Lighthouses, Island Hopping and Ferry Riding

After breakfast at our hotel and of course, a coffee stop at Dunkin Donuts, we were ready to start our day. Our day included lighthouses, island hopping, and ferry riding. The first lighthouse we stopped at was Bodie Lighthouse in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. We were lucky because all this time, it had been raining but by the time we reached the lighthouse, the rain had stopped. We checked out the gift shop and Steve inquired about a lighthouse tour, however the next tour wasn't until 45 minutes and the tour was an hour long. This did not fit into our agenda as we had some ferries to catch. Instead, we walked the boardwalk to the observation area and took a group photo. As we walked back to the car, it started to rain. We were thankful for the rain free time we had to enjoy the lighthouse and surrounding area. Then we drove across a long bridge to Pea Island.

As we drove through Pea Island, we stopped for lunch at this great burger place called Woodies. It was basically a hole in the wall place that we weren't really expecting much, but it turned out to be pretty good. The restaurant actually got its' start in New Jersey and grew to four other states. Tyler's hotdog was surprisingly enormous. LOL After we finished eating, we got back on the road. We made a quick stop at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. It was quick because it was raining. LOL  After the lighthouse, we passed by a UFO. It reminded me of the one at a theme park that I used to go to as a child in P.E.I. Steve turned around, so we could get some photos.

It wasn't long before we reached the ferry landing to our first ferry of the day. This was only a 15-20 minute ride to the next island. We enjoyed the ride and saw a few other ferries inthe water as well going to various places. It was a nice break from our long drive. The ferry took us to Ocracoke Island. This island turned out to be a really cool place that I would love to return to some day. It reminded me of the islands we would visit in Europe.

The first thing on our agenda was to go directly to the next ferry landing to check our ferry reservation. Once we confirmed everything was alright, we drove back into town where we stopped and got out to have a coffee and ice cream break. It was quite delicious!

We still had some time after our little break at the cafe, so Steve checked and noticed we were close to a cache. The cache was a virtual which meant there was no physical cache, but a series of questions that we needed to answer once we were at the cache site. The cache location brought us to an old British Cemetery that is currently taken care of by the U.S. Coast Guard. The buried are British sailors from a ship wreck during World War II.

Once we found the answers we were looking for to complete the cache find, we got back in the car and made our way to the ferry landing where we waited in line for the ferry. We passed time by feeding some ducks. The ferry we were about to board was a 2 and a half hour ride to Swan Quarter, North Carolina. Once we boarded the ferry, we made our way around the ship. It was a little larger than the previous ferries we were on with indoor seating, monitors, and two outdoor decks with more seating. Most of our time was spend sitting down by our car, just hanging out and eating chips and popcorn. We would watch the waves and walk around the ferry from time to time. The sun was out and it was a beautiful evening. It was a perfect ending to our weekend trip. The drive home from the ferry was about 3 hours long, but it offered a nice relaxing drive throughout the country. Overall, we had a wonderful mini vacation. This will be our last while living here in Virginia. We will definitely miss all the beautiful surrounding places we love to visit.

OBX Weekend

Friday night after work, Steve came home and said he booked a hotel in the Outer Banks, North Carolina for Saturday night. His plans was for us to drive down early Saturday morning; he wanted to do some 4x4 driving with the MINI on the beach. So, that's exactly what we did. Saturday, after being stuck in traffic for a couple of hours, we drove straight to the beach. It was raining when we arrived, which actually aided in our drive through the beach. We were a little nervous about the car getting stuck in the sand, but with Steve's expert driving and the 4x4 power of the MINI, we made through. It was a blast!!! Everyone that we drove past on the beach, stopped and looked at us in amazement. They couldn't believe that such a small car could get through it all. Well, we sure showed them! LOL

As we turned around and were heading back, the rain stopped and the sun came out. It was such perfect timing. We got out and set up our things on the beach and enjoyed a beautiful day. Tyler played with the boat Rachael gave him as well as his monster trucks. Steve and I sat in our chairs under the umbrella, it was so relaxing. Then I caught a glimpse of the wild horses so notorious for the Outer Banks. I was super excited to see them for the first time, even though I've made several trips to OBX over the years. I ran to grab a few photos. They were gorgeous!

Steve and Tyler made a little sand castle and I collected some seashells. We saw a bunch of dolphins swimming by us too. After awhile, we packed our things back up and decided to go check in our hotel. It was then, that it started to rain. Again, perfect timing. LOL We got cleaned up and dressed for dinner and since we were near the ocean, we were in the mood for seafood. We ended up at the Sunset Grill and had a nice table with a view.
After dinner, we went for a little drive and stopped for some ice cream for dessert. We walked around for a bit while eating our ice cream and then drove back to our hotel where we got ready for bed and watched television before calling it a night. We were quite excited about our next day's adventure, which included some ferry rides, but first we had to have a good night's sleep.

We finished up our Tae Kwon Do classes with Master Hwang since we are moving to Bahrain, but we already contacted a new Tae Kwon Do instructor to teach Tyler when we get there. In this video, Tyler is counting to 10 in Korean, just one of the things he learned since taking TKD.

