used to do that a lot

Jacquelyn and Bucky said I need to paint that frame

Carolina blue so need to go get that

I have lots of family pictures that I just love

at our previous home, each room had 4 walls so lots of space

to hang pictures. But the living space in our beach home has

4 walls....living room, dining room and kitchen.

So I had to be a little creative, with the help of Jacquelyn, on

deciding to do family pictures along both sides of the staircase. I do

have room to add more pictures and I'm really happy with how

it turned out

Ignore the big blueish painting leaning on the wall

haven't gotten that up yet

and note the textured walls, love them

everything smaller in the beach house...including the pantry.

I was used to a pretty large one in our other home

and this one is small, and you can't really see what is in the back.

So I organized each shelf and labeled it so there is no

need to ask where something is....hope it stays straight!

the builder did the TV / cable connections on the wall

in all 3 bedrooms and the living room. Nice to get at least one

up today...thank you Babe!!

The master bedroom now has a TV instead of it

sitting on one of the bar stools

Notice there is still no furniture...haven't gotten that far yet

Just a bed and a TV!

later....

A big move ....

I have not done a post since January 6th ... wow

But a lot has happened in our life so I thought I should

document everything going on!

We have a new grandson.....John Cash Delaney

born on April 25th, 3 weeks early

He's the Delaney namesake and just precious

Jacquelyn and I were able to go to York, PA and

be there when he was born.

Johnny had to stay home as we were SELLING our home!

that's right, selling our beautiful home of 27 years,

the home where we raised our children, made so many

memories. But for us, it was time to start a

new adventure!

So we decided to take advantage of the "sellers" market

and find the perfect home to retire in

down in the Outer Banks of North Carolina

And we did!

We downsized big time....going from almost 3,000 sq ft

to 1708 sq ft. 

Of course it was tough getting rid of things so I ended up

holding on to too much! We get in the new house and 

I have no room for so many things. So then it became

easy to get rid of things...haha

So now my blog will become 

"Life on a sand bar" 

and I'm really going to try hard and document 

our new life.

Moving day was not easy for our 3 doggies
poor Khaleesi Rue was so confused about what was going on
as the movers started bringing things upstairs, she took advantage of any
open cabinet she could find and was hiding

here's our kitchen. I love it and pretty much have the same
amount of cabinets as the house we sold.
a few are a bit smaller
I was unpacking as fast as they were bringing them up the steps
We have a typical beach box home, reverse floor plan
so our kitchen, dining, living room, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms
are upstairs. Downstairs is a bedroom, bathroom and recreation room

here's the dining room....kitchen, dining and living room
are just one open room

we were unable to have our fence installed so the fence guy
installed a temporary fence so we could at least open
the door and let the dogs out

they were nervous at first but now seem to be enjoying it right much

and now after almost 2 weeks, they love laying in the sun in the sand

I'm not really sure when this "Nags Head" horse was bought
but my Momma bought it I'm going to guess 50 years ago. I was probably about 12 years old when we went, but not positive about that.

We went there when us kids were young and there was pretty much
nothing down here in Nags Head but cottages, a restaurant and a
couple of gas stations. It was always just called Nags Head but it is actually
made up of a few little towns starting with Kitty Hawk which is probably about 4 miles long, then Kill Devil Hills which is maybe 6 miles long, then Nags Head which is the larger town that goes to the end of the island. Later on it picked up the name of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It's actually just a sand bar along the coast, at some points only 1/2 mile wide if that. We moved to Kill Devil Hills. We are one block from the sound and 1/2 mile from the ocean.
Johnny and I have vacationed down here for 40 years and always dreamed of one day living here. So this "Nags Head" horse means a lot to me....that my 
Momma bought it. I remember her telling Daddy "do not ever bring me to this God forsaken place again"....haha. And then as the years went by, she loved coming down here. It grew from just the Beach Road to the bypass that started filling up with stores and restaurants and then Momma loved it and came down on vacation with Johnny and I. 
So in this window in the dining room is the perfect place for it.

I just couldn't wait to get my flag up and my sweet
babe installed it on flag day for us!

It will be 2 weeks tomorrow that we moved here

I still wake up each morning and cannot believe I am here

life on a sand bar....it's just fun

later....