FRODO SEVEN : Hot Tubbing, Jet Skiing and More

Welcome to the third installment of OBX 2010. It's not quite the last but we've come to the end of our Top 13.

#4 The Hot Tub

So, I know I said the dinner out was my number one but, I take that back. This was by far my favorite thing this year. At first, we all thought that the hot tub being on an upper deck away from the pool would be a problem. For me, it ended up providing a great opportunity to hang out with all the kids. More often than not, I ended up as the hot tub chaperone and spent a couple of hours a day watching anyone who wanted to be in there. Ella made it her personal pool, swimming back and forth from one person to another and the other kids went from pool to hot tub, hot tub to pool all afternoon. The adults enjoyed drinks in the hot tub one night along with a scintillating conversation about what will happen to the earth when the sun finally burns out (don't ask). Chris and I snagged it for a fun couple of hours one night, confirming my desire to buy one for our house (in Virginia--way too hot in TX).

Ten with room for more!

Who needs p90X when you're Ryan?

The fun head attire was in honor of my party.

So many girls....

Brendan is the best-ever big brother/cousin.

I think Sophie looks like a super hero here.

Goggle Girl?

#3 Jet Skiing

So, for those of you who aren't familiar with the Outer Banks, as you drive the island, the ocean is on one side, the sound on the other. When we jet ski, we go sound side. The sound is interesting because you can be way out and still be in water three feet deep.

This year, we started off with two jet skis for the group and David and I took the first turns driving. I have to admit, I am always a little nervous driving the jet ski. There's this pressure from the kids to go fast but I almost always feel like I'm one mile per hour away from losing control. Madeleine and Grace came along on the ski with me for the first turn and I was busy getting the hang of it again when this ski guard guy came riding over to us and told us to turn off the engine. He told me we were out of bounds and that it was very dangerous where we were. Which was fine. What he should have done next was point out the boundaries and let me go on my way. Instead, he scolded me, saying again how dangerous it was, how I was out of bounds, how I should have been paying attention better during the instructions. At that point I cut him off saying, "Stop talking to me that way. Please tell me where the boundaries are." I was pretty mad but proud of myself for speaking up. Normally I am queen of the perfect comeback--twelve hours too late. Still, I was a bit shaken up and not sure I wanted to go out again. I did though and took Alex and Matthew for a very fun, fast ride in spite of myself. While Dave and I were out, Jes and Chris rented a third jet ski so we were all able to ride as much as we wanted. Chris and I even went out together at the end, an adventure that resulted in my taking a little dip in the sound. Chris swears it wasn't on purpose. All in all, it was a very fun outing.

#2 Digging and Playing in Ella's Pools

Every day, the first thing Chris would do when we got to the beach was dig a pool for Ella. As the week went on, he added features like a slide, a seat with a cup holder and even a separate side for Sophie. This was another category that was a kid-pick. They all participated in the digging and fun.