Day Four

Tricked the boy into joining us for a brief "outing." Girls slept in. Orville and Wilbur Wright Memorial was quite a climb but my parents got us in free with their National Park Pass. Score. Jockey Ridge State Park was the next stop to climb the largest sand dunes on the east coast. We plan on tricking the girls on climbing them tomorrow. I've already prepped Logan by telling her it will be a great background for a senior picture. Who in Illinois will have senior pictures taken from the top of a sand dune?

Currituck Beach Lighthouse

Only 214 steps to the top. Once again, the teens were excited to be there taking in a little history.

Yes, I'm actually paying an entrance fee so you can climb the stairs.

Beryl

If this gets close to us, I'm blaming Quinn, who wished for a storm by writing "HURICANE" in the sand last night. Fortunately, he spelled it wrong, so it looks like it will only be a tropical storm.

Day Three - Early

Sunrise and shell searching, then the girls went back to bed. Quinn declined the dawn-breaking activities.

Day Two

Only about five hours of driving. Antilock breaks work. Mandatory stop at Colonial Williamsburg to see the drummers on parade. Teenagers grumbled, so I put them in the stocks. Outerbanks in time to catch some Atlantic Ocean waves before sunset.

Day One

No pictures. 656 miles. Three teenagers. More swearing from the back seat than I care to mention. Destination tomorrow: Outerbanks, North Carolina.

Have You Ever?

Have you ever looked for your sunglasses while they were on your head? Or searched for your cell phone while talking on it? Once, my friend searched frantically for her toddler before remembering that she had left him at home with his dad. But that was more sleep deprivation than stupidity. I've been there.

I had a meeting with someone yesterday where I thought I was asking fairly simple questions. Even many yes/no questions. Unfortunately, the answers made almost as much sense as this one. Ready for summer vacation!

Mom, I'm Pregnant

That's how a friend of mine started the conversation with her mother one evening. Actually, she wasn't pregnant, but had been in a minor fender bender. I told her she was rotten for doing that to her mom. She told me that it helped put the car incident into perspective. Tonight, Rachel whispered, "Mom's gonna kill me!" As she tells the story, "I looked right, I looked left, then it just came out of nowhere and I ran over it!" After several minutes of questioning, we learned that she ran over a pedestrian crosswalk sign that is BOLTED to the street near the university.