The Final Days of Vacation

Manteo is a little town just south of Nags Head on Roanoke Island.  It's one of our favorite places to go in the Outer Banks.  So we decided to spend our last morning in this quaint waterfront town and enjoy the final day of summer.   We started our morning with a stop at our favorite coffee house.  Josh took his cup of coffee black, but the kids preferred sharing a lemonade smoothly and some ginger snap cookies.   I love the picture of the two kids drinking together, it gives me hope that they might stop fighting long enough to grow up and like one another.

After our morning snack we spent some time exploring the Marshes Island Light house. The light house is on pylons out in the water.  It was unique and offered a spectacular view of the sound.  The kids weren't too impressed and argued that we should return to the playground pronto.   

Kate spotted a number of sea gulls chilling out on piers. A few of them were talented and standing on one leg. Below is Kate's interpretation of a sea gull.

Another common sight on our vacation were these little frogs.  Kate finally had the guts to touch one, and Nathan thought it was hilarious to watch them hop around.  A few of them kept trying to sneak into our van and catch a ride home.  But I thought having three adult turtles, six baby turtles, and a dog waiting for us at home was enough for right now.  

 

So it is with much saddness that we say good bye to the Outer Banks.  We are happy to head home, but we are already thinking about what fun adventures await us next summer.

 

A BIG Adventure for some Little Folk

Today was a lot of fun!  After a stop at Currituck Lighthouse (which Kate climbed up each step all by herself), we transferred the kids' car seats into our friend's Jeep and hit the open beach in search for wild horses.   Unfortunately, we only saw one horse off in the distance, but the ride itself was a lot of fun.  Of course Kate loved every minute - she never turns down an adventure.  But Nathan, who can be a little cautious at times, let loose and squealed and laughed for most of the ride.  He loved the bumps and the wind.

Next year we'll do it again and hope for better luck with the horses.

Beach or Bust!

 Kate has been asking to dip her toes in the ocean the moment she spotted water on the way down to OBX.  All she wanted was to go to the beach.  Unfortunately, she was fighting a cold yesterday, and although the water was very warm, the air was chilly.  So we though it best not to plan a beach day just yet.  However, she wore us down late afternoon, and we agreed to let he go walk on the beach and dip her toes in the ocean.  No swimming today though...

 Well the no swimming rule lasted only long enough for a wave to knock Kate over, and once wet, why not swim, right?  At least that's what she and Josh thought.

 And once wet, what better to do than throw yourself in the sand to make a sand angel. 

Papa Dan spent his time flying a kite, and Grandma Ann was excited to see the Atlantic Ocean.  She got her toes in the warm water too!

Sailing at Sunset

One of the first of our Outer Banks adventures was a sunset sail on the Downeast Rover, a 55ft topsail schooner.   This sail was very special on numerous levels:  it was Josh's birthday, Kate really wanted to go on a boat ride, Dan was in the Navy years ago and was thrilled at the idea of a sail, and Ann had really never done anything like this before. I love being out on the water, myself, so I was game.  The only one in question was our little man, Nathan.  He flipped out on a paddle boat, so we weren't sure how he'd handle the big sea.  He did great though, until we hit a bit of rain mid-trip and the I had to hold him a little tighter, well the poor fellow didn't appreciate his mobility limited. All in all - it was a very special evening

 

.

  

Captain Eric let Kate take a spin at the wheel - boy oh boy was she happy!

 

 

We even were blessed with a rainbow after our bout of wet weather

  

Not a bad way to see a sunset!

Highlights from the Outer Banks

Josh' dad came with us to the Outer Banks. It was a lot of fun showing him around a part of the East Coast he had never been to. One place we had to visit was the Wright Brother's Monument. Josh and his dad are big fans of aviation - they once had their pilot's licenses. Here are some pictures from their visit.