LIghthouse Date

Later on in the week, the family offered to watch the girls so Matt & I could spend a day by ourselves. We decided to drive down to Cape Hatteras and see the lighthouse there (2 hours from where we were staying).

Cape Hatteras lighthouse was built in 1870 and is the world's tallest brick lighthouse standing at 198.5 feet. Treacherous waters off the coast bear the name Graveyard of the Atlantic- over 600 ships wrecked here as victims of shallow shoals, storms & war. Few ships wreck today, but storms still uncover the ruins of the old wrecks. The beacon from the lighthouse can be seen 20 miles out to sea.

It was a gorgeous day! And we climbed to the top....

That's the point of Cape Hatteras directly behind us (sort of between our heads)

Over time, the Atlantic Ocean slowly crept its way closer and closer to the original location of the lighthouse, eating away at the beach... in the summer of 1999 the lighthouse was actually moved to its present location. This photo shows the track on which the lighthouse was transported- all 6250 tons & 1,250,000 bricks of it! The original site was that bare area of sand kind of in the middle of the photo, past the far side of the parking lot, all the way down next to the water. My cousins were there that year and watched as it inched its way down the track- Liz remembers putting a quarter down on the track and having it smashed by the lighthouse as it passed over- she still has that quarter!

On our way back up the coastline, we stopped to see the Bodie Island Lighthouse. It is the last of 3 lighthouses to bear that name. It was completed in 1872 and stands 156 feet tall. The beacon can be seen 20 miles away. All the beacons have a different pattern of flashes (and different patterns of paint on them) so that sailors can identify which lighthouse it is (& therefore where they are located).

This one was not open for climbing- it was slated to begin restoration in the following month or so.

Our first Hospital Experience

We are really lucky that we haven't had to take our kids to the ER yet. Well, until we were out of state. One afternoon as we were getting ready to head back out to the beach, Ella got a little huffy and resistant and plopped her body down on the ground while Matt was holding her hand. He instinctively pulled her up (by her arm) and she instantly starting crying. We wondered if she was injured, but at the same time it had been a long few days, she was overtired anyway, and it seemed maybe that was just the last straw for her. Matt stayed in and took a nap with Ella. When she woke up, she was still clingy and cranky. We also noticed she was not using her arm, and wouldn't let us touch it. We are out in the middle of nowhere as far as medical help goes, but there was a number at our house for a woman who makes house calls. When I called, though, I only got her voicemail that said she wouldn't return a call until the next morning. So, we packed Ella up in the car & headed to the closest clinic (45 minutes down the road) only to get there 10 minutes past closing. Another 15 minutes down the road and we ended up at the hospital where we entered the ER and had to wait another 2 hours to actually see someone.

Ella was very patient in the waiting room. Thankfully they had some toys, books & a video playing. She liked her fancy bracelets:


When we were finally admitted into a room, a Physician's Assistant came and took a look- within 30 seconds he diagnosed her with Nursemaid's Elbow. He then demonstrated to me what he was going to do to put it back in place. In Daddy's arms, she was very brave as the PA popped her arm back in- she winced, and cried out, and then was calm. So after 3+ hours of driving/waiting, we spent about 2 minutes with medical help who solved the problem.

The PA brought her some ice cream for being so brave:


Then we headed home- another 1+ hour drive. It certainly could have been much much worse.

P.S. When we got back to NY and I told the pediatrician about the ordeal, she said I should have called her- she would have talked me through the steps of putting it back in place.

A Diamond Jubilee

The tradition of celebrating a 60th anniversary came into popularity after Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. One of the reasons we all came together in the Outer Banks this year was to celebrate my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. Aunt B & Liz made a wonderful cake complete with a bride&groom on top. Then I insisted on hearing the tale of how they met, which led to the sharing of many more life experiences- some which I knew of, and some that were new to me. I could have listened to them for hours. Gram also brought some of her wedding photos along to show us. Aren't they a handsome couple? And a gorgeous bride!

Cutting the cake then:

Cutting the cake now:


The wedding party:

Kitty Hawk (Kill Devil Hills)

(photo from National Park Service)

Mid-day in the Outer Banks got awfully sunny and hot- a bit too much for my fair-skinned babies to be out at the beach. So we tried to take a little trip during those hot hours. One day we traveled down to Kill Devil Hills, also known as Kitty Hawk, where Wilbur & Orville Wright first tested their flight machines and succeeded after several years trying. We visited the National Monument and walked the path of their first 4 flights.

