The Fantastic Mr. & Mrs. Fox: Fox reunion in the Outer Banks.

This blog post would be more aptly named a partial Fox family reunion, Brett and Andrea, Rob and Shannon, you were missed. A couple months ago conversation started swirling around Facebook about a Fox sibling reunion, last week it actually happened. Shauna and Jesse flew from Utah, Bill and Suzanne plus 2/3 daughters drove from Virginia, and Glenn and I plus puppies drove from Durham, and we all stayed in a lovely beach house, less than 200 feet walking distance from the water, for the week.

To be honest this vacation was off to a rough start before we even left home. We budgeted our vacation money, woke up the day before we’re supposed to leave, and see that some stupid company decides to take out an unauthorized payment that completely threw us off. Sunday morning we were super anxious to get on the road, I couldn’t sleep anyway, and we were up at 6:00 getting ready and packing our car to go. About half way there we get a speeding ticket! Really?! The worst part is that this was a speed trap that was impossible to avoid. We were following our GPS, it shows the speed drop from a 65 to a 55, we drop down to 53 because Glenn just saw a cop, cross a bridge and wham we’re being pulled over. What?! The cop tells us we are now in a 35 zone. “When did that happen officer?” “It turns into a 35 as soon as you cross the bridge.” Yep that’s right, before we have a chance to see a sign or have the new speed register on our GPS; barely over the bridge and we get a ticket. To make it worse the officer also takes Glenn’s license while he’s at it saying it’s inactive. Thinking I’m going to have to drive we ask the officer what will happen if he sees Glenn drive away. He says he won’t stop us but if another officer does it could mean prison and all that jazz. So Glenn drives off anyway and I become a speed Nazi the rest of our trip, no joke the speed limit was a 25 forever and you better believe we stayed true to that. Feeling broke, stressed, and like we can’t catch a break when we finally get there it took me a couple days to unwind and start enjoying this vacation. Sunday it was raining all day, not just a light drizzle, but a crazy storm that trapped us inside all day. Glenn and I seriously spent 4 hours watching American Ninja Warrior that night until we fell asleep. Monday it was freezing and no one was up for much. Other than our walk on the beach that morning it was more staying indoors. I was going stir crazy and feeling like this was too similar to my normal everyday life. I received bad news from my OB that I failed my blood glucose test and I’m anemic. I received bad news from Corey and thought we may have to cancel our visit to see him on our return trip home. Trying to coordinate with so many other people’s schedules and interests was difficult, and as much as I love Glenn’s family it’s trickier when it’s not your own, and you still feel like the newbie. I wasn’t happy or having any fun. Glenn told me we aren’t going on vacation again if it stresses me out so much :-( After a much needed heart to heart with my husband things brightened, literally, still cold and hovering around 50 degrees, but the sun graced us with its presence a few hours every day.

Tuesday morning we walked on the beach again with our puppies. We were the early risers of the house and enjoyed some us time each morning. I’m a person that needs routine, and having one each morning really helped me start to calm all my anxious feelings and relax. I loved taking pictures of Glenn running with Rocky and Lexi full speed on the beach completely in their happy place. My favorite was watching as the puppies ran away from the waves as the freezing water brushed against their paws. Rocky enjoyed tasting some of the local cuisine; he had a knack for finding dead crabs, yuck! We teased that these puppies are going to be very disappointed when they resume normal walks around the parking lot of our complex in the mornings. Rain or shine, we were going sightseeing today too. There is something to be said for learned behaviors. All vacations I can remember with my family were jam packed with activities and sightseeing. When you are in a new place that’s just what you do, and setting a schedule for the day is how I know to vacation. Glenn had to remind me that everyone else there was taking a break from something, work, school, watching children, whereas my life is kind of leisurely at the moment already. Sleeping in until noon and chilling all day is a treat for most people, and I can’t be upset if people aren’t up to our plans. I went about the rest of the week with that mindset and not feeling like we needed to coordinate with everyone all the time helped me relax. Knowing it was acceptable to leave and do my own thing on a family vacation and I wasn’t being rude helped me breathe. Still learning life lessons at 24. Anyway– I would be a disappointment to my mother if I didn’t visit the nearby Currituck Lighthouse. We invited everyone to come with us, and everyone was up for it. Turns out we were only a 1.2 mile walk away, and a majority of that could be walked along the water! A nice long walk was just what my little pregnant body needed, and between the lighthouse and walking around the local village we walked about 3.5 miles.

