random October

 Pumpkin cinnamon rolls swirled with chocolate. Soooo good. (Recipe here.)

 Trying on costumes at Target. Oliver was obsessed with the bacon and eggs costume.

 Finding a pumpkin caramel kringle at Trader Joe's. Score!

Oliver caught a frog and put it in a bag and was so pleased with himself. The boys are always catching frogs and lizards. 

 Artifact Uprising had a deal to get 25 free prints. I decided to print my favorite fall pictures.

 A walk through the arboretum and a stop for donuts at Rise.

Outer Banks: Announcement!

A highlight of our beach trip was making this fun announcement to the kids. They were so excited about the big news which was so fun to see. There were a lot of follow-up questions the rest of the weekend and we are all so excited!

Announcement at the Outer Banks from Sarah Black on Vimeo.

Outer Banks: Day Five

The day we had to leave was beautiful with sunshine and blue skies. We walked down to the beach one last time (and of course Simon got soaked) before packing up. Our vacation went by way too fast but it was such a nice break from regular daily life and so nice to all be together for a few days.

Outer Banks: Day Four

The sun came out Saturday morning! I was so excited to see the sunrise that I ran down to the beach before anyone else was awake. It was the most beautiful morning and I loved going for a long walk along the empty beach. Everyone else eventually made their way down to the beach and we spent the whole morning enjoying the waves and sand and sun. Some crazy thunderstorms passed through Saturday afternoon with lots of rain and wind. We stayed inside and watched conference and then Saturday evening, when the sun was back out, we drove down to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The lighthouse had been closed down a few days earlier because of the hurricane but we parked at a beach nearby and watched some kite boarders in the crazy wind. We couldn't climb the lighthouse but saw it from a distance. The parking lot was completely flooded. In fact, there was a lot of standing water up and down the entire main road on Cape Hatteras. After playing in the waves again, we headed back to the beach house and had homemade buttermilk biscuits and corn chowder for dinner. A great way to end our last night at the beach house.

There was a seat turtle nesting site on our beach. The kids thought this was pretty cool.

Outer Banks: Day Three

Friday was an especially rainy day. There finally seemed to be a break in the rain so we headed to the beach. As soon as we arrived, it started to sprinkle. And then pour. So we headed back to the beach house and hit the hot tub. We spent the rest of the day baking cookies and pumpkin bread, watching movies, playing games, reading books, and just hanging out. Everyone was pretty content in the house and kept busy, except for Simon who isn't really built for confinement. He had a bit of cabin fever and was literally bouncing off the walls at times. And making lots of messes.

Amelia loves making pumpkin bread. 

Outer Banks: Day Two

It was raining pretty hard Thursday morning so we headed to the aquarium. The kids loved it, especially seeing the sea turtle rehab center and touching the sting rays. We thought about stopping at the Wright Brothers Memorial but the Park Service had already shut everything down due to the impending storm. We stopped for lunch and groceries and then headed back to the beach house. The rain stayed away for the afternoon so we headed down to the beach. The kids had so much fun playing in the waves every time we were at the beach. My favorite part of the trip was just watching them play together in the waves. Simon was especially fun to watch, laughing hysterically every time a wave would knock him down. The kids loved getting in the hot tub after time at the beach, despite the fact that it was so warm and humid outside.

Our beach house. We loved this location.

Watching "The Nightmare Before Christmas," doing puzzles, and lounging.