Morning from the Outer Banks!
Yesterday was another good mix of relaxing, playing in the water, and good food. I also began my day with another good run, this time with our friend Tom who is staying in the other half of our big group in the house down the block. He’s SPEEDY — this was a slow pace for him, but a great one for me, especially considering the heat!
Splits:
- Mile 1: 7:59
- Mile 2: 7:52
- Mile 3: 8:00
- Mile 4: 7:51
Total distance: 4 miles. Total time: 31:45. Average pace: 7:56 min/miles! I was proud of myself for keeping that pace up, especially since it was SO hot outside. The last mile was especially hard — but I kept telling myself I was NOT going to give up. As I always say, gotta love running with a buddy — I definitely would have been walking if I were alone.
I arrived back at the house to an awesome breakfast! Matt’s brother Chris and his wife Jess whipped up some homemade waffles for everyone. Yum!
I topped my waffle with some yogurt, fruit, and a little syrup. Perfection.
Plus a side of bacon and some orange slices.
Then, it was time to hit the beach! We spent the whole day out there again, with a brief stop back at the house for a quick late lunch.
It was an awesome day — hot but perfect for playing in the waves. We played beach ping pong, various Frisbee games in the waves, hung out on the boogie boards, and did a little relaxing in the sun as well. 🙂
Comfy beach cover up was sent to me from Five Bamboo — love it — it’s called the Athena Dress!
Everyone started to slowly trickle back to the houses and by 6, Matt and I were the only ones left on the beach. We packed it up and headed back to the house at the perfect time — after getting out of the shower, I walked outside to see this:
Uhhhh ohhhhh…
We renamed our dinner party a “hurricane party” — the whole other house came to join us and all of us had some margaritas for happy hour while watching the massive sheets of rain pound down outside.
Plus board games, obviously.
Jenga happened as well. I’d forgotten how amazing this game is!
Chris and Jess were in charge of dinner for everyone last night — on the menu? Fish tacos!
They baked Tilapia in some Cajun-style seasoning as the fish for the tacos:
And set up a whole toppings bar as well with homemade guacamole, cilantro sour cream, and a vinaigrette slaw.
We also had grilled corn:
A really good bean salad in a vinaigrette:
And leftover quinoa salad from the night before. For those who asked for the recipe, it’s actually from my friend Maria’s blog — Mrs. Hay found it using a Google search! Here’s the recipe. It was really good — the only recommendation I’d have is to add some more seasoning — maybe some extra cumin, salt, and pepper?
My plate — which was a bit “eyes bigger than stomach” — I definitely wasn’t able to finish all this but it was all so good! Hats off to Chris and Jess for their great dinner. 🙂
For dessert, Matt’s dad made a homemade peach ice cream! We had a ton of ripe peaches on hand and it was the perfect use for them. Yum!
Plus some box mix brownies. 🙂
Off to enjoy the day! We all have plans for a bike ride this morning before hitting the beach — it’s another beautiful day but much cooler, thankfully, after the big storm last night.
