Last year, our family took a spontaneous and last-minute vacation to the Outer Banks along North Carolina’s coastline. It was a magical few days of relaxation, peace and so much laughter. We decided shortly after we returned last year that we wanted to try to make our time in the Outer Banks a yearly tradition.

This year, we made plans with two other families to join us in a gorgeous home one block from the beach in the village of Hatteras.

It seemed like the weeks and months stretched on agonizingly slow before it was finally time to be driving past those tall sand dunes again.

We spent seven beautiful days this August soaking in sunshine, surrounding ourselves with laughter, letting go of stress and work and worries and basking in the little joys like flying kites and digging sandcastles and sunsets and sunrises.

The other two families meshed so well with our family — everything was so easy and fun. All of the kids got along great and the adults enjoyed time in the pool, at the pool table and around the table for game nights.

One of the families included the other half of our beloved nonprofit Friendship by LiliZach. We loved getting Lili and Zach together. And I loved photographing Lili and her parents for a very-special photo shoot, too (stay tuned for more on that in the near future!).

It was soothing, calming and so special. The kids are still talking about the “beach house adventure” and it is something we’re hoping works out again next year and years after, too.

That salt air was healing to a tired spirit. I’m grateful for those waves and those memories and I can’t wait to build more new ones with my family in the future.