*Miss to Mrs to Mama*: September 2017

Hi sweet friends!!!

I hope everyone is having the very best last few days of summer.

I'm sad to see this season end but so excited for a new school year!

Layla is getting ready to start 1st grade at our local elementary school - this means ALL new friends (literally - she doesn't know anyone) - taking the bus - homework - all the fun things that come along with a new year!

Benny is getting ready to start Pre-K at his new school as well! He started camp there in June so he's a little more used to it but it'll be a whole new ballgame for school. I'm confident we made the right choice switching from our beloved school to here - I miss CSS SO much but we needed something closer (his new school is about 3 minutes from our house) and he'll make new friends that will go on to be at the elementary school with him.

Lots of big changes! Josh is doing GREAT at his new job and each month is better then the next as he finds his footing - PLUS, he's working from home now so he's able to help with getting Layla on & off the bus, breakfast in the morning and homework at night. It'll be great to have his support.

I'm doing really well -- I'm loving Orange Theory SO much and work is amazinggggggggg. I'm still with my sister and we've hired two new amazing women to help us grow the business. It's all so exciting and fun.

Now onto the reason for my post -- our vacation last week to OBX! This was our 3rd time going and most certainly NOT our last. We started going in 2013 when Layla was 2 and Benny was 7 months old. It's all 20 of us (my parents, my siblings and their families and us!) - so that's 10 adults, 10 kids in ONE giant house on the beach in Corolla, North Carolina for one week. It's the absolute best time and this year was just as great as the others!!

Here's what we do.....

We start on Twiddy - this is the property management company. We personally like to stay on the 4x4 beach so when we choose our house, we filter by Corolla, then the 4x4 beach. This literally means you drive your car ON the beach and our house this time around was 7 miles up the beach. In order to drive on the beach, you need to have an all-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive car. Our first year, we rented and these past two trips, we have used Josh's Jeep Grand Cherokee. When you get to Twiddy, you let the air out of your tires to get the pressure to 18 -- and you keep it like this for the week.

Once you check in, you drive to your house! AND there you stay for a week!!! The town itself is lovely but quite small - there is a huge grocery store (Food Lion) so you can do all of your shopping once you get there (our first year we brought all of our groceries with us -- lesson learned, you don't need to do that!) There is a Dunkin Donuts, Dairy Queen, Mexican restaurants, pizza places, mini-golf, ice cream places and assorted other restaurants around but that's basically it.

This is the type of vacation for strictly family time and beach time!!! We spend the week doing the same things - wake up early, walks on the beach, breakfast, playing on the beach, swimming in the pool, dinner, hot tub and board games! It really forces you to disconnect and enjoy each other's company.

The houses themselves are magnificent - we have stayed in Bubba's Beach House, Dune Maker and most recently Southern Exposure 2. They are all incredible - HUGE, the best views, the coolest amenities. We personally like staying beach front (this past time, we were one row back and I'd much prefer to wake up with views of the ocean)

Please feel free to ask questions if this is a vacation you are considering -- I'm not an expert but I sure do love it. From Philadelphia, it's about 7.5 hours away by car (flying isn't really an option due to the airports distance) -- but we make the drive part of the fun!! Lots of cool Farmers Markets, etc. The kids do great -- I'd say its 80% fun, 20% annoying (haha) -- also, the road directly into Corolla can get quite traffic-filled so we prefer going Sunday-Sunday versus Saturday-Saturday (less traffic).

Happy vacationing friends!!

All my love,

C

Professional pictures by the amazing Danielle (my sister in law) of Bee Dee Blue Photography!