Vacation part 2 ....

more pictures from the Outer Banks...

a bunch of pictures of 2 of our cute grandchildren

Avery Grace is so silly

It has been 11 years now since Johnny's sister Jamie passed away

She loved the Outer Banks so when they re-did one our favorite

piers, they had fish put in to the pier and for a small price

you could have it engraved for someone.

So we had one made for Jamie and we always visit

her fish on every trip

there used to be a little amusement park at the beach

it closed up a long time ago

and now they have built a playground for the children

also a big area for music, festivals....things like that

the kids loved it

later....

Vacation ....

We spent a wonderful week at the beach

with our daughter Jacquelyn, son-in-law Bucky

grandkids Declan and Avery Grace

and Bucky's mom Lynne

We rented a home right on the ocean

and it had it's own pool

Those 2 things are what is important to us!! haha

It was such a wonderful week to be at the beach

the weather could not have been any better

70's, low 80's.....always a breeze

and the ocean was warm! PERFECT

We did have one day that was overcast and way 

too windy to be out on the beach

so of course shopping was on the agenda for that day

We played putt putt 3 nights as that is what Declan

loves to do! 

ate at great restaurants, lots of delicious seafood

and just basically had a true vacation of relaxing on the beach

the kids loved the ocean, Avery a little too much

she always wanted to go further out in the ocean

we had to explain to her that it just gets deeper!

Not a good week hunting for shells and sea glass

seemed where we were there were very few shell beds
I have so many pictures to share I will have to do 2 post

this is our view from our top deck

while on vacation, I love to start the morning with
a good bloody mary

silly Avery Grace

we bought this new awing for the beach
Nicole and Tyler used it when they went in August
on our trip, the wind got ahold of it and blew it over
and 2 of the legs were bent so badly....now it's trash!

always representing my work....hahaha

Avery loved napping on the beach....on her mommy!

It's not a trip to the beach if you don't go to Dairy Queen

Waiting for our table at Red Drum, one of our fav restaurants

Declan won a free game of putt putt when he
got a hole in one on our first night of playing

Lynne and I at Hurricane Moe's happy hour
chowing down on shrimp, wings and tacos!

it looks like the wind is catching Avery Grace but 
actually she was jumping
still, it's a funny picture

Declan loves playing games and he has
the best daddy who always plays them with him

my babe....love this man so much

The Outer Banks now has a Home Goods so
Jacquelyn, Avery and I went over to check out their
Halloween decorations. I picked up a few new
things for our Halloween party

The super big kites flying over Jockey's Ridge
the highest natural sand dune on the East Coast

My favorite road...Highway 12, Beach Road

the only shells I collected the entire week

the water was so warm the whole week

Look how cute they are carrying their stuff to the beach

I'll post more pictures tomorrow

later....

Our home ....

It's no secret among family and friends that Johnny

and I plan to retire to the beach

It IS a dream come true for us

and I pray that it will happen

but before that, we must deal with our current home

and selling it. People often ask me how can you give up

your kitchen.......easy, I am moving to the beach!

how can you move from the home you raised your children....

easy........I am moving to the beach

how can you leave your kids and grandkids

not easy but I do know that as the grandkids get older, their lives

along with their parents will get so busy and though they may not 

believe this now, there will come a time they don't have

time for us. I know, we've been there

And this is NOT about leaving our kids, this is about chasing our dream

We have spent the last 35 years nurturing, protecting, caring for our children

Now it is our time, our time to spend together in what I refer to

as my "last quarter" of life

Homes in the Outer Banks go fast and we want to be ready

so we have plans to put our home on the market

and then just rent something until we find what we 

want at the beach

To get our home ready, there are just so many little things to be done.

first on my list was to paint the master bathroom

Johnny is putting in new floor and a new toilet
here's the color before.....

and after, just a clean bright WHITE

I will post after pictures once Johnny
gets the new floor installed.

later.....

Kitchen flood ....

We had a pipe under our kitchen sink come undone

and it gushed and spewed HOT water

Lucky for us it happened while we were home

I cannot imagine the damage had we not been there

as our kitchen and part of the dining room flooded

in just minutes!!

Johnny was trying so hard to turn the water off under the sink

but the water was so hot he couldn't get under there

he ran to the garage and turned the hot water heater

off and that shut down the water.

but at that point, water was everywhere

We grabbed every towel we had to sop up the water

what a mess

and I really feel bad even complaining because it

is NOTHING compared to what people

in Texas and Florida are dealing with

Our insurance was great and sent the company out
right away to dry out our kitchen
we had 14 fans and a big dehumidifier in our
kitchen for 4 days. Man oh man, it was LOUD
and the fans are on non-stop

the dogs were very confused by all of this

and by the end of the 4 days, they were ok standing

around them and letting the air blow on them....haha

We are very lucky to have great homeowners insurance

that will cover everything, except the $500 deductible.

so now we have to have our kitchen, dining room, back hallway,
and half bathroom floors sanded, stained and 3 coats of poly
They also have to replace all of the kick plates
on the kitchen cabinets. And the cabinet that the kitchen
sink is in has to be replaced. I pray the granite does not
get messed up when they slide that cabinet out

oh boy, a week with no kitchen = no fun

later.....