Dad versus Tyler

Dad came home early from work today and so we all headed over to the pool. Most of our pool fun was had by having a water gun fight.

World Traveler

We're trying to get little things done each day to get organized for our move. Here, Steve is sorting, counting, and finding out the exchange rate for our foreign currency collection. With all of our travels along the way, especially three recent deployments, we've collected a lot. Steve has visited 42 countries in total.

Crazy Hair at Tae Kwon Do

Today the moving guy was at our apartment and garage to see how much stuff we have for them to pack. This is the first step in our move to Bahrain.

The Adams Visit

We were delighted to have Jess and her two daughters come stay with us for the weekend. They arrived Friday afternoon and after getting settled in, we had dinner and then hit the stores for some shopping. Before leaving our apartment though, the kids decided to use Tyler's volcano eruption kit. Tyler thought it would be cool to add soap and oh my goodness, what an eruption it created! There was "lava" everywhere! LOL It was a lot of fun though. Once we got back from our shopping trip, it was getting late but we were still catching up and having fun. The kids even stayed up late talking and giggling.

The next morning after breakfast, we all got into the Pacifica and headed to North Carolina for a fun day of site seeing, ferry riding, and beaching. We arrived at the ferry landing 2 hours ahead of schedule so we decided to use up that time by exploring the nearby sites. We walked down the street to an old general store, visited an old jail and took some photos. It was lunchtime and we ventured down the highway a bit for some BBQ lunch. After enjoying our food and taking some photos on an antique firetruck, we headed back to the ferry and got back in line.

 This was the same ferry to Knotts Island that we took a few weeks ago. It is a 45 minute ride and we made use of our time by taking lots of photos and just enjoying the ride. Even though it was the same ferry destination, it was a different boat than the last time. It had more room for cars and a little room that you could go indoors and sit. we all had a great time and before long, we arrived on the island and we then were on our way to our next bit of fun for the day, the beach.

We took Jess and the girls to our usual beach hangout, Sandbridge. The weather was a little cool and breezy, but we still made the most of it and stayed for a few hours. The kids had a blast playing in the big waves. Afterwards, Steve helped them build a sandcastle that ended up needing rebuilding several times because the tide kept coming in. We stayed into dusk and then made our way back home for dinner on the BBQ with smores for dessert. It was a great night filled with firefly catching, frogs that sounded like dogs barking, and marshmallows catching on fire. LOL

We finished off the night by coming back inside and had a big Tae Kwon Do demonstration inour living room. Jess and her daughters all have their black belts in Tae Kwon Do and they showed us some pretty impressive moves. They wanted to see what Tyler has learned so far and after a little coaxing he showed us. He even put on his uniform and showed us some more. LOL By the time they were finished, it was getting quite late and Tyler again was so tired that he had the giggles and he couldn't stop laughing. LOL
The next day, we just took it easy. Jess had a paper that was due later that night and so we just chilled out at the pool for most of the day. The next day, Monday, was their last day here. They packed up the car, had breakfast, stayed and talked for a few hours and then we said our goodbyes. It was a great visit and we are glad that they came to see us before our move. It'll just be 2 years and we can do it all again. :)

Touch A Truck

Our local library had a Touch a Truck event. Tyler had a great time climbing all over everything and beeping the horns of all the trucks. Here are some pictures:

Summer Bucket List

Tyler's bucket list for the summer. 1)Swim to the bottom of the deep end. 2)Climb a tall tree. 3)Learn how to ride a skateboard. 4)Do a jump on my bike. 5)Go fishing. 6)Go to the Great Wolf Lodge and 7)Go to a ballgame.

Best Father in the Whole World

To show our appreciation and love to Dad, we planned a very special day for Father's Day. First of all, while he was sleeping in, we started to prepare a special breakfast. After he woke up and had breakfast, he opened his gifts. We got him a MINI Countryman shirt, a Virginia Dunkin Donuts coffee mug, cards and Tyler made him a certificate and a pencil holder out of an egg carton. I made us sandwiches for a beach picnic and we then headed for our favorite beach for the day, at Dad's request. There, we built a cool sandcastle and relaxed in the sun.

Afterwards, Dad wanted to go and check out this trail across the street that we always say we wanted to hike. As were were walking along the trail, we were surprised to find a cache almost out in the open. We didn't even realize there were caches hidden nearby. We signed the log and then proceeded down the trail which came out to a pond. Then we drove home where I made, Dad's favorite, sushi, for dinner. Overall, I think Dad had a pretty good day. 

Pretend Sleepover

Our good friends, Heather, Dawn & Rachael hosted a "pretend sleepover" party to celebrate the end of school. The kids were required to show up wearing their pajamas and bring their pillows and sleeping bags for a great evening of fun that included smores, trampolines, sparklers, firecrackers, followed by a movie under the stars. For seating to watch the movie, Heather filled up kiddie pools with lots of blankets and pillows and had a couple of tents set up. It was an absolute blast!!! We arrived at 8pm, way past Tyler's bedtime and we didn't get home until 11:30pm. Steve and I thought sure Tyler would fall asleep during the movie, but he stayed up to the very end. It was so much fun that we are super excited until the next "pretend sleepover".