Posted by Michelle on Oct 15, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
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First, I fixed the link to the photo galleries for day one photos
Tuesday was a day for seeing sights that truly blew us away.
We drove about an hour up the coast to Corolla to go on an open top Jeep ride on the beach to see the wild horses, nature and sunset. We picked the open top jeep to see more but also because it was a rougher ride. It was bouncy and bumpy up and down dunes. Hayley and I both loved it, laughing into the wind when it got wild.
Riding all the beach was gorgeous and then we headed up into the dunes. We came across our first wild horse. By wild I mean they aren’t herded in, aren’t fed, no shoes, nothing – truly wild creatures. There are 101 right now and we must have seen about 15 of them. It was amazing. We saw stallions, mares and three month old foals. Hayley was entranced, as any young horse crazy girl would be.
These guys feed 16 hours a day so mostly they were munching. There are houses out there and the horses freely roam through yards – one guy (some famous monster truck driver named Gravedigger) waters his yard but lets the horses basically mow it and fertilizer it for him, lol.
It can’t tell you what it was like to see these creatures. These animals are descendants of mustangs brought to the New World by Spanish explorers, living here from the 16th century on. Since the area is so isolated, their blood lines have stayed pure.
We drove to see the gorgeous sunset and then back on the beach under the full moon. It was amazing. The driver let us break the rules for a bit and stand up, so Hayley and I were in the back, up holding on the rollbar, our faces and hair fly backwards. It was exhilarating and we were both hooting and hollering.
After it was over, we headed to dinner at Awful Arthur’s, one of my favorite places. Hayley even tried some crab! I’ll get her eating seafood yet.
We came back to the house in the dark and decided to go down to the beach to see crabs. We followed some around, mostly Hayley skittering after them. I suspect her laughing clued them in someone was coming!
We sat down to relax and then the ocean and moon combined into an awesome display. It must have been the full moon cascading at just the right angle and hour on the waves but every so often there would be this electric blue spark running down the wave crest horizontally. I don’t mean like a just brighter blue, I mean neon blue! It was stunning and sitting there in the dark watching, well it was like mother earth had shown us two of her most wondrous things with the horses and this streak of blue fire.
Tags: beach, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 14, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
I was laying out on the beach this morning and reading a book as Hayley ran circles around me, looking for all sorts of shells and creatures. She came over to show me her latest find and as I looked up at her with her wind-blown hair, I’d swear her eyes were the exact same color as the sky. They were all lit up with the sun, sand and water.
We came back, hopped in our very own private pool and are chilling eating lunch. Then off to Corolla for Jeep rides on the beach to see all sorts things and most hopefully the wild ponies.
Tags: beach, family, fun, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 14, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
See more photos from this set: (There are a lot of extra photos because Hayley is taking some for a competition at school but here is our first day!)
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Monday was a fantastic day. We slept late, hit the hot tub and then headed out on Hwy 12 down the Outer Banks. By the end of the day, we’d visited three lighthouses (Bodie, Hatteras & Ocracoke) and ridden the ferry twice.
Hayley, bless her youthful legs, climbed ALL the way up the Cape Hatteras lighthouse – all 270 steps. Interestingly after our studying the moving of the lighthouse, she was fascinated with the old site. On the stories we read and video we watched, they talked about the quality of the granite the movers found and it is that rock that is left.
Hayley is also entering a contest for the school system for artistic endeavors, so she took my camera and got some shots. Sitting on the bench outside of Bodie Lighthouse, watching her out in the fields with the camera, lining up angles – well let’s just say it was a moment I never want to forget. She’s ten and can already handle $3,000 worth of camera gear. The child has a great eye.
On the final ferry ride back from Ocracoke, she curled up in blankets and got up on my lap. I held her, we sang songs we made up when she was younger and acted silly. The wind blew and the ferry swayed – and I fell in love all over again with my child, with motherhood and the beach.
Tags: beach, family, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 12, 2008 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
The bags are backed and we are almost out the door for the beach for the week. Hayley and I leave today, then Jeff will come down mid-week with the dogs.
We’ve got an awesome house two lots back from the beach with a hot tub and four bedrooms. Three decks with a great view of the beach and the sound! Every room as a TV so the Wii is packed up to bring! Books, notebooks, scrabble and DVDs too – all you need for a good week at the beach!
The weather should be mid to high 70s so it’ll be pleasant but we have no illusion of sunny beach skies. However Hayley is dying to see lighthouses so we are off to explore for them! Our plans also include seeing the Wright Brothers memorial, breakfast at the aquarium to help feed the rays, hearing the red wolves howl at night, jeep rides on the beach to see the wild horses that live there, riding the ferry and trying to see if the dolphins or sea turtles are around at all, the maritime museum, the dunes at Jockey Ridge and then maybe a few forays down to the beach for walks, especially fun with the pups. Can you tell I’ve been there tons of times already?
Tags: beach, fun, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 11, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
My next door neighbor Jen and I took the kids to Marbles on Friday since we are all tracked out from school. It was a good time – I think we enjoyed the international section most and really got into the Marrakesh part. We did henna designs on our hands and made ‘plates’ to sell at the market. We haggled on the prices at our market too and they had a Moroccan tea party! They also loved making hieroglyphics with the stamp set.
Marbles is fun but at ten year old Hayley is definitely at the max end of the range there.
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Tags: friends, fun, photos
Posted by Michelle on Oct 11, 2008 in Michelle
What an amazing game. Hats off to Notre Dame for giving the Heels a huge challenge. However it sure was nice to take out a quality opponent. Forcing five turnovers was big.
5-1 Heels, one game from bowl eligible – sounds mighty sweet.
Tags: sports, unc
Posted by Michelle on Oct 9, 2008 in Hayley
To get in the Halloween spirit, Hayley and I made a