Neither burnt humans nor significantly dimorphic claws
We spent a excellent week in the outer banks of North Carolina. It was pretty fun.
At the beginning of the week Andrea, Sara, and Timothy were all scared of the ocean. By the second day they were braver (letting Daddy take them out beyond the breakers), and the third day they all got scared again (because they got splashed in the face or dunked by the waves - the surf was really rough by our beachhouse). By the last day they were all brave again. We went to a gentler beach and they all would crawl around in the waves saying they were swimming. Rea would really go out in the waves up to her knees and actually swim a bit when a big wave came in. It was fun seeing them learn to like the water. Sara in particular is excited now to learn to swim this summer, and Rea wants to improve her swimming even more.
Monday and Tuesday night we went out crab catching. The crabs were similar to fiddler crabs, but they didn't seem to have significantly dimorphic claws. Andrea was terrified of the crabs, and Sara loved them. I caught a lot of them, one big one pinched me on my right ring finger and drew blood, but other than that I escaped unscathed. Sara caught a tiny crab and was so proud. She bragged about it to grandma and kept trying to catch more and more crabs.
We stopped on the way to Shipwreck to fish under a bridge with Grandpa Mike. The kids were excited to fish - the parents were excited that there was shade there - and we caught two crabs, but no fish.
Tuesday night the grandparents took care of all of our children (mine and my sisters') as we went out to a triple-date dinner. We all discussed how great it was to eat without constantly dealing with children; it was such a treat. We went to a place called Rusty's Surf and Turf. We got sword fish and mahi mahi and key lime pie. Alison said that it was good (and she doesn't even like fish).
Wednesday the girls had a Chocolate Extravaganza, and the dads took the kids to Dairy Queen. Alison is not quite a chocolate crazy as some of the ladies, but she enjoyed it. She thought Sally's homemade (!!!) chocolate coconut flowers were worthy of the prize, but something else won. Mike and the kids had fun eating ice cream.
On Wednesday night we went out at midnight and saw some bio-luminescent sand animals. They looked like little stars sparkling on the beach. It was pretty fun.
On Friday we went to Ocracoke Island. The ferry was long (like I remembered it), but we saw some dolphins and got splashed by the spray and the girls really enjoyed it. We went to the lighthouse and got some ice cream and we went to the beach. It was a fun day.
Friday night we had the Hearts Tournament. My training got me to the last round of the tournament, but I was unable to win because during the last hand Scott stopped me from running and making everyone else lose. Alison, much to her chagrin, actually made it to the semi-finals, and just barely squeaked out of being in the final round by debating the rules. She had been telling everyone that she hadn't played hearts since high school and was just joining in to make up the numbers, but she did surprisingly well. It was clearly a testament to my teaching skills, since I explained to her all the things I've been learning as I trained.
I decided to gather shells to make a score sheet for Polynesia. I spent a few days on it and ended up with the score sheet to the right.
On Saturday we went to the beach south of Frisco to play in the surf. The girls loved this beach a lot since it was so gentle. I found four olive shells (one was in decent condition). It was probably the best beach day of them all.
The drive back home was just as long as the drive there even though we took toll roads. The girls were much better, but Timmy was much worse (he cried/screamed for at least an hour straight). There was bad weather during the last bit, but it was at least a safe drive.
As a final note: our home made sun screen worked better than everyone else's store bought sunscreen. We had to apply it less often and other than my legs we didn't get burnt (and I never applied any to my legs since I didn't think they would get burnt.) We used it all up, so we will be making more soon. The only downside to the home made stuff is the color that it makes your skin when you put it on (white). The other only downside is that it is not always the same consistency. In the cold it is hard and in the warm it is runny. Alison really wants to find a better container for it (the repurposed baby food jar we used on this trip did not have a watertight seal on the lid, so it leaked in the heat).
At the beginning of the week Andrea, Sara, and Timothy were all scared of the ocean. By the second day they were braver (letting Daddy take them out beyond the breakers), and the third day they all got scared again (because they got splashed in the face or dunked by the waves - the surf was really rough by our beachhouse). By the last day they were all brave again. We went to a gentler beach and they all would crawl around in the waves saying they were swimming. Rea would really go out in the waves up to her knees and actually swim a bit when a big wave came in. It was fun seeing them learn to like the water. Sara in particular is excited now to learn to swim this summer, and Rea wants to improve her swimming even more.
Monday and Tuesday night we went out crab catching. The crabs were similar to fiddler crabs, but they didn't seem to have significantly dimorphic claws. Andrea was terrified of the crabs, and Sara loved them. I caught a lot of them, one big one pinched me on my right ring finger and drew blood, but other than that I escaped unscathed. Sara caught a tiny crab and was so proud. She bragged about it to grandma and kept trying to catch more and more crabs.
We also found the 'sand fleas' (also known as mole crabs) that we used to catch, and we caught some of them to release in the kiddie pool that one of the uncles brought. Sara loved to take them out of the kiddie pool and release them to the ocean.
On Tuesday there was a heat advisory so we didn't go out to the beach for fear of being turned into burnt humans, so instead we piled into the car and went out to Shipwreck (which is a tourist attraction/gift shop that we always went to as kids) and we also went fishing. The girls loved Shipwreck and spent their hard earned money on mermaid dolls.We stopped on the way to Shipwreck to fish under a bridge with Grandpa Mike. The kids were excited to fish - the parents were excited that there was shade there - and we caught two crabs, but no fish.
Tuesday night the grandparents took care of all of our children (mine and my sisters') as we went out to a triple-date dinner. We all discussed how great it was to eat without constantly dealing with children; it was such a treat. We went to a place called Rusty's Surf and Turf. We got sword fish and mahi mahi and key lime pie. Alison said that it was good (and she doesn't even like fish).
On Wednesday night we went out at midnight and saw some bio-luminescent sand animals. They looked like little stars sparkling on the beach. It was pretty fun.
Friday night we had the Hearts Tournament. My training got me to the last round of the tournament, but I was unable to win because during the last hand Scott stopped me from running and making everyone else lose. Alison, much to her chagrin, actually made it to the semi-finals, and just barely squeaked out of being in the final round by debating the rules. She had been telling everyone that she hadn't played hearts since high school and was just joining in to make up the numbers, but she did surprisingly well. It was clearly a testament to my teaching skills, since I explained to her all the things I've been learning as I trained.
I decided to gather shells to make a score sheet for Polynesia. I spent a few days on it and ended up with the score sheet to the right.
On Saturday we went to the beach south of Frisco to play in the surf. The girls loved this beach a lot since it was so gentle. I found four olive shells (one was in decent condition). It was probably the best beach day of them all.
The drive back home was just as long as the drive there even though we took toll roads. The girls were much better, but Timmy was much worse (he cried/screamed for at least an hour straight). There was bad weather during the last bit, but it was at least a safe drive.
As a final note: our home made sun screen worked better than everyone else's store bought sunscreen. We had to apply it less often and other than my legs we didn't get burnt (and I never applied any to my legs since I didn't think they would get burnt.) We used it all up, so we will be making more soon. The only downside to the home made stuff is the color that it makes your skin when you put it on (white). The other only downside is that it is not always the same consistency. In the cold it is hard and in the warm it is runny. Alison really wants to find a better container for it (the repurposed baby food jar we used on this trip did not have a watertight seal on the lid, so it leaked in the heat).
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