Tag: vacation

family, fitness, food, foodie, fun, healthy food, motivation, outer banks, seafood, vacation, workout

Our Outer Banks, NC Vacation (Baby’s First Time On The Beach)

caffeinatedcarly

Hello, all! I’m coming to you from the car on the way home from our wonderful vacation. I have gone to the Outer Banks, NC with my family since I was little. I brought my husband for the first time 5 years ago when we were dating, and this past week, we brought our daughter for her first visit. We had such a wonderful time, and made so many memories.

Here is the highlighted version..

TRAVELLING:

The drive from our house is around 11 hours. We broke it up into two days both ways. The baby did so well overall, but definitely had her moments where she wanted out of the car. We kept her busy with toys, music, and grandma (who sat in the backseat with her).

BABY’S SCHEDULE AND ROUTINE:

I thrive on routine, as does my little one. I never sway on bedtime, and try to keep consistent naps. I made sure to keep this up the whole vacation. Sure, it meant being at the house to have her in bed by 6 each night, but we had a blast going out in the day! It is SO worth it to me. Travel days were rough. She struggled going down, and since we had to share a room with her she wanted to play all hours of the night. She did amazing at the beach house though! I consider that a win.

BEACH FUN:

We had an oceanfront house, and the view was absolutely stunning. We drank coffee while watching the sun rise each morning. We even had a hot tub on the deck. Our weather was absolutely perfect! Sunny and breezy, which made for such pleasant beach days.

We had so much fun showing baby K the ocean! We either held her, or put her in the pack and play with toys while we were outside.

We walked the pier near us many times, visited a lighthouse, and a place called the Whalehead Club.

Kennedy also got to spend quality time with her grandparents. My mom was with us the whole time, and my husband’s parents came for a few days!

FOOD:

We ate so well!! I love love love seafood! Here is just a couple favorite meals from the trip, although we had many more delicious things!

This salad had fresh tuna, and all sorts of other tasty items! This was from a restaurant called Rundown Cafe. It is a staple when we visit!

Yes, another salad lol! This one had a delicious crabcake on it. I devoured the whole thing, along with my margarita!

Crabmeat stuffed mushrooms. These were so good!

FITNESS:

Most days, I did a 3 mile beach run! I love zoning out and taking in the sights and smells of the ocean. It is so peaceful!

Two of the days, I did barre videos and a long walk with my mom and baby K!

As always, the week flew by, and it is back to reality!

Have a wonderful week, all!

With love,

Carly

baby, cabin, health, healthy, lake, motivation, update, vacation, workout

Our First Vacation With Baby

caffeinatedcarly

Hello, all!! We are finally home and settling back into our routine from vacation. We actually got home Saturday evening, but between unpacking, loads of laundry, cleaning the house, and moving baby to her room, things have been crazy.

We spent a little over a week at the lake with my husband’s family. Here is the recap:

PACKING:

Oh my gosh, packing for baby K was so stressful. Our car was completely full! She needs SO much stuff!! It helped making a list. 3 adults, one child, and a BUNCH of stuff. Yikes!! We made it work though.

THE DRIVE:

Baby K did great overall! Minimal crying/screaming, lots of staring at trees. She barely slept on the way there, but napped more on the way home.

The drive was around 5 hours, and we stopped a few times to feed and change her.

THE CABIN AND SLEEP:

The cabins are small, but we did have our own room. We put the pack and play by our bed, and baby slept in the doc a tot inside of it (which she is now officially out of since we’ve been home).

There is no air conditioning in the cabins, so we used fans. I was super worried about the baby, but we had the fan directly on her at night. She slept amazing the whole week!! Being outside made her tired, and she napped well and slept through each night. Around 6:15pm-6/7 am!

FUN:

Making new family memories was a blast. Taking baby on her first boat ride and seeing her in the lake brought so much joy to our hearts.

With SO many people to play with the baby, my husband and I got to go out on the jetskis and have time with our friends.

After the baby went down in the evenings, we would eat and play games.

FOOD:

Food options are endless at the lake. I indulged, but still tried to be mindful of what I was eating.

FITNESS:

I took advantage of the endless babysitters to workout each day. The area surrounding the lake has hills to run, which I did often. I loved the time for myself.

I also did pure barre videos, and lifted weights that my brother-in-law’s brought.

OVERALL:

I definitely stressed way more than I needed to. We had a lot of fun! I was more than ready to be home by the end l though. There is nothing like home, and I love routine.

