Outer Banks Weekend

Last weekend the four of us went to the Outer Banks to watch Tim run the OBX Marathon. This was his second consecutive year to compete. Last year Tim and I went together, and it was my first time leaving Tyler overnight. This time around we decided to take the whole family, and we even had Nana, Papa, Jonathan, Becki, Cooper and Gabe along for the fun. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach and they had a townhouse further inland. The weather was beautiful almost the entire weekend--sunny and warm for November.

We sent Tyler to stay at the townhouse the night before the race because we knew it would be an early morning for us all. (For this particular race, Tim was up by 4:30 and consequently, so were Nathan and I--but thankfully Nathan went back to sleep after eating). After dropping Tim off near the starting line, Nathan and I picked up Papa and headed to mile marker 4 of the race course so we could see Tim. I think we did a pretty good job of seeing him along the course. The three of us saw him at mile 4, where he was at the front of the lead pack of 5 runners, and then we met up with the rest of the clan so we can see Tim around mile 8.5 and mile 14. After seeing Tim at the front of the pack, Cooper asked, "Is Uncle Tim the line leader?" Sounds like someone has been paying attention at preschool.

Waiting for Tim around mile 8.5

We had to drive all the way around the island to get to the finish line in downtown Manteo, but we made in time to see Tim finish in 5th place with a time of 2:36. There were lots of half-marathoners finishing when the marathoners started arriving. Tyler was watching for his daddy so intently and even though I pointed out the 4 guys who finished in front of Tim, he yelled, "Daddy win!" when Tim crossed the finish line. He was so excited.

Post-race pictures

Queen Elizabeth and Sir Walther Raleigh made an appearance at the awards ceremony.
Needless to say, Tim was pretty beat after the race, so he took a nap while the rest of us went to Jockey's Ridge State Park that afternoon. I've never seen anything like this place. It's the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern U.S. It was my second time visiting the park, but last time I didn't have kids. Watching Tyler and Cooper climbing the dunes gave me a better appreciation for how enormous the dunes really are. Funny enough, they were leaving the grown-ups in the dust! They just kept running, and since I had Nathan strapped to the front of me in the Baby Bjorn, I left the chasing up to Papa and Uncle Jon.


The funniest part for me was watching Tyler try to roll down the dunes. Cooper was a pro at rolling down, but for some reason, Tyler kept rolling across the dunes. It didn't seem to matter to him, though. He had an absolute blast along with Cooper and Gabe. Of course they had sand everywhere--Tyler had sand pouring out of his jacket pockets!

Here's a video of the boys making their way down one of the dunes. You'll get to see Tyler doing his patented triple-whip (from the Backyardigans "Surf's Up" episode) and you'll also hear him getting scolded for throwing sand. Ai adai! (This is a Chamorro phrase often used to express exasperation. Is it any surprise that I use it frequently with my 2-year-old?)

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After all that frollicking at the dunes, it was bath time for Tyler, Cooper and Gabe.

Jonathan, Becki and the boys had to head back home Sunday night, but the rest of us stayed until Monday afternoon. Tim and I even got to have a little date Sunday evening after I put Nathan to sleep. Both he and Tyler were asleep early that night after all the activity during the day. So, Nana and Papa stayed with the boys while we enjoyed a yummy, quiet dinner at The Jolly Roger, a seafood and Italian restaurant. We hit up the outlet mall before leaving town and ate lunch at one of my favorite places--Tropical Smoothie Cafe. The boys both did great on the 3.5+ hour drive home. They took a nap at the same time (hooray for small miracles!) and were happy the rest of the way home. It was a nice way to end a fun and memorable weekend.