Outer Banks, NC - Part II

Outer Banks, NC
November 2009

The beach-front house in Avon (southern part of the Outer Banks) we stayed in with two other families -- 6 adults; 8 kids (all six years old or younger). A little chaos is good.

Picture of the beach and the pier from the upper deck of the house. The weather was great for this time of year (sunny, but cool).

Andrew, Gracie, and Katie loved the beach. They made sand castles and collected LOTS of shells. Katie mostly just ate sand.

One of the many lighthouses along the coast.

One of the harbors where the chartered fishing boats would arrive after a long day of fishing to unload their cargo (a lot of tuna).

Outer Banks, NC - Part I

Outer Banks, NC
November 2009

During out trip to the Outer Banks we stopped at the Grave Digger monster truck exhibit, which Andrew LOVED!

Eight kids -- all six years old or younger! They had a BLAST playing with each other. They all played so hard that none of them had trouble falling asleep at nap time or bed time.

The kids loved the indoor spa and the outside hot tub.

This was one of the families we went with -- our friends, the Strattons.

At Studio 12, the kids got to work with pottery -- they loved painting them and drawing designs on them. Once they were "cooked" they always had to have their "special" dish and cup at dinner time.

It's Fall...

Fall
October 2009

The kids LOVE to play in the leaves. Yes, that is little Katie throwing leaves at Big Brother, Andrew. She LOVES to tease him most of all. Gracie's friend, Chloe Francis, is in the background.

Gracie dressed up as a horse for Halloween. People thought she was sooo cute that random strangers would stop and ask if they could take a picture of her.

All smiles! You would not believe how the leaves fall and fall and fall from the trees. There are so many leaves that the city has to send out a "vacuum truck" three times during the months of October and November to suck them all up. The residents all rake and pile their leaves on the street and the piles extend the length of the steet and are LITERALLY 5 FT tall in some neighborhoods! Andrew dressed up as a fireman for Halloween (yes, that is a fire hydrant in the background - Sarah thought it would make him feel more like a real fireman).

All of the kids got a chance to pull the "guts" out of their own pumpkin and carve a crazy face on it. Even Katie got in on the Halloween fun! I think Halloween wore the kids out this year. They actually had FOUR Halloween parties this year -- one at pre-school, one at my work, one at the ward, and one in our neighborhood. By the way, our neighborhood goes all-out on holidays. For Halloween, everyone chipped in some money for pizza and food for a block party. A friend with a truck hitched up his trailor, threw some hay in the back, strung up some lights, and hauled about 25 kids around the neighborhood so they could show off their costumes. Another friend installed a mechanical arm on his roof that was attached to a stuffed, white sheet designed to look like a ghost. At night there was just enough light to see it circle the top of his house. All in all, the kids had a great time. Namma and Munga and Grandpa were here, too.

Luray Caverns - Shenandoah Valley

Luray Caverns & Shenandoah Valley
October 2009

We rented a van and went to Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley. The kids loved the underground caves, especially the self-guided audio tour (they got to wear headphones). Namma went with us.

The Shenandoah Valley is a national park in Virginia with hundreds of acres of trees lining the hillsides. Every fall around mid-October the tree leaves begin to change color -- reds, yellows, browns, greens, and everything in between. It is pretty incredible.

View from a small town near Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley.

Incredible views and colors of the hillsides.

Bright yellows and browns deep within the forest.