Vacation

Let me begin this blog with a gratuitous roadkill picture. We kept seeing these dead birds on the sides of the bridges. They would fly over the bridges never seeing the cars and the cars would just knock them right out of the sky... So I made Dan stop in the middle of the bridge so I could get a picture.

My Idea of a vacation:

So these are pictures of how I like to Vacation. Relax, spend time outside, have a few drinks, go to the beach, go to the pool, go surfing.... but nothing substantial. Our hotel had an awesome view off of the balcony. I could have spent hours out there watching the boats and spending time with my husband.

I found out however that is not how my Mother in law typically vacations.

Teresa's Idea of a vacation:

I thought it was quirky when we went to the blackbeard museum, a little weird when we took 3 kids into another museum all about shipwrecks. I think Dan and Teresa took pride in not leaving any word unread. The kids however seemed to finish up with the museums a little quicker. Georgia and I would kill sometime taking a freaking tour of the bathroom of every darn building we entered. I was about done with the museums by the time we got to the Indian Museum. I stayed in the car with the sleeping girls while Dan and his mom took Tommy.

Now really I enjoyed the museums, I just would never have imagined going to so many on a vacation. Teresa and Dan told me later how relaxed this vacation was and how usually they are just trying to see as many things as they fit in. (I am pretty sure they really meant how many museums they could fit in)

The Light house

I think this picture is a good place to start a tangent of a story. The morning as I was packing for 5 people and trying desperately hard to get us out of the house in time for our ferry reservations.... Well I guess I will just say it was hectic. I decided to leave the house wearing a skirt. After spending the whole day traveling, I decide to change into pants in the hotel, I realize OH CRAP!!! I forgot to pack myself... PANTS... or shorts... or any other skirts!! So I was stuck wearing a VERY short swimsuit cover up in place of an outfit. I was all ready feeling bad about how much money I was spending, so I decided not to complain and buy anything. So the above picture is me in the dress I climbed the lighthouse in... for the record I was wearing a swimsuit under it. It was still VERY tacky!!!

Tommy was very excited to climb the lighthouse, but they were being very strict about the height requirement of 42 inches. Because he is only about 41 inches Dan was trying to teach him the subtle art of standing on the tippy toes without being noticed. So when they go to measure him he goes as high on his tippy toes as he can in the most obvious fashion. I think the woman gave him points for enthusiasm because she let him slide.

Teresa, Tommy and I climbed the lighthouse. It was an experience I think we will all remember for a long time to come. One of the highlights of the trips for sure. We then.... you guessed it... walked around another museum!!! This one was about lighthouses. I walked around it for a few min with Georgia, then she decided it was time to check out the bathroom facilities and see if they were up to par. After that we just walked around outside and enjoyed the outdoors while Teresa and Dan read every word possible in the museum.

Dans Idea of a Vacation:

Good parking spots... yup that's us in the first parking spot!

Cable TV

and FOOD FOOOD FOOD!

The kids Idea of a vacation

3 adults to 3 kid ratio = lots of individual attention

matching PJ's for the girls, cartoons in the hotel room

Sleeping wherever they see fit



New things to explore

Lastly we tortured Teresa and made her spend an afternoon at the beach with us... So if I would have known how she much she hates the beach I probably would not have suggested spending the weekend on an island :) But hey... who knew they could have so many museams on an island!!!

We all had a very good time together and I can't wait for some time to go back to the outerbanks and spend some time in the sand and water. The parts I would recommend the most would be the Hatteras Lighthouse, the ferrys, the Breakwater Inn, and the Cafe at Avalon.