Gambol Roger's State Park, continued

Our baby celebrated her 8th birthday. She wanted to have a beach party. Well, it was very windy and rough so she had a let-the-waves-crash-over-you party. She was very happy with some sand castle building, a few pokemon toys, and a weenie and marshmellow roast. She was happy to remember her early birthday party with her big family at home.

Kyra somehow got this little lizard on her hand. They're very hard to catch. The crab was in the washroom area of the campground. We tried to chase him (we'll pretend it's a him) back to the safety of the beach sand but he turned on us! He made a few go's at us and even tried an attack at a dog's tail. We continued to force him towards the dunes but he remained facing us as he backed up, tripping on a crack in the cement. How embarassing.

Halloween!

For the Halloween / Mercedes's birthday weekend we stayed at Gambol Roger's state park in Florida.

Kyra is getting too good at the face paints. They were very scary! The lady in the camper next to us decided our kids should trick or treat at her place the night before Halloween because she was leaving the next day. Then she recruited several campers around her to receive the trick-or-treaters a night early. So, we got in a little Halloween on October 30th. We watched the Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin cartoon and the movie Beetlejuice and ate too much candy, for the real Halloween.

Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site

This was the site of a rice plantation from the 1600s, named after King Charles II. We had a nice afternoon strolling the plantation with it's moss-laden trees and ponds of gators and turtles. The kids enjoyed testing out historical methods of torture and punishment.

S. Carolina

We stayed a few nights at beautiful Myrtle Beach state park. While there we went down the road to visit Huntington Beach state park where they have a great nature centre and wildlife. A road in the park has gators on one side and a marsh full of birds on the other. The girls counted 8 aligators, most too close for comfort. Among others the marsh had egrets, white herons and great blue herons.

Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

As we continued down the Outer Banks of N. Carolina we enjoyed a couple of ferry rides that connect the long road together. We stopped to view one of the famous Hatteras lighthouses. This one is the tallest brick lighthouse in the country at 208 feet high, and well-known for it's pattern.

This little sandpiper kept coming very close to us at the national park campground on Ocracoke Island. I think it was interested in what was in the sand the girls were digging up while making their sandcastles.

Kill Devil Hill

I personally really enjoyed visiting the spot the Wright brothers first flew. I think the kids were hoping for some rides or some sort of entertainment, it took awhile to explain why it was so cool.

Standing on that bare windy hill where they tested out their earlier gliders, it was so windy and wide open you just wish you could take off.

66 years between the first flight and the moon landing.

Washington, D.C.

We had a great time in Washington seeing all the things you see on tv, like that Simpson's episode where Lisa and the Lincoln statue have a chat.

Remember that scene in Forrest Gump where the Jenny yells 'FORREST!' and runs through the water in front of the Lincoln memorial?