A beach tradition

Aaron got me this set of blue opal earrings and a blue opal starfish necklace at the end of our beach vacation.

Every year as we leave OBX we stop at a shopping area to pick up salt water taffy, gifts and ice cream. We also visit the same little jewelry store and Aaron gets me a little memento. I went through my jewelry boxes and tried to pick out what he got me each year. We have been to OBX 12 times but I could only remember/find ten pieces. I know the red garnet necklace was the first thing he got me. The rings were last year. I love the tradition of it and I remember our trips everytime I wear one of these.

OBX horses

It's not OBX without the horses. I got plenty of pictures of them this year.

It seemed to me like there were more than usual.

And they enjoyed hanging out right near our beach chairs.

Bronson on the beach

This year my sister's dog Bronson came with us to the beach.

He had never been before but the pugs were there to show him the ropes.

Here he is having his stuffing squeezed out of him.

I was happy to get this shot because I have found him to be the hardest dog to photograph. Especially at the beach where there are so many birds.

Getting a rubdown after a post beach walk bath.

Encroaching on other people's personal space. I think Bronson enjoyed himself.

Beach pugs

It's not just a vacation for us... it's a vacation for the pugs too.

They get to go for walks and get special treats.

They do enjoy the beach!

Some like getting wet better than others.

That would be Hugo.

Some get grumpy about it.

Take me back to the beach house hooman. I've had too much sun.

So glad the pugs are able to relax and take a break from their hectic, work filled days!

A family that plays together...

We love to play games on the beach. Well a particular sort of game. Ones that don't require a lot of running around and are based on a skill of aim.

The newest addition to our game collection is corn hole. I don't think it is regulation size but we had a lot of fun with this one.

Ladder golf is good for the windy days.

Because we like to take our lives into our own hands... lawn or should I say... beach darts.

And a classic old school game, quoits.

As a competitive family there can be a bit of disagreement over who is closer and what is the score. To help with the score keeping my dad made this handy dandy wood score keeper. Golf tees can be moved to keep track of points. I think it's pretty clever and already made a few suggestions for the next version, Score Keeper 2.0

Chomp, chomp, chomp

Yearly tradition. Watermelon on the beach.

Stumped

Every morning at the beach we go for a walk. I like looking for shells and whatnot along the way. One of my favorite things is to walk up to where there are a cluster of stumps.

You might be wondering why there are tree stumps on the beach. At one time it wasn't the beach. It was the forest. As the shoreline of OBX moved west, the trees fell and then were exposed again by the water. I think it's the coolest thing.

For some reason, Hugo saw the stumps as a threat.

He spent a good deal of time lunging and barking at them.

Hugo attacking stumps on the beach. It used to be the forest and the beach has moved far enough inland to reveal the old trees. Hugo does not approve. #pug #pugsofinstagram #OBX

A video posted by Jenny Cisney (@ljc) on Jun 8, 2016 at 12:58pm PDT

Eventually the beach will keep washing away and the stumps will be under water. The life of a beach stump.

Siblings at the beach

I was pretty excited that my sister was able to come with us to OBX this year. It was good to have some hang time.

We did girly stuff like face masks. I bought a big pack of Korean ones in different fruit applications.

I had to do a beach mani pedi too. A dusty coral color for summer.

This was the scene each afternoon, a collection of flippy floppys at the end of the walk.

12 years

Ever since our honeymoon at OBX we celebrate our anniversary at the beach. This is our twelve year anniversary. I came down to breakfast to this surprise.

I had one waiting for Aaron too. I was so excited this year I almost cracked and gave it to him early. Almost.

The modern gift for 12 years is pearls. I LOVE this Mikimoto pearl bracelet Aaron gave me. He does such a good job picking out gifts.

The traditional 12 year gift is silk or linen. I got Aaron a Hickey Freeman sports jacket. (there is silk inside right?!) Hickey Freeman is a suit manufacturer founded in 1899 and still operating in a 77k square foot factory right here in Rochester.

In keeping with the silk theme I also got Aaron a few silk pocket squares to go with his new jacket.

Happy Anniversary to my favorite guy and here's to a wonderful year ahead.

Beach shades

We made it to OBX! Sunglasses are a must for this week.

No matter which way you look at it, it's great to be at the beach.