Australia - clothes lines

I'm sure I have commented before on the long lost art of air drying things. Mum has an amazing old huge metal Hills Hoist that probably can't be replaced (on a bit of a tilt now...).

Australia - cooking with nana

I cook with the kids, but Nana in QLD is the original.

Australia - bushwalking

Bushwalking = Hiking. Good to be out in the dun coloured wild with the eucalyptus again!

Australia - meeting the chooks

Backyard chooks my parents organized for us to visit at their friends house.

Bethany Beach, day two

Today we witnessed a bit of a beach meeting because some people had lost their child. The lifesavers blew their whistles, pulled everyone in, and gave them a description of the child. I think the lifesavers at the post one up and one down did the same thing, which effectively got about 60m of beach keeping an eye out for the kid.
Very busy at beach today - Sunday of July 4th weekend. Fuller than we've ever experienced.

Bethany Beach

After four days of teaching VBS, right off the back of our Outer Banks adventure, we upped the craziness and followed hubby to Bethany Beach, where he spent two days walking around a water treatment plant taking measurements and I spent two days taking the kids to the beach by myself.
In retrospect it was a very good object lesson about overcommitment and not doing things just because the calendar has nothing on it.
But Bethany Beach is such a lovely little spot, and we'd often talked about staying there so we didn't have to do the 6am start for a couple of hours on the sand and this way work would pay for part of the accommodation, so... (oh yes, and I can do taking three kids to the beach on my own!!).
There don't appear to be any ok photos of our camp, but because we had a Trolley, and Chairs, and an Umbrella (as well as towels, sand toys, sunscreen, food, baby gear etc etc). Baby rode in a backpack, boys walked along side, and I pushed our Trolley, full of supplies, about three blocks... The hardest bit was the sand.
Thankfully, Americans are rather decent when you're carting around a baby, so someone in the camp beside me helped with the umbrella, and they were ok with the boys joining in with their grandchild.

Testing the stairs

Third baby, busy life, no baby proofing done except the urgent stuff... so seeing her test the stairs is a bit nerve racking. We need gates...

Salt Water Taffy

Salt Water Taffy - big gift item available for most beach destinations, usually family recipe. We thought it tasted a bit nothing (not salty, not sweet), and it was neither chewy nor hard.  I think I was expecting something more like salted caramel.

Saturday - heading home via Colonial National HIstorical Park

Colonial National Historical Park has three elements. There is a battlefield - the last major battle of the Revolutionary War where General Washington beseiged General Charles Lord Cornwallis' army (the British) and the British eventually surrendered. You can drive your car around and look at fields where things happened. But it was a hot day and we were headed home, so we didn't.

Yorktown is a sort of half National park, half small historic town where people live (Tourists, at bed and breakfasts is what I can work out). It has nice houses to look at, and a big monument to the American victory. We went for a walk and looked at Yorktown, which I enjoyed.

 (yes, Mr Five bought a semi-large American Flag with holiday money at the dollar store and then walked around the place waving it)

Jamestown is on the other side (East) of Williamsburg, and it is the site of another English settlement from 1607 (James Fort) with a recreated settlers village nearby that is good for school group excursions. We couldn't do it all! But I would love to come back and spend more time here.

Friday - Fort Raleigh Historical Site, beach

This is an interesting one - three voyages were organised by Sir Walter Raleigh from England to Ranoake Island (between the OBX and the mainland). The first two in 1584 and 1585 were just men, and were looking for resources, and Spanish ships to rob. The third in 1587 included women and children, and were looking to establish a colony. They were meant to be going further up to the Chesapeake, but they got dropped off there by their captain. Their supply ship had a mishap, so they sent their leader back to England to get more supplies. He got held up by hostilities between the Spanish and the English (the English needed the boat), and when he got back three years later in 1590, the colony was gone (including his daughter and granddaughter, the first baby born in America to the colonists). Nobody managed to work out where they'd gone. there are various theories, but due to various upheavals and the vagaries of life, it doesn't seem like anyone looked properly (seriously!).

https://www.nps.gov/fora/learn/education/search-for-the-lost-colony.htm
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-twoworlds/1638

Later, the Ranoake Island Freedmans Colony was set up during the civil war for ex-slaves from the South.

There are some earthworks left that were built by the members of the second voyage, and some plaques, and an English garden next door that cost money (even for bored children, so we didn't attempt it), we had a wander in the forest that had various educational blurbs, we got junior ranger badges, we had lunch, and drove home.

