Family Time in OBX

I know, I know...it has been awhile since I've been on my blog. I've been vacationing since last Wednesday after work. I guess it really depends on how you define vacation. Nae-Nae and I went to the Outer Banks to stay with my parents and to make the rounds visiting other family, too. We also made some time to do the typical vacation stuff at OBX as well.

We got up early (okay...not really early) to go to the NC Aquarium and to do some outlet shopping on Thursday. As Big Willy and his friend, Orny, told us, we made it through the aquarium in about an hour. Nae-Nae was disappointed with it. He thought it was going to be much bigger and exciting. Nonetheless, we had fun watching all of the fishy swim around. I actually started to get sea sick in there. Looking through the glass of the aquariums and watching the fishy swim is kind of sickening. I took a step back, though, and was able to get through the motion-sickness. Man, I must be getting old if I can get woozy by just looking through glass. Uggghhh! The only thing I was disappointed about at the aquarium was the otters. They were asleep. I was fully expecting them to put on a show. Oh, well! Anywho, after the aquarium, we hit the outlets. I some cute stuff for really cheap at the Gap outlet and Nae-Nae got tons of stuff from the J. Crew outlet. It was a success. Later that night we went out for dinner at Mako Mikes. It was a'ight. The atmosphere was a little gaudy.

On Friday, Nae-Nae and I decided to venture down to the beach. It was somewhat successful because we made it to the beach, but I was totally unprepared. We wound up getting to the beach with a cooler of bottled water and no ice and no food. We lounged for an hour and a half and decided we were hungry and thirsty, so we jetted. That evening we had a cook-out at my Uncle Bob's  (Big Willy's twin brother) house. We had lots of yummy homemade food. It was a good time bonding with family and catching up on life. The only regret I have from that night is that I didn't take any pictures. I took my camera, but I didn't use it. Go figure.

Saturday we went up the way to Currituck County to visit with Bro and BroWife and the incubating beebster. We got to see their new house that they just moved into about a month ago. On the way up to see them, we stopped at a fresh fish market and bought shrimp, mahi-mahi, tuna, and salmon. I don't eat seafood, but I must say it looked good. BroWife and Big Willy went to the local farmers' market to get fresh fruit and veggies. When we got there, we settled in for an evening of bonding, eating, and drinking. The food was super terrific, the beer was tasty, and the conversation...well, the conversation was interesting to say the least. I did take my camera this time, so we were able to document some of the evening's festivities.

Above: BroWife and Bro at the grill! Yummy! Yummy!

Above: Stinky (me) with Vena (who was once Bro's dog but now resides with Big Willy and Puffin. This picture is before the drinking ensued.

Above: Nae-Nae pouring a coke. What you don't see is the Crown Royal he dumped into that cup before the coke. Yea...that's how Nae-Nae enjoys family time with my family.

Above: Oh, no! Who pissed off Puffin? I am sure it was something that was said by me, Bro or Big Willy.

Above: Now, there's the Puffin we all love!

Above: Vena getting her kisses from a friend of Bro/BroWife.

Above: Wow! Look at Big Willy man-handled that shrimp!

Above: Drip!

Above: Bro with Biskers (a doggie friend of the family).

Above: BroWife with Arlo. We're not sure how Arlo is going to handle the beebster.

Above: And she wonders why we want to call her "Puffin"?

Above: Reminiscing over my blue blankey from my childhood. Puffin gave it to Bro for the Beebster. Maybe my child will get to use it one day, too.

Above: It's time to call it a night. Stinky has had too much to drink.