Family Photo

Bill is usually behind the camera and thus not in the picture (carrying the tripod around is a big hassle). However, this is a great shot of everyone else.

Love My Hat Dahling

Lyra almost always manages to look cute, but she outdoes herself in dress up clothes.

Where's my Tailor?

The kids museum at Roanoke Island Festival Park on the Manteo Waterfront was excellent. Period clothes for dress up, boats to play in, etc. There was a mediocre movie dramatising the lives of the three Native Americans, Wachese, Manteo and Skyco who met the first English to land on Roanoke, but the other parts of the museum were pretty good. Manteo looked like a very fun village to explore, but by Friday the kids were pretty ornery and quaint shops were not in the cards.

Bonnie & Clyde

These are actually civil war replicas, so way before the time of Bonnie & Clyde. I do think Eva does a pretty good Faye Dunaway. Will as Warren Beatty does not work quite so well.

Repel All Boarders

Will is set to defend his 10ft. sailing dory from all attackers. Lyra is trying to decide which end of the spyglass to use.

Homeward Bound

This sailboat was on a wood floor in a museum, and Lyra has never been in a real sailboat. Nevertheless, she certainly looks like she knows what she is doing with the tiller.

Sisters Sailing

Lyra really liked the sailboat, either solo, with Eva or with Will.

Blackbeard's Flag

The famous pirate Blackbeard used Ocracoke Island as a hideout and was ultimately killed off the island. The Outer Banks in general were good for pirates with many dangerous shoals where ships would run aground, and lots of poorly charted waters the pirates could exploit.

The pirates tried to avoid fighting when they could, and preferred to scare their prey into giving up without a fight. The traditional 'jolly roger' flag was used in this manner to intimidate merchant ships.

Blackbeard (Edward Teach) designed his own symbol ridden flag with the same intent. The skeleton with devil's horns is the symbol of death. The object in his right hand is an hourglass, indicating that the time left to give yourself up and avoid death is limited. The heart and red dots are the symbols for bloody death - what will happen if you don't give up.

Last Day at the Beach

Will and Eva loved our time on the Outer Banks, and especially loved playing in the surf. Our house was on the beach in Kill Devil Hills, so we just walked out the door and over the dune to the beach. On Friday before we packed up to leave, both kids wanted a last swim in the ocean. We had wonderful weather Friday, and great surf so it was sad to leave.

Will continued to love the surf all week. Unfortunately, he never got much beyond playing in the shallow water. I encouraged him to come out where it was a little deeper and he could catch the bigger breaking waves, but he is not ready for that yet.

Will tends toward caution when faced with a new experience, followed by enthusiasm once he tries it. One of the things we did this week was a short air tour of Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Roanoke Island. We flew in an old Cessna 172 operated out of Manteo Airport (http://www.flyobx.com/index.htm). Will was initially very nervous and had to be coaxed to do the flight, in contrast to Eva who was immediately game. During takeoff, Will screwed his eyes closed and put his hands over his ears. However once we were in the air and there was a lot to see, Will was very engaged. At that point with the very small plane bouncing around in the wind, Eva was much more nervous (though loathe to admit it) and getting her to look out the windows at the sites was tough.

Slip Slidin'

Eva loves the slide. She MUCH prefers to climb up and slide down by herself rather than being held, but we were trying to get a cute photo of Will with Lyra. I think Lyra had fun, but she could not wait to run away and do her own thing on another slide.

Our Future

Shift Happens

From: jbrenman, 4 months ago



This is a stylization of a slideshow originally created by Karl Fisch, examining globalization and America’s future in the 21st century. It is designed to stand alone, without having to be presented in person. Enjoy!

Bread Crumbs

I needed some sea gulls for this photo and sent Will & Eva out with a bag of bread and old corn chips. Voila.

Poop Deck

The kids have been playing around with the various beds in the beach house, and this is the 'poop deck' where Will and Eva watch TV. This is the first time I have really seen Lyra play with the 'big kids' and she is having a blast.

Cath & Lyra

Lyra did not want to look at the camera, in spite of our best efforts. She does LOVE the beach and goes to get her bathing suit whenever anyone suggests going for a swim.

On the Ferry to Ocracoke

I would say about half the trip to Ocracoke was either waiting for the ferry or riding on the ferry. It was quite a long wait to ride over, nearly an hour and then 45 minutes on the ferry. Bill had said the ride would be about 10 minutes so I opted to stay in the car with Lyra and nap. When I awoke with a start, 30 minutes later in the middle of the choppy sound and no land in site, I knew that Bill was seriously misremembering! The kids were very happy to have had a boat ride. That was something that was at the top of Eva's list.

We did make it to the beach at Ocracoke. Look at Lyra rolling around in the sand. We were all filthy by the end of the day.

Avast ye matey! Will wanted to come to Ocracoke because of all the Blackbeard lore. We stopped at Teach's Hole where the kids saw a little exhibit about the life and times of Blackeard which, of course, culminated in a visit to a pirate gift shop loaded with loot. Unfortunately, by yesterday (Tuesday), both kids had already spent their souvenir budget for the trip.

Here is Eva swinging from a tire sculpture outside the Books to be Red store in the little town of Ocracoke. We loved the Village Craftsman shop which was full of beautiful pottery and woodwork and other artisan creations but the kids were not patient enough for us to hang out and do any Xmas shopping. Oh well. I consider us lucky to have gotten out of there without breaking anything.

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

We spent today driving down to Ocracoke Island and we stopped at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse on the way. This is the tallest lighthouse in the US. In 1999, it was moved from its original location to a site safer from the sea, a real feat of civil engineering! Will, Eva and I climbed up to the top.

A rare family portrait! Not sure it is Xmas-car-worthy though.

Here we are finally at the top! It was nice and breezy up here and the view is beautiful.

See that speck in middle of the brown field? That's Bill and Lyra!

Here's Lyra with her new dolly. She is so funny whenever she sees a baby or a puppy or something she thinks is cute like a dolly. She smiles and does this big "Ahhhhh!" She showed off dolly to whoever would look.

This is the view from our beach house. Lyra is sunbathing in the European tradition. It is somewhat overwhelming to have all three children running around on the beach. Lyra holds our hands or is in arms at all times if she is within reach of the water. She has no fear. Neither does Eva. I think I have more than enough fear for all of us. I love being here but it is certainly not relaxing.

I can't believe how grown up Will looks here. We ate dinner at the Blue Point, our favorite Outer Banks restaurant. The children, mercifully, were civilizd so we hit the neighboring toy store and ice cream shop afterwards.