Matt, Riese and I had a really fun 4th of July at the beach in the Outer Banks!
(If you missed my first beach recap, check it out: Making Waves.)
We kicked off America’s Birthday with an adorable parade that the town of Duck puts on every year. We skipped it last year because Riese was only 7 months but thought it would be fun to check it out this year. It was really hot and Riese wasn’t sure about the whole thing, but it was still fun.
We walked back to our place via the beach so we could cool our feet off – felt amazing!
When we got back, Matt made us some epic tuna melts. He mixed the canned tuna with mayo, dijon mustard, avocado, chopped celery, green pepper, and spinach, and then topped it with cheddar cheese before toasting it. So good!
Riese ate a few bites but was more interested in fruit, as usual.
After she went down for her nap, Matt and I hit the pool (at our house) with the monitor in tow. 😉
I did some reading and relaxing (I’m re-reading The Tender Bar right now, which is an old fave), and also did some playing. My brother and sister-in-law brought dive sticks for their kids… but I ended up playing with them more!
When Riese was up, we hit the beach! We tried to make it to the beach at least once a day because all of us loved it!
We brought a baby pool for Riese and she alternated between that and playing in the waves (with us holding her hands, of course). She absolutely LOVED the beach.
We had big plans for the evening – our friends who also join at the beach every year were hosting a big 4th of July party at their place, a few houses down from ours.
Riese was basically a mess on the way over — overtired from all the excitement and heat I think, and also hungry – double whammy — but she pulled it together when food appeared.
Matt and I shared a hot dog and a burger and I also enjoyed some beans, salad, pasta salad, etc. Delicious! Plus an unpictured beer. 🙂
My brother-in-law Drew is a great photographer (he works in NYC if any of you are interested!) and snagged this shot of us after dinner. I love it!
Shortly after that we hightailed it back to our house to get Riese down. Last year we set up a pack ‘n’ play at our friend’s place for Riese so we could put her to bed there and enjoy the party for longer… but Riese is kind of a nightmare to transfer nowadays and we decided it wasn’t worth it.
So instead, we said goodbye to everyone early and watched the DC fireworks on TV back at our place. Cozy night!
We missed dessert, but thankfully my mother in law brought back some of her homemade cobbler for us to eat! Yum. I didn’t get a picture but it was delish.
I’ll be back on Wednesday to share one final beach recap. Stay tuned!
