One of the best things about living in North Carolina is the geographical diversity of the state. On one end you have the Blue Ridge Mountains and on the other you have the coast. When you drive from west to east, you get to see it all. Interstate 40 runs across the entire state. This past week, we spent a lot of time on I-40 traveling from Western North Carolina to Topsail Island (near Wilmington) en route to a beach vacation with my husband’s family.
This was a wall map in a diner on Topsail Island. We got to poke Waynesville (where we’re from) and Albemarle (where my husband’s family is from). Neither town had yet been poked, and the boys thought it was the coolest that they got to put the pins in.
The car ride was over six hours which is at least a little better than when we travel to the Outer Banks, a drive that can take up to nine hours. Like I said, the state is quite long. The boys do well on long car rides and luckily, with it being 2016, I can even work on my computer while riding down the road. I once loathed long car rides, but now I love them because they force me to sit still and get work accomplished.
I shared some photos from our beach trip last week, but I wanted to share a few others that highlighted some special, unique moments from our trip.
A highlight of the week was having this sweet boy in our bed. With 11 people staying in one house, we had to bunk tight, so this was the sweet image I saw each night when I went to sleep. I loved it.
With two small boys, there’s not a ton of relaxing on the beach, so I thoroughly enjoyed the ten minutes here and there when I was able to sit, listen to the waves, and enjoy a good book. I am reading Love Does by Bob Goff. So good!
My mother-in-law takes Pilates, and you can clearly tell! Not every grandma could get on the floor and wrestle with a four-year old “ninja turtle”. You go, MeMe! You seriously rock.
One morning, Brooks and I woke up before everyone else (6:03 am to be exact) so we could catch the sunrise. He loves using my DSLR, so we both snapped photos and enjoyed one of the most beautiful 10 minutes of God’s glorious day.
Our super cute niece and her hubby are expecting their first child in January, so there was a lot of baby talk! Seriously, aren’t they so cute?
We spent one evening in nearby Wilmington, a beautiful, historic port city in North Carolina. My husband, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law are all UNC-Wilmington alumni, so it’s always fun for them to return to their old stompin’ ground.
It was a wonderful week, and I feel very grateful that we had the time to reconnect as a family.
We’re all settled back in our cool mountains and happy to be back into a routine, but we look forward to the next time we can say hello to the North Carolina coast. Until next time, Topsail Island!
Linking up with Krystyn at Really, Are You Serious for Mommy & Me Monday
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