Lighthouse #2

During our stay in the Outer Banks, we were lucky enough to be within walking distance of this beautiful brick lighthouse:

At the base of the lighthouse:

The Currituck Beach Light station began work on the North Carolina coast on December 1, 1875. The exterior was left unpainted to distinguish it from other regional lighthouses (photos of those to come). It has 214 steps that wind up 162 feet. There are about 1 million bricks in its walls.

The girls were very excited to climb- Ella was insistent on doing it all herself- and she did. She climbed every last stair of the 214 stairs- all the way to the top. She couldn't stop talking about it afterwards ("Ella go up lighthouse!") and still to this day, over 2 months later, she still talks about the lighthouse.

Standing on the landing alongside the Fresnel lens.

Very Windy on top! That's the Atlantic Ocean behind us.

Matt& Ella

View of the lightkeeper's house from the top of the light station (zoomed in a bit).

View of the Outer Banks from the top. Ocean on the left side of the photo, Sound on the right side.

View of the hundreds of vacation homes & ocean

Summer Catch Up: Part 2

The next morning we left Jenni's house and headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to rendezvous with the rest of my family (my grandparents & their progeny: 3 children + 1 spouse, 7 grandchildren + 3 spouses & 2 boyfriends & 2 great-grandchildren = 20 poeple). This was a special vacation because when I was growing up my whole family (grandparents, cousins & us) would go to the Outer Banks to vacation- we haven't all been there together in over 10 years. And every single one of us made it this time! We stayed in one large house with 7 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, laundry, pool & hot tub, great living/dining/kitchen area, 3 levels of decks and very close beach access.

It was a week of joy! We spent nearly every morning and every afternoon sitting/playing/swimming at the beautiful beach! I learned to use a boogie board. My cousin rented a sea kayak & a surfboard and everyone took turns riding the waves. Amazing sand sculptures were built. Sunrays were caught on our skin. I had peaceful morning runs down the beach. We watched dolphins in the water, sand crabs in the sand, helicopters and plans buzz the beach. Alexis braved the waters every day until she finally gave in to their alluring call and immersed herself (on the last day!) pretending to be a dolphin. We took bike rides & toured some nearby sites (more on that in following posts).

I didn't take a single picture on the beach (shame on me) but there were multiple other photographers who caught all of the action. Here are the slideshows from our hours on the beach(they're long!). We had a most fantastic time. There were so many other adults around that I didn't have to worry about Alexis and Ella hardly at all. It was a true vacation for me!

Summer Catch Up: Part 1

This summer was filled with travel for us. Forgive me for backtracking a bit, but there's lots to report on! I'll go back to day 1 of our trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

We left Manhattan at a decent hour Saturday, June 28th. We drove for a few hours, headed toward DC, and stopped on the way to see the Concord Point lighthouse on the northern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Delaware & the quaint little town of Havre de Grace that surrounds it (including the pawn shop for Matt to hunt out guitar equipment). Unfortunately it wasn't open when we were there (we arrived about 11 AM and it didn't open until 1 PM) so we didn't get to go inside, but it was still a great spot to get out and stretch our legs and let little ones run around.

Concord Point Light is a 36-foot tower that was built in 1827. It is the second oldest tower lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay and the oldest continuous lighthouse in Maryland. The tower is built at the point where the Susquehanna River meets the tidal flow of the Chesapeake Bay and navigation is very hazardous around this area.

Looking out at the Bay


The Chesapeake Bay




The Lightkeeper's house (it was closed when we were there)

After our stop in Havre de Grace (did I mention the homemade candy? De-lish!) we continued on down the interstate en route to my mission friend Jenni's home where we planned on spending the night. As we were following our mapquest directions, we turned a bend and this popped up in front of us:

The Washington DC Temple! So we decided to stop and visit the grounds. The girls really loved it there. We were lucky to see a bride also, which is very exciting for 2 little girls to see! We spent some time in the visitor's center and walking the grounds.

And then we made it to Jenni's house! Our kids ran with their kids. We ate grilled hamburgers & delicious homemade blueberry crisp (warm from the oven with ice cream on top!). We talked and talked and reminisced about the mission & just had a great time! They have a beautiful new home (where we were the first guests in the guest room!). Her son, Connor, had had a pirate party that morning, so the girls were loving all the pirate paraphernalia. I'm pretty sure we snuck off with a couple of pennants from the front lawn.

All our kiddies together

Lexi loved Connor- I think he was still debating his thoughts on this extremely energetic & sassy New York girl

Thank you, Jenni, for being such a wonderful hostess. Next time, we're staying a week!