I hope you all enjoyed the update!

I’m going to sit here and continue to cuddle my baby because she is clingy right now haha.

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

With love,

Carly

family, fitness, food, fun, getaway, health, lake, motivation

Our Mini Michigan Vacation

caffeinatedcarly

Hey there, everyone! Last night, I returned from a 2 night lake vacation with my mom, my oldest brother, and his family. It was so much fun spending time with them, as I don’t see them near as often as I would like.

Here is the recap!

SUNDAY:

My mom and I got in around 2pm on Sunday and immediately put on swimsuits. We spent the rest of the day rafting, boating, swimming, and relaxing.

My sweet niece!

After spending the day on the water, we decided to go into town for dinner.

They had lines of decorative bikes. I loved this one.

We had dinner at a little sports bar and I had a veggie burger, veggies, and applesauce. I also finished my nephew’s curly fries.

After dinner, we got back and crashed pretty hard.

MONDAY:

We woke up and went on a jog/walk with the family. The views were so beautiful. There were stunning homes and golf courses surrounding the lake.

We decided to head into another town this day, but the drive was pretty long. We went into the cutest town for shopping, coffee, and lunch.

Calamari!

Terriaki chicken over a spicy slaw. It was delicious!

The coffee shop was adorable! I got a decaf almond milk latte.

After shopping, we went to lake Michigan which was so beautiful!

My oldest nephew!

We got back to the lake house around 6, made some dinner, had showers, then played Monopoly until bed time.

TUESDAY:

We went for another jog and enjoyed the beautiful views again. Afterwards, we went on a boat ride while my niece and nephews skied and tubed. Mid day, we headed home.

The drive was kind of long and it felt good to get home and relax!

What a wonderful trip!

Have a great rest of your week, everyone!

With love,

Carly

family, fitness, food, health, healthy, outer banks, vacation

Our Beach Vacation-Outer Banks, North Carolina

caffeinatedcarly

Hello, friends! After a long, crazy drive yesterday, we made it home from North Carolina. Our vacation with my family was so much fun! I am glad to be home with my kitties though. They gave us the best greetings last night!

We had a beautiful week! The weather was gorgeous, and we enjoyed plenty of beach time. Our house was adorable and only a short walk (maybe 2 minutes) to the beach.

Some activites we did included:

Shopping in Manteo (which is the cutest little town)…

Visiting the Bodie lighthouse:

A big dinner night at Rundown Cafe:

And lots of beach hangs…

How stinking cute is my niece?!

We ate some delicious food:

And I had a tasty virgin pina colada….

I had some lovely beach runs, did a beach yoga class with my sister in law, and went for a mile swim!

Most of all, I enjoyed the time with my family! I am so blessed.

Now it is back to reality!

Enjoy your Sunday!

With love,

Carly

family, fitness, food, fun, games, health, healthy food, lake, vacation

Our Vacation-Gun Lake, Michigan

caffeinatedcarly

Hello, all! We are officially back from vacation #1 (as of yesterday). Despite a minor setback on the way, aka waiting for AAA for 5 hours, we had a fun time. This vacation was with my husband’s family and we go every year. We get cabins and enjoy a week relaxing at the lake.

First, let’s talk food…

We had Chipotle on the way and ate until we were stuffed.

Some food we ate at the lake….

My random eggs, olives, and corn…haha

Yogurt, almond butter and granola while watching the husband fish.

Our one big night out! We went to a brew pup and I got a turkey pita sandwich with apple chutney. I also had soup and cottage cheese.

When we got home yesterday we picked up Fazolis for dinner. I wanted pasta and bread. I was not disappointed.

Next up, some of the lake games we played…

Yard pong!

The voting game…

Bad People (the dirty version of the voting game). I thought mine were so funny!

We also had some fun on the water! We went jetskiing, boating, and spent a day at “party island” where we played water volleyball and other fun games.

Pictures from our evening out…

I also managed some workouts! Most days I ran around the lake, which was beautiful! I also did one workout video and took a couple days off. It’s all about balance!

We had a wonderful week, but man is it good to be home!

I missed my kitties so much!! I also missed my bed lol!

Now off to eat dinner (sausage and bean soup + cornbread muffins) and get back to binge watching the Handmaid’s Tale!

Sorry for the picture overload!

I hope you all have a great week!

With love,

Carly