Blackbeard Pirate Festival...

If you've heard much pirate lore you have probably heard of the famous Edward Teach who is more commonly known as Blackbeard. This area has some interesting history when it comes to Blackbeard. There was a local customs house located in town that the ships laden with goods would have to stop to pay the necessary fees. Well the pirates began to get smart and began attacking these ships coming to the customs house knowing they would be laden with goods. The local citizens began to get tired of the pirate attacks and the Governor was fearful that one of the most notorious pirates was based so nearby. He sent Lt. Maynard and a crew down to Ocracoke Island to capture and kill the famous Blackbeard. They were successful in their attempt and as part of the deal to collect the reward brought his severed head back. His head was then placed on a stake at the entrance to the river as a warning to other sailors who would consider piracy. Each year there is a local Blackbeard Pirate Festival to commemorate the occasion. We went to check out the festivities this year. They had a sea battle re-enactment out on the water, many fun activities for the kids, and many attendees dressed as pirates.

The kids enjoyed riding the historic carousel and digging for treasure in the sand.

Arrgh, matey!

Outer Banks (OBX)

Mom was coming to town for a visit so I decided to take advantage of having family around and surprised Jim with a 3 day trip for our upcoming 10th anniversary. I had thought about a trip to Paris (which also happened to be what Jim was thinking of surprising me with) or a cruise to the Bahamas but the logistics of having a nursing newborn and conserving leave days overrode those ideas. So instead I settled on a road trip to Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks. We had been to the Outer Banks before but to Bodie Island on the north end which is much more populated and touristy. We enjoyed the miles of natural landscape that have been preserved down there and not overtaken by beach homes. It was nice to have some time to enjoy the slower pace of the island and hanging out at the beach. However as typical with most of our vacations we're not content to sit still for very long so to add some adrenaline to the adventure I signed us up for surfing and kiteboarding lessons. The water was absolutely gorgeous the morning of our surf lessons. It was clear and a beautiful shade of blue. I did a group lesson first while Jim sat with Jonas and then he went out after for a private lesson.

Some random wildlife shots will watching each other surf:

We then hopped in the car to drive to the next town north to do our ground training for kiteboarding lessons. It was fun learning how to control the foil kite (think small parasail) though Jim was much better at flying it than me. I kept crashing it into the ground because I wasn't recovering it from the dives we had to send it into soon enough. The next morning we headed out to start learning how to kiteboard out on the water. I was up first but there was barely enough wind and it was blowing directly on shore. So we got the kite all rigged up and harnesses on then packed it up and headed out into the sound on the jet ski. Because the wind wasn't blowing much the only way to get the kite launch was by pulling it with the jet ski. I would drive and the instructor was hooked onto the kite. Once it finally launched up from the water he would go flying off the back of the jet ski. Once he had the kite controlled up in the air then I would take over and get harnessed in. The first thing you do is practice body drags where you work on flying the kite while it pulls you across the water. The wind started to die down at this point and it was difficult to keep the kite in the air. We got it up one more time with the jet ski but after that called it quits and they rainchecked my lesson. However we took advantage of the time and went and tried surfing on our own. I caught this shot as Jim was heading out.

Jim was scheduled to go in the afternoon but his lesson got pushed back some until the wind eventually picked up. They got out and he had the body drags down and was just about to start learning how to put the board on and ride when they saw lightening in the distance so they called it quits. So we both got about an hour on the water for free and will get to go back down another time to do the water section again. I'll have to actually get some pictures of us kiteboarding next time.

One of the other highlights of being on Hatteras Island is that there are numerous off-road ramps and trails that take you out along the beach. This gave us a chance to really use our new four wheel drive vehicle. Jim was excited to have to use all sorts of different gears and features to be able to drive out through the deep, soft sand. We spent some time exploring different trails and areas one evening then found our own section of beach to have a campfire and roast some brats for dinner. It was great to sit there watching the waves roll in as the sun was going down. We had a great trip and look forward to going again. Thanks Mom for watching the girls!

