Picking up where I left off, Michael and I managed to squeeze in a date night in D.C. (walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant) and it was then that I realized to my bewilderment that I likely hadn't been to D.C. in over 10 years. Holy cow!
It was a long drive to Avon, N.C. and it didn't help that we were fighting peak holiday traffic the whole way down. But once we got there it was really epic. All the days ran together in a blur of blue skies, relentless wind, sunshine, surf and sand. Rinse and repeat! We perfected the combo of beach in the morning (with a packed lunch and full cooler) followed by a refreshing dip in the cold pool, followed by hot tub, followed by showers, dinner and sundowners over the sound.
After a night of good sleep and much needed rest in D.C., we drove through some famous sights as we continued to make our way to the Outer Banks: The Capitol, museums, the Mall, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Reagan airport...!
There was one morning when the kids went to paint ceramics, and another half day when Al and Michael went fishing (they caught a large drum that they had to throw back, and lots of stingrays!) while Rachel, Lola, Teo and I went shopping (SuperWings for the win!).
I tried my hand at beach paddleball and we took a dip in the sound. We watched epic sunsets, ate a lot of seafood and endless ice cream, played board games, caught crabs, tried sparklers (to varying success - Lola burned her big toe pretty badly, Teo burned his finger slightly, and Al may be a pyromaniac), and turned shades darker -- by week end it seemed we had sand coming out of our ears!
On our last night we went to a family dinner and also celebrated Wes' birthday early with a big trip to Dairy Queen. I tried my first m&m blizzard and was aghast at how sweet it was. But nothing could be better than the memories and experiences we started with family on this trip.
Then all too soon and before we could process it, our amazing vacation was at an end and we had to make our way back home on a multi day journey. Michael drove us to Norfolk and dropped us off (highlights: a nearly 4 hour drive, a rude airline receptionist who only became nice when she realized my airline status, and a delayed flight), then we took a quick domestic flight to JFK (I enjoyed this as I sat in first class while Rachel and the kids sat in economy -- it was due to this being a leftover stub ticket from a longer leg of another journey of mine -- but I've always wanted to try that move haha!) followed by interminable delays at JFK due to rain and more delays, followed by a super late night packing and hanging out with my parents a final bit, before a super early morning wake up to get back to JFK for a 10 am flight out (though we all very much enjoyed the lounge). Which was then followed by a 16.5 hour flight where the kids barely slept 3 hours and I slept not at all (I enjoyed that less), followed by arrival into Hong Kong on a hot afternoon where everything felt slightly off and our reactions to everything seemed just a bit delayed.