Halloween/Birthday Party

 The Bainters invited us out for a birthday party.

Noah, Steve and Trudy's birthdays are pretty close together.

Steve wanted a "fried extravaganza"

Everything we ate was fried . . . . . 

Corn dogs, pickles, monte cristo sandwich,

oreos, mushrooms, snickers, twinkies,

and such!

 I couldn't eat it all . . . . . too much grease for me.

But it was fun to try all the different items. 

We played a couple of games and then carved pumpkins.

Mom fried donuts while we were carving.

My pumpkin.

Lincoln's pumpkin.

McKay's "pac-man" pumpkin.

And all the pumpkins together.

Stevie's pumpkin didn't get ready in time for the upper picture.

She and all of us did a GREAT job!

This and That

This'll be my last post about

the Outer Banks.

A Modge Podge
of pictures.

McKay touched my heart when

he stopped playing to help his cousin

get out to the waves she had been
trying

and trying,
and trying
and trying 

to get out to.

Zane being difficult,
and siblings enjoying a snicker
because of it!
Too cute!

I wish I would have composed this picture better

and got the "G" in Genius in the shot.

I feel my dad is Genius.

and my mother is a saint for putting up with it!

i.e., his messes he makes while being

"the mad professor."

(he wouldn't say they were messes)

One mess that I remember most as a child

was when he was experimenting with 

alcohol as fuel for vehicles.

He had a license to make alcohol

and mom put up with stinking, fermenting pails

of different kinds of grains sitting around our house.

(yes, we had a still in our back yard!)
(and we ran our lawnmower off of 100 proof white lightening!)
(the exhaust was blue and smelled like corn)

AND

anyone who visits their home

in present day

gets a view FIRST THING

of his mismash of a laboratory

before entering the living area!

You two are quite the pair . . . 

(meant in the nicest of ways, of course)

I KNOW you read my blog!!!!  :)

Here I am playing a game of Canasta with my nephews.

I love playing Canasta

and as far as I know,

my family are the only ones who
I can play it with.

Have you ever seen a sink

with a toilet flusher handle

as it's faucet?

It was a first for me!

(and now you)

We went to the beach in the morning every day

and only caught one sunrise,

because of the time or the cloud cover.
 

A couple of the days I just sat and enjoyed the beach

while Lincoln ran.

I was rewarded by seeing dolphins. 

I was wishing that everyone were there to see them.

Then I remembered I had a camera 

and could take a video!!
DUH!

This ones for you mom . . . . . . 

For some reason 

I love the name of this town.

"Kill Devil Hills."

The water tank was also

 a reminder of the historical nature of the town we were in.

My mom
and one of the huge "sweeping" trees
in the Elizabethan gardens.
My mom and I share a love of gardening.
Though hers is a much stronger love than mine.
(I've hardly touched my yard this year)

And FINALLY

a video of McKay surfing.

This was one of his first attempts

and probably the best!!!

You can tell from our voices our surprise

at his success!

FINE - - - The End!

Our last day

Lincoln and McKay had to leave

for home and another trip

on Saturday morning.

The rest of us went mini golfing.

 My nephews.

A pirate ship on the course. 

 Watching the expert at work putting :)

 FUN!  A hole on the pirate ship.

(my nieces and sis)

After our very hot game of golf

we all split up.

Dad and Trudy and family

all went to watch Spiderman

in a nice Air Conditioned theater.

Mom and I went to Roanoke Island and went to

the Elizabethan Gardens.

I think they put most of their money into the

entry of the garden to lure you in.

The gardens have the capability of being beautiful

but are a little under planted

and under taken care of. 

Again, I'm probably spoiled . . . 

the garden's at Myrtle beach were Fantastic!

There were a few high points though 

and it was pretty nice in the garden

as there were mature trees and lots of shade.

(and mosquitoes)!!!

 Queen Elizabeth and myself.

 This statue was the centerpiece of the garden.

It really is a piece of art in metal.

 There really wasn't a lot in bloom.

Wrong time of year!

The hydrangea were pretty.

 As were the Crepe Myrtle.

 The trees were really wide and sweeping.

Hard to capture with a camera

the atmosphere that they create with their majesty.

The trees were much taller on this Island between 

the outer banks and the mainland.

They must be protected here.

After the garden, 

mom and I went to an aquarium.

This tank was the high light for me.

Yes! Sharks!!!

Why go to a movie when you can do that at home I ask?

Thanks mom, for the day!

