The Scarberry 5: June 2008

Well, you all know me, so I hope you have some reading time right now cuz this could get long! Here we go.....Vacation was great. We arrived on Saturday May 31 around 6pm after 12 hours of driving. That's not bad considering the stopping time. We only stopped 2 or 3 times on the way down. The kids are amazing in the car. The DVD player helps, but really there were times when they weren't watching anything and we didn't have the radio on and they were just so quiet! Amazing! Now, how can I get that to work at home? My dad arrived on Sunday evening and stayed til Wednesday morning. We had a nice time with my dad there. I haven't been on a vacation with him since the late 80's when I was in junior high and we went to Myrtle Beach (the same year hurricane Hugo hit.....I remember cuz I asked if hurricanes hit here, and his friend said not really, sure enough, 3 months later Hugo wiped out where we were!). While my dad was there the first full day (Monday) was breezy and coool (75) so we didn't swim but we did play at the ocean and collect shells. Tuesday we went to the Currituck Lighthouse and climbed to the top (except Dad) and walked around the Whalehead Club at the Currituck Sound (this is where the lighthouse is located). Climbing to the top of the lighthouse was a lot scarier than I anticipated. I thought we'd be enclosed up there, but you're not! I said to the boys "hug the wall!" and I seriously turned my body to the left to take a picture of the sound and then to the right to take a picture of the ocean, all while still hugging the wall myself! Richard was holding Cassidy. Wednesday morning dad left in the midst of an air quality warning due to a wildfire burning somewhere that started by a lightning strike and the wind was blowing the smoke our way. So we stayed in that morning cuz you just couldn't breathe outside, it was that bad. But it had blown out to sea by afternoon so we then went swimming (our house had a private pool). Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were just spent chillin at the ocean or the house and cooking out and swimming or playing at the beach. Cassidy loved the beach but would get scared when the boys would obsessively talk about the crabs and freak her out. We got to see a couple of guys surfing, which was neat cuz I've never seen that. The undertow there is bad so the kids aren't allowed past their knees cuz it will grab them and take them out quickly. Spencer, Cassidy and I were sitting at the beginning of where the water comes up to and a wave just went right over all of our heads and rolled Spencer. That's how strong it is. We found some awesome shells, saw a jellyfish washed ashore (YIKES!), and Richard and the boys saw a blue crab. They went crab hunting one night with my dad and then 2 other nights as well. They brought a crab back each time in a bucket and released it at the house. Then Cassidy was playing with the flashlight in the house saying she's looking for the crab. She'd crouch down and look down the stairs, it was cute. Brenden enjoys riding the waves at the beach and Spencer loves looking for shells, as does Cassidy. We all had a really nice time. Next year we are hoping to meet my brother there and take mom and rent a house with an elevator. That would be nice to have a big family vacation together. So now comes the picture segment. Enjoy.

Here is our family picture on the beach.

The kids on the beach. The biting flies were out so Cassidy wouldn't stand again.

The Currituck Beach Lighthouse.

Us at the top (after climbing 214 stairs). See where the railing is and why it's scary???!!! We felt like Cassidy would fall right over and it was just scary, trust me!