Preschool graduation...

Whitney has loved going to preschool this year. In fact, she loved school so much that she doesn't understand why she has to wait until September for kindergarten to start. She was ready for it to start the day after preschool ended! She attended a great preschool laboratory program at a local high school. They had excellent teachers and the high school students in the Early Childhood Education class would come in to work and teach in their classroom each day so the kids had a lot of attention. Below is Whitney with one of her favorite "young women" Ms. Camille.

They did a nice graduation ceremony for all the kids at the end of the year with graduation gowns and everything. A little over the top but the kids sure looked cute and grown up. Below is Whitney walking across the "stage" to get her certificate of completion. They also performed a few songs, had a few speeches, and recognized the high school kids that completed the class. The ceremony was followed by a nice lunch buffet.

Here's her three great teachers: Mrs. Sharon, Mrs. Mary, and Mrs. Penny

This year's school picture.

Our little guy...

We've sure enjoyed having our little guy in our home. I've had fun taking some newborn pics of him. Here are a few when he was 2-3 weeks old and some recent ones with his sisters. I can't decide which one he looks more like yet.

Memorial weekend fun....

We had a enjoyable weekend having fun with friends and enjoying the great weather. Whitney, Jonas, and I started the weekend off with a harbor tour and Jim and Maren opted for playing disc golf. They sure missed out! We enjoyed learning about the history of the area, seeing all the navy ships that were in, watching the shipping traffic through the harbor, doing a tour of Fort Wool (an island fort), and viewing Ft. Monroe and the Comfort Point lighthouse from the water.

The kids were getting bored with the lecture on the fort tour so they instead enjoyed eating the berries off the mulberry tree that we were standing under.

The blue roofed yacht club in this picture sits where Blackbeard the pirate's head was once posted on the end of a stake after the locals had captured and killed him. This was to serve as a warning to other pirates.

This osprey had built a nest on one of the maritime navigational markers in the harbor. If you look close you can see a baby osprey that had recently hatched. It was a great day to be out on the water and to be able to gain a different perspective and appreciation of the area we live in.

Later that evening we joined some friends for a BBQ at the beach. The kids had fun swimming in the water and playing some water balloon volleyball.

On Memorial Day we just hung out at the house getting things done and then went to accomplish the goal for the weekend: buy a new grill. We have never actually bought a grill since we've been married as all the ones we've had were used ones that were given to us and we used them until they were totally rusted out. We had to break it in that night with a tri-tip.

Random visitor...

The other day I sent the girls out front to pick up some trash that had blown into our yard. They came back in a few minutes later and said the neighbor had a turtle. I was thinking that the neighbors must have some cute little pet turtle that they happened to have outside. Well an hour later I happen to be walking by the front storm glass door and see this big turtle sitting on our front porch looking like he was waiting to be let inside. By the time I got a camera out he'd climbed into the flower bed and hung out there for awhile. I called animal control not knowing what to do as he wasn't the most friendly looking and had some sharp looking claws that I didn't want to get near. He disappeared before animal control got there but they said it sounded like a snapping turtle and they are common in the area but not to touch them as they have a painful bite. Where he went in 15 minutes time is beyond me as it took him an hour to make it from the neighbors porch to ours. In talking to the girls later they had just seen the turtle on the neighbors porch and thought it was theirs. Luckily they had been smart enough not to try and touch it!

Vamos a la playa...

I love when the weather finally gets warm enough to head to the beach for fun. We definitely don't take advantage of living only 10 minutes away often enough. We spent a few hours playing in the water while my mom was still here visiting. This last weekend we went down to play on the playground and take a long walk down the beach. There is something very calming about long walks on the beach. Maren just loves the water even if she doesn't have her suit on she wants to be out in the waves playing. Even Jonas enjoyed catching a few rays.