family vacation photos

Family Vacation in Duck, North Carolina

(Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you use one to make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no cost to you. I appreciate your support of this blog!)

I'm back with the rest of our vacation photos! I already shared about our excursion to Sanctuary Vineyards, but there's a lot more where that came from! 

Family Vacation in Duck, North Carolina - Outer Banks Vacation photos and travelogue

Alex's extended family has been going to Duck, North Carolina every summer since before he was born! This was my seventh trip (I think...) and Afton's second, but for an almost-two-year-old, everything is a new adventure! Her grandparents brought tons of early birthday gifts that provided lots of entertainment!

toddler girl opening birthday gifts from grandparents - pop-up book and bubbles

She loves her new bubble mower!

toddler girl with toy bubble mower indoors

But not as much as this handmade firetruck, which Poppa George made for Alex when he was Afton's age! How cool is that?!

little girl with vintage handmade wooden fire engine toy

AND check out this awesome ocean-themed dress handmade by Grandma!

two year old girl in ocean print dress handmade by grandma

Alex bought Afton a crocheted mermaid doll on one of his business trips to Seattle, and Afton was thrilled to find a playmate for her "Mimi" hanging out at the beach house.

little girl in beach house with two mermaid dolls

We had some cloudy/rainy days during our week at Duck, so I was glad we brought Afton's rain boots along! 

little girl on balcony in rain boots

She had so much fun splashing!

toddler girl splashing in rain puddles in rain boots - Duck, North Carolina

Despite the clouds, the view of the beach was lovely.

little girl and Daddy looking at Outer Banks beach on cloudy day

Another day, I had a wonderful solitary walk with my macro lens. There were so many interesting wildflowers to capture!

wildflowers in Duck, North Carolina (Outer Banks macro floral photography)

But of course, the family togetherness was the most important part of the trip, and the best! It is so neat to be a part of this big family, and we are all so thankful to the amazing matriarch who makes this all possible year after year!

Outer Banks family vacation photos - Duck, North Carolina

Despite what all these indoor photos may suggest, we really did spend most of our time playing on the beach. I didn't take too many beach pictures with the real camera, partly for fear of damage from sand and salt spray, but also because my mom-in-law was taking tons of pictures with her new camera, so I was happy to let her shoot while I just played! I did take one nice walk with the real camera though, and I think it was well worth a little salty air on the lens. ;)

Duck, North Carolina beach photographs

We rounded out the week with a peaceful walk on the boardwalk at sunset. Beautiful!

Duck, North Carolina boardwalk photos at sunset

Until next year, Duck! :)