The Sea

again!
Currituck Lighthouse. Top of the heap. It's a family tree. Coolness.1,2,3,4....wait....one's missing!Love the view!Up we go!Looking out the window to see how far we've climbed already. PukPuk was really nervous climbing up but he kept right on trucking and made it to the top!Laura getting in the cooler! I see you Laura. Jennifer. The dunes.From the top looking down. PukPuk coming down the lighthouse. These goats charged mom when she got a bag of chips out of the back of the van. We kept trying to chase them off but they would not be persuaded. Sunset on the way home!

Last Week...

...we had company from Ohio. Nathan's brother Peter came down with one of my best friends Sarah and her daughter Julia. On Sunday we went on what has become known as the 'Day Trip from Hades'.Grasshopper and Peanut woke up with some allergy breathing struggles and had to be taken to Urgent Care. Then we had to wait for the W*l-M*rt pharmacy to open to get the happy happy steriods that allow my children to breath easily. Finally we were able to leave for the beach.I drove the girls,(Laura, Sarah, Julia, and myself) in her car. Nathan and Peter drove our four children. We got seperated, mainly because my husband is a poky driver when I'm not with him. And something about having make 5 stops for our children to go to the bathroom. They get that from their dad. I never stop to go to the bathroom. Thanks Dad for teaching me that! Sarah's GPS lead us on every back country road from here to Currituck.We finally made it to Peanut's lighthouse only to find out that it opens next week. Seriously, why would it be closed? How silly is that? And to top it all, the bathrooms were closed too.
The guys finally arrived with the food. Next time the coolers go in my car! We had a picnic at a nice little playground. Grasshopper had soaked his pants in the car. Apparently with 5 pit stops no one thought to change his diaper. It didn't seem to bother him at all. Of course it clouded up and got cold and windy after being sunny the whole day.We finally made it the beach and the ocean. The water was like painful icy needles but the kids had fun digging in the sand. I love the beach. I could sit and listen to and watch the waves All. Day. Long. I want to spend a month on the beach just watching the ocean.We left for home after about an hour and a half. I was afraid the children were going to turn into popsicles.
We made it home and started washing all the sand off the children. Nathan said that they did not sleep at all on the way home which would explain why they all fell asleep quickly after their baths.

Saturday

Since our first trip to the beach Little Peanut has talked about lighthouses. She kept wanting to know when we were going to see her lighthouse and climb to the top. This past weekend was predicted to be warm so Nathan and I decided we would go on Saturday.
We got the kids ready and packed up the van. Planning for contingencies can leave you with lots of stuff in the van. We set out a little later than we planned but enjoyed the drive.
We picked Currituck Beach Lighthouse because it was slightly closer than Hatteras and it was also the one that Jon and Kate Plus 8 visited last summer and the kids wanted to see it. We got to the lighthouse about 1 pm. After a much necessary detour we headed over to the lighthouse. There is a charge for adults but kids climb free. We made it to the first platform, just 12 -15 up and AJ was pulling a Daniel, using his hands on the steps because he was scared. We stopped to read some of the information before going up to the next level. AJ's fear spread to JM and neither one was going to budge any further. At this point Nathan had been carrying Grasshopper and I was holding Peanut's hand. Nathan and I switched and I took the 3 boys back down and outside.
A couple of minutes later JM and AJ saw Daddy up at the top with Peanut. We smiled and waved. At this point JM decided there was no way he was going to miss out seeing what was up there. After Nathan and Peanut came down JM and I started up. I told him that I couldn't carrying him but I would hold his hand. He did great. I was so proud of him. He was very nervous but walked around on the platform and looked out to see. I was very nervous too.
We came down and I thought that was harder than going up.
Next on the agenda was lunch and the beach. We ate in the van and drove across the road to the public beach acess. After being slightly stuck in the sand we parked the van. Once again, Peanut was on a mission, headed for the beach. There weren't many people on the beach so we spread out. Peanut got her feet wet once and that was it. She played in the sand the rest of the day. Yes, they were all well coated with sunscreen. Grasshopper loved the sand as well. The waves, not so much. He screamed at them and was upset anytime one of us went in the water.
It was really cold but the sun and sand were so hot that it felt good. AJ loved being in the waves. JM liked getting his feet wet but not much more than that. Nathan spent a large part of his time helping people get unstuck from the sand.
We got home about 9 pm that night at which point Nathan thought, yeah, it might be nice to get a house at the beach for a vacation. Sounds like a great plan to me, anyone want to go with us???