Photo image - https://www.outerbanks.com/fort-raleigh.html
We apparently were too hot and tired to take photos!!

Thursday - Sand dune, flying kites, beach

Tried to slide down a massive sand dune this morning. It was too wet, apparently. We had travelled with a toboggan just for this mission, so were a bit disappointed. On the way home we noticed kites being flown at the Wright Brothers Memorial, so we dropped in there for a little while, then (of course) beach.
Currently, the National Parks Service is coming up at close to full marks for the enthusiastic way they make things available to the public (ie, they loaned kites out on this particular day!).

Wednesday - beach clean up, more beach, prawns

 Today we tried to participate in a beach clean up, only thunderstorms meant that we got about five mins on the beach before it was cancelled. The beach looked clean, but look closer and you could see what we were after - micro plastics - straws, bottle tops, broken down anonymous bits of plastic... Heaps of it.
We were intending to go for a swim afterwards, but there was a vicious wind picking up the sand at about shin level (eye level for the baby), so we cancelled and went home for grilled cheese sandwiches.
After lunch - boys to beach, girls at home sleeping (normal routine by now...)
Dinner -

Happy hour prawns at a nearby restaurant - they were 15c each, we bought 80 (about $12). The boys had $1 tacos. The baby had steamed broccoli.

Tuesday - beach, Wright Brothers memorial

More sand consumed. But she'll sit on her own today.

I hadn't realised, however the Wright Brothers took their first controlled flight here in Kitty Hawk! They used to come down for the summer and work on their designs. The morning that they finally got there, they had taken four flights, each one longer than the previous. It is all preserved by the National Parks Service, in the only Park on the OBX that you have to pay to get into...

Monday - lighthouses, sand, bridges, holes

Bodie Island Lighthouse - Erected 1872. Still has original lens glass from France (that isn't made any more!!). Wrought iron staircase not attached to wall so limit to how many people on each section. Too much wind to be allowed out on the top balcony, but great views from windows as we climbed.

Sand dunes - the whole Outer Banks is just a thin strip of land that probably shouldn't be built on - they're called Barrier Islands, that are meant to take the brunt of the storms, and allow the fragile coast (swamp) to survive.

They are in the middle of building another bridge across Oregon Inlet to deal with the traffic onto Hatteras Island. I love driving past these things.

The boys have been very industrious. We have had to check on the progress of this hole, and ban them from digging deeper...This is in the play area under the house.

Sunday - The beach

This is our bit of the beach (as in, the bit we can get to, not our private beach). Low tide, fairly quiet. The baby was overwhelmed by the beach (first visit!), and was only happy sitting in someones lap, sucking on the bobble that tightened hubby's straw hat. Oh, and she eats sand. By the handful. Unfortunately letting her eat chunks of food has made her rather dexterous. Water is a bit cold, but boys loved it.
They flew kites on the beach in the afternoon with hubby (while the baby and I slept).

Arriving at the Outer Banks, North Carolina

After a slow start, and our van packed to the rafters with equipment (first big trip with baby!!) we arrived at the mysterious place called collectively the Outer Banks (or OBX). First stop after unloading car - inspecting the bit of beach closest to our house. It was great to have arrived, and found the house as nice as its advertisement suggested! Lots of sand (under house, around house, on roads, paths, and of course, the coast). We are staying at Kitty Hawk, and it looks like a good destination for a family.

Advertising

I needed new swimmers before we go on holidays to the beach (the pressure!!) The last lot I bought when Mr 8 was 4 months old in Darwin, no joke. I was frustrated to see this catalogue - which was presenting their view of what I should be doing at the beach -

vs what the guys are going to be doing at the beach -

and that is just the front covers (the two sections were in the same booklet, starting at different ends of the book). The insides weren't much different. Ugh.

I did manage to find swimmers (but not from this catalogue).

Lego organisation

Not sure it shows well in this photo, but there is a cream mat on the sort of cream carpet. It is the size of a small dining room down in the basement. The idea is, the Lego goes into the basement (gasp) but stays on the carpet. My experience so far is that the Lego expands to fit the room it is in, but I'm happy to give it a go, because right now, it is not working to have the Lego in the baby's room. We have tried not playing with the Lego when the baby is asleep, putting the baby to sleep in another room during the day, and it is all a bit unsatisfactory.

