OBX Highlights, Part Three

It has taken me a whole week to post pictures and write updates about our week-long vacation. How crazy is that?

But there's still more. I can't help myself. It was just that good. I'm going to make this the last one, though. Promise!

In the middle of our week at the Outer Banks, we spent a morning at Jockey's Ridge State Park. Picture the Sahara Desert, but on a smaller scale. Jockey's Ridge is the tallest natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States (that comes straight from the park brochure.).

Here's the interesting part: the huge dunes don't blow away in all that wind simply because in the winter the wind blows out of the northeast direction, while in the summer it blows out of the southwest. So the size and shape of the dune varies, but the sand just shifts around from season to season.

Isn't that just one of the neatest "God things" you've heard today?

From the highest sand dune peaks, you could see both the ocean side of the Outer Banks and then pivot to see the sound side on the opposing end. It was very cool.

We'd been told by friends to go early, because it gets miserably hot there during the day in summer. A coworker of Bruce's suggested slipping off our flip flops, because our feet would sink about mid calf deep in some sections of the dunes. "Oh," you think, "but all that hot sand would burn your feet." Yes, yes it would. But we were smart (insert "rednecks" here).

We walked around wearing socks.



Yes, we looked dorky. But we were steadier on our feet that day than anyone else out there. That counts for something in my book!

Allison reverted to beach mode and spent her time building sand castles.



She stopped when she heard a woman squeal about a big black bug that was attaching itself to her flip flop (she didn't get the memo about wearing socks). We wandered over, and sure enough, that bug was huge. Strap a saddle on him and you could have ridden his back out of the park in a jiffy!

The boys ran from the top of one dune to another. We didn't chase them. It was too far and too steep. We figured they'd come back when they got hungry.

There was an awful lot of this going on.







And some silly, posed shots, too, at the direction of Bruce. He's a goofball. Here he and Clay showed how thirsty one can get in the desert.



An entire section of Jockey's Ridge is devoted to hang-gliders.

I call this photo "Bruce: Wishful Thinking".



And Spencer gives proof to the saying, "like father, like son."



After finishing up at the park, we headed to a beach-side home being rented the same week we vacationed by one of our favorite families from church, the Millers. Arlena and I have gotten close in the past several years through our shared involvement in choir, youth and Beth Moore (conferences and studies). And both of us and our spouses are on the fellowship committee, so we work in the church kitchen together fairly often, too.

I love Arlena and Robert's oldest kiddo, Amber. She is Babysitter Extraordinaire. (That's her professional title. I gave it to her after she watched our three one night.)

The rest of our crew plays well with the rest of their crew. William, their second teen, is good with my littler guys. And their youngest, Audra, and Clay... well, we thought we could go old-school and just arrange a marriage now, but that might not work out. We'll just have to wait and see.

We spent more than an hour at the beach before we all came inside. Arlena and her mother made lunch for us: manicotti, salad, ham and cheese sandwiches, and/or corn dogs. We all ate until we nearly popped and then worked on the chocolate pie we had brought along.

Afterwards, we just hung out.

Here's Allison being pampered by Amber, which, thankfully, is nothing like being Pampered by mommy.



Clay and Audra, playing War with Uno cards.



Amber playing Clue with all the younger kids.



When they were finished, Amber put Allison's hair up in French braids. I told our daughter that she was a totally different girl when we left than when we'd arrived.

Bruce played Rook with William and Arlena's adopted brother and sister. (Arlena's parents rented half of the house along with the Millers, and they have two adopted teenagers.) I relaxed and chatted with Arlena and her mother, Judy.

Judy took this one of me and Arlena.



After several hours, we made our way back to our campground. We stopped by Bodie Lighthouse on the way.



Here's a poster of all four lighthouses we saw while at the OBX. It's cool how each one is different.



Our kids fell asleep in the truck, but were revived enough once back at the campground to play putt-putt.



Just a few more. If you aren't family and have made it through all three of these Highlights posts... bless you. I'd pay you, but we just don't keep that kind of cash handy. Mostly because we don't have it.

Here's the bucket of precious sea shells that Spencer collected, almost entirely on his own, during our vacation.



I wanted to toss it into the ocean after they were asleep our last night there. But Bruce is more tenderhearted than I am, so the entire bucket is now stashed in our basement, out of sight. And Spencer hasn't asked about them even once yet.

After school starts, this house is going to see a purging that can only be compared to something out of "The Exorcist". I predict the shells will disappear right about that time. (Along with the nine empty water bottles that Bruce also permitted Spencer to save against my specific wishes. Yes, he has issues with collecting things. It's frightening.)

The campground had several events planned just for the kids (things like the putt putt and tie-dying t-shirts that I mentioned before during these posts). Right before Independence Day, the kids got to make red, white and blue bead bracelets.





Clay made one, too, but he made it for me. Because he is too mature for bracelets now. (Picture me with an eyebrow raised as I say that.)



And here it is. The last one.

We always made a little time for the hot tub.



I'm getting ready to ask Bruce tonight where we're going on vacation next year.

Germany? I wish. But probably not. Disneyworld? The kids are dreaming of that repeat.

Myrtle Beach? Maybe. A definite maybe.