Let there be light

Ever since we moved here I've heard that

"The Outer Banks"

is 

THE PLACE

to go on vacation.

I've always wondered about it.

As you can see from the map below,

The Outer Banks are just that.

A series of land and islands that create a barrier from the main land.

The Barrier Islands would be a good name for them :)

You don't really get the feeling that you are on a 

thin swath of land while there.

Until you look

at your GPS and see water on both sides

of the road.

 One of the days we drove from Kitty Hawk

to Cape Hatteras to see

The Hatteras Lighthouse

an hour and a half drive.

It gave us an idea of how vast these Islands really are.

 The above picture is courtesy of Google.

You can see the Atlantic on one side and

Pamlico sound on the other.

 The kids on this trip

weren't very thrilled to be visiting a lighthouse.

History?  

Again?

I know I pushed pretty hard to see it!

There are quite a few lighthouses on the Islands 

but I wanted to see this one because we could

climb to the top of it.

This lighthouse is the tallest in North America

and has 268 steps to the top of it.

I was a little scared to think of climbing those stairs.

In the past I've been known to chicken out on climbs like this!!

There were 31 steps and a landing,

31 steps and a landing,

31 steps and a landing.

ETC.

Thank goodness for the landings 

and their corresponding windows! 

 The base.

 A last snap of the camera before climbing.

 Looking up at the stairs (which aren't shown entirely)

Voila!  I made it!

 In 1999 they moved this lighthouse inland.

Because of erosion the light house was in danger of sinking into the ocean!.

See the bald swath of land through the middle of this picture?

This is the path that the lighthouse took to get relocated safely inland.

A MAJOR FEAT!

 Okay, I'm weird, 

but I was fascinated with the rust damage

on these railings at the top of the lighthouse.

Apparently they are still strong,

because their were no warnings 

to stay away from the railing.

We were all leaning against them with wanton abandon.

Is there anything in this world (physical) that doesn't erode or disintegrate?

We ended the day at a museum.

I think we've been spoiled by Smithsonians.

Yes, Yes, we have!

Boy did I have to talk and talk McKay into this pose!

I think the part where I told him he'd look like

"Captain Jack Sparrow"

was what got him to finally do it!

The Wright Stuff

Our main reason for vacationing in 

Kitty Hawk was to visit the site where

the Wright Brothers were able to achieve 

first flight.

My dad had really wanted to visit Kitty Hawk

(actually the spot was Kill Devil Hills)

last year on our way home from Myrtle Beach.

It was just TOO FAR to travel

out of our way and so

Lincoln and I scheduled our vacation this year 

so we could visit this historical location.

The above picture is self explanatory

I think it is kind of ironic that we have seen

 the REAL Wright Brothers plane

in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

in

Washington DC

where we live . . . . . . 

and a mock up of it at the REAL site of it's flight.

FUNNY!

The actual spot where the flight took place. 

It was surreal to be in the spot.

Here is dad at the marker of the first flight.

12 seconds long

120 feet.

Orville and Wilbur took turns flying the plane.

The greatest way to learn

and remember history

is to walk the walk . . . . .

again, surreal.

The monuments kept getting bigger . . . . . 

and the walk longer

matching the distances of the flights.

And the flight that made history 

and proved to the world that man could fly!

Can you imagine how excited they must have been?

Looking back from our walk.

At the top of the hill in the distance is a monument

where the Wright's first started testing their gliders

and perfecting them until they were able to

achieve a flight powered by a motor.

At the top of that hill at the monument.

My Sis, and her children.

Looking out from the monument,

back to where the motorized flight happened.

You can see the beginning point of the flights at the middle far left,

and the four monuments that marks the flights.

Those outbuildings? (not the originals)

The one on the left housed the plane,

and the one on the right housed the Wrights.

Look at where they slept.

In the rafters!!!  

Might have been comfortable???

I thought it was inventive!!

Well . . . . they WERE inventors!

The site has changed

A LOT

from the early 1900's.

The Wrights chose the spot because of the sand

(soft landings?)

and the high winds in the area.

Now, as you can see from the pictures,

there are more trees and grass covers the entire area.

Probably planted to stop erosion?

Ceci and McKay.

McKay treats his cousins like

he would siblings.

Which sometimes is a good thing,

and sometimes NOT!

A view of the monument

Trudy and Orville.

This a metal version of the plane that the kids can climb on.

A playground of sorts.

And play we did!

Ceci was always dodging the camera . . . 

but finally posed for a picture!

The rest is

HISTORY!