Blueberry Pasties

Our friends moved. While the movers were packing their house, I kept the two kids over at my house. Of course, I had to try to cook with four kids (and the baby...) so we made blueberry pasties with our blueberries and our pastie makers. Which turned out looking reasonably bad, but tasted ok.

Skeet shooting in Georgia

Skeet shooting is when a machine shoots little clay targets into the air and you try to shoot them. Hubby had a chance to try when he went to observe a machine being made in Georgia for work recently.

Muck Mat

They're not all called muck mats... so it took a bit of searching. Because Mr 5 didn't want his car mat (which was the muck mat we travelled with) being used as a muck mat (following still?!), we got another. I rather like it. It is in keeping with the national obsession over Dr Seuss.

New Mat!

The old (free) carpet that we had put down because we were only going to be around for two years had started getting a bit ratty, so we replaced it. Exciting times.

Boiled eggs in the microwave

I got confident and thought I'd try finishing off my undercooked boiled egg in the microwave. Not good.

Picking Blueberries

The berries are early this year! This is probably our one and only excursion. So we picked five pounds ($3 per pound). Baby can eat blueberries and is rather impressed with the new flavour.

Field Day

School is finishing early owing to no snow days, so field day is in the last week. I helped provide extra supervision for activities. My specialty - golf in the library for overexcited children. Interesting times indeed!

Greek Festival

I could go to a Greek [food] Festival every second weekend for a while and not get sick of it. This is the dairy free version, which is a bit of an adjustment, but I'm surviving.

Wild Mulberry tree

We found this mulberry tree growing wild on one of our walks today, and paused to pick what we could reach. Mr 5 is always game to try something else. It is only the beginning of the season, so hopefully we can drop back around to eat the unripe ones.

Preschool graduation

First they had a little end of year concert, with poetry recitals and songs. Then they had this delicious looking cake for each class, with the class photo on it!! Lots of fun. No little graduation gowns in sight, which suited me.
But I'm taking time to get used to not having preschool anymore.

Baltimore Aquarium

We met up with some cousins and an Aunt and some new friends and went to the Aquarium in Baltimore. Here is Mr 7 and his Great Aunt meeting a Horseshoe crab. The only other ones we have seen were dead ones at Cape Cod.

Flamingos

I honestly don't understand the fascination with flamingos, but the suit is so much fun. I have also seen garden ornament flamingos, ladies shirts flamingos, as well as lots of little girl wear. (swimmers, thongs/flip flops, towels, shorts and t shirts, and of course, this little play suit)
Someone mentioned it might be the fashion this year, like owls and foxes were last year. I can say with confidence that pineapples are also in fashion as Summer prints. It is amazing what kids get away with.

Update (July 2017) - I have since seen an adult male wearing navy blue shorts with little pink flamingos embroidered on.

Zebra shortbread

Made (not by me!!) for our home preschool's little belated Z day.

Leaves at night

The secret life of husbands

I took the boys out and came back to this.

Yeah, in his spare time, he scrubs the kitchen floor by hand with soft scrub... What a man.

Cicadas - batch X

Periodical cicadas come out every 13 or 17 years. And the scientific community that is interested in this sort of thing has labelled the batches. This year they were expecting Batch VI in Virginia but they were surprised to see Batch X emerging as well, four years early. We only saw about 6 all up, so I presume the rest will come out on time.
The conjecture is that it is about a warmer earth temperature, making the nymphs grow faster to their adult size. Whether any manage to mate and lay more eggs (or if they all got eaten) is apparently going to be answered in about 17 years.

Another tree gone

We have a rather lovely run of huge trees of some sort out the front of our neighbourhood. Problem is, they're old, and no-one thought to plant some more. At the moment, they're gradually being cut down, but the thinking is to replace them with these sort of ugly evergreen trees.
The little windy path is becoming a sweet little mysterious breath of calm and more just a path through a clear patch.

August 2016

May 2017 - Less one tree

The box

It is always amazing to me what simple things will amuse the baby. This time, it was the box we keep her toys in.

Butterflies

Mothers Day morning tea at preschool - they served us morning tea, recited a poem and some information about the presidents that they'd learnt, and set these butterflies free in the preschool butterfly garden. They're not monarchs. I'm not sure what they are.
Watching butterflies hatch and grow in the class room is a very common activity in American class rooms. The kids were so excited.