Ah, yet another 4th of July spent at our favorite place, The Outer Banks! It was everything you’d think of when it comes to a beach trip! Relaxing, so much fun, and exhausting lol! I mean, I have a toddler and am pregnant, what did you expect? It truly was such a nice break from the hustle and bustle of life recently. From moving to growing a human and keeping a toddler occupied, it was great to slow down a bit! I basically completely unplugged and it was very refreshing! Side note, coming home to our new house still felt weird haha. I forgot how long it takes for a new house to really feel like home. Don’t get me wrong, I love our new house and was so excited to come home to it but it is still somewhat strange.

Since this was our second beach trip with a baby, I felt a little more prepared. I knew what to bring and how the week might go. I knew there would be an adjustment period and to just go with the flow those first few days. We attacked the trip down there the same as we did last year. We broke it up and stayed in Raleigh Friday night and drove the rest of the way Saturday. Luckily this year we get a head start and were able to beat a lot of the traffic getting onto the island. Which made the trip much more enjoyable!

Once we got on the island, we stopped for a seafood lunch at the Sun Fish Grill and then hit up the grocery store to stock up for the week. Since we stay on the 4×4 beach, we try to get everything we need in one stop so we don’t have to keep making the 2-hour trip into town to get stuff. Josh earned Daddy of the Year though by going on a hunt for baby powder the second day. The first two stores we checked were completely out! He takes care of his girls so well! He totally saved the beach trip!

We usually head into town and go shop at the Timbuck II shops one of the days! They have so many different shops and the best ice cream and fudge! We have gotten henna tattoos before, hair wraps, and new comfy clothes! Plus it is on the waterfront of the sound so every view is pretty!

Driving on the Beach

I need to take some videos next year of driving on the beach to get to our rental! It is always an adventure! You have to air down your tires before and stay in the ruts in the sand and don’t stop or you might get stuck! You also have to have a 4WD car to drive on the beach. It is all about the vehicle clearance, not power! We passed so many people stuck in the sand, or with broke parts on their cars because they didn’t have the proper vehicles.

Anyways, each family takes a night to cook dinner and for breakfast and lunches we just kinda do whatever! Most of the time someone will go up and make everyone a pb&j sammy and brings them all back down to the beach! We are all-day beachers! This year we had a 4 tent setup and it was awesome! Plenty of room for everyone to have a chair and room for a waterproof mat for B! We have a massive beach playlist that has genres that everyone likes and we add to it each year! I think it is like 26 hours long now!

The best part is you just throw everything in the back of the trucks and drive it down to the beach to set up and then drive it all back up at the end of the day! No hauling everything up the dunes and boardwalk! We refuse to beach any other way now! Thank God for The Outer Banks! We also love the fact that there is hardly anyone else around! You don’t have to worry about anyone setting their chair up right in front of you or their dog, sniffing in your snacks!

Beaching with Brinley

A few things I learned this year! 1. DON’T FORGET BABY POWDER! B got a pretty bad diaper rash that first day because she would not stay out of the water haha. We changed her several times but her poor little tush was not having it. As I mentioned above, Daddy saved the day by finding us baby powder and it made a world of difference! Every time she got out of the water I would just dump some baby powder down her diaper until she would hold still long enough to change her diaper.

2. Just let her sleep in bed with us. She very rarely sleeps in our bed at home (usually if she is super sick or having a rough night) but I found at the beach, with it being a brand new place she just doesn’t sleep well without being held and I am not trying to hold her all night! So each night around 2 AM she would wake up and I would just put her in bed with us and we all could go back to sleep! Don’t come at me about the co-sleeping. You do what ya gotta do man! Honestly, I loved all the extra snuggles, especially in the mornings!

3. Pack all the pouches and goldfish in your beach bag! Everyone loves to snack on the beach and I wanted to make sure she wasn’t eating junk all day since her grandpa really loves to give her cookies! So I grabbed a bunch of the fruit and veggie pouches and they made great snacks all week long! Also, that girl probably ate her body weight in goldfish last week! Every time I turned around she was asking someone to open a new snack-size bag of goldfish!

Favorite Beach Products

1/ A Waterproof Blanket – Perfect for beach naps, diaper changes, and play!

2/ This Sunscreen for B – She never got burnt!

3/ Portable Table – Not only is it nice to have a place to sit things down but I would put Brinley’s goldfish or puffs in the cup holders where she could get them. That way she wasn’t carrying around a bag that she would inevitably dump in the sand.

4/ Tidal Ball – Super fun beach game we tried this year!

5/ Scalp Sunscreen – Holy cow y’all….this is a game-changer! I always burn my scalp and hairline when I wear my hair up or in braids! This saved me this year! It kinda adds some grease to your hair but it’s totally worth it in my opinion!

If you missed it, here is everything I had in my beach bag!

Beach House

We really loved the house we stayed at this year! It was a 5 bedroom right on the beach! It had a pool and hot tub which is perfect for evenings! The decks we really nice and had plenty of furniture! The bottom level even had a hammock! One of the biggest perks of this house was that it had a stand-alone ice maker! When the closest place to buy ice is an hour away, the ice maker was great!

Two of the bedrooms even had full cribs in them! It was nice to let B sleep in a crib instead of the pack-n-play all week! I honestly, had no complaints this year! Everyone was comfortable, the living room was big enough for everyone to sit and the dining table was perfect! It had a grand staircase up to the top level which was super fun! A bad beach house can ruin a beach trip real quick!

Another fun activity to do on the 4th of July!