Wednesday was my favorite day. I learned that the Corolla area is best known for the wild horses that run on the beach, and I absolutely had to go see them. Glenn and I went on a date in search of the wild horses, and even though we didn’t see them we had the best time. There is about a ten mile stretch of beach that allows cars on the sand, and we were literally driving just feet away from the water. Talk about the most scenic drive in the entire world! No stop signs or lights, traffic, cops, speed limits, listening to some Chili Peppers, Glenn was practically giddy. We actually drove all the way to Virginia where there are gigantic pillars all the way across the sand into the water because Virginia doesn’t allow cars. We had fun taking pictures touching the beach in two states at once. We stopped at a couple different sand dunes and hiked to the top hoping to find the horses maybe sleeping or running around behind them, but nope turns out they are seasonal. We had a tasty Oreo picnic at the top of a sand dune. We stopped and did a six month baby bump photo shoot and played around balancing on some drift wood. No horses, but I was totally content enjoying the search, scenery, laughing, taking pictures, and having a beach date with my man!

Thursday we had another group outing. We went to Roanoke Island and went on a tour about the Lost Colony that lived there in the 1500’s. Then on the way back we played a round of miniature golf at the sweetest looking golf course you ever did see. Glow stick puppies on the beach that night was by far one of the highlights of the trip for me. We attached glow sticks to Rocky and Lexi and let them run around on the pitch black beach. All you could see was a pink and blue glow bobbing around like crazy. Best idea! We love our playful puppies! We laid in the sand and looked in awe of the stars, you can see so many with an unobstructed view, and watched as the moon rose. The sunrise gets all the attention, but a moon rising is pretty spectacular. We went to karaoke that night, and I watched in moral support as Glenn, Shauna, and Bill dominated the stage. One day I’ll build up the nerve to karaoke and make Glenn the happiest husband.

Friday we woke early to catch a sunrise. Go figure my camera was dead after two pictures :-( It was nice to just hold hands, admire the colors, and watch as the sun rising looked like it was setting the clouds on fire. We were out of the house pretty early and had some time to kill before heading to Virginia Beach to see Corey, who luckily caught a break with his schedule. Shauna and Jesse also had some extra time before their flight so we went to the Wright Brothers museum together. “From Kitty Hawk to the moon in just 66 years” – there’s some history for ya! We drove to Virginia Beach after that and met up with Corey, who got to get off base for the first time, and all this pregnant woman wanted was some curly fries and a milkshake. Luckily he didn’t care and we enjoyed just chatting for a while. Short visit, but Corey’s worth the detour. Then we drove home. All in all, my week vastly improved from its rough start and I wound up with lots of memories, photos, and even some life lessons from our Outer Banks vacation.

Tuna Gorda beach house - Our home for the week.

Not too shabby of a view from our deck.

Morning run.

"It's very cold, we need our sweaters."

Rocky and Lexi got a little wetter from this wave than they wanted. With a little help from their Daddy ;-)

Running to get dry.

Perhaps my favorite picture from this trip.

Happy puppy :-)

Currituck Lighthouse

This should be an ad for Scion!

Foolish man built his house upon the sand?

Virginia being lame.

Romantic picnic atop a sand dune.

Karate kid.

Falling with style.

Trying to avoid falling, but look at that six month belly!

First and only dip in the ocean.

Really sad puppy.

"I'm a man!"

Those who braved the water.

Warming up!

Swimming lessons. Rocky lives up to his name, he is like a rock in the water, and has never been a good swimmer.

Monument to Virginia Dare, the first child born in the Americas to English parents. Her Grandfather, John White, returned to England when she was two weeks old to retrieve supplies for the struggling colonists. When White was finally able to return three years later on Virginia's birthday, all the colonists were gone. What happened remains a mystery today. Maybe it's my pregnancy emotions but this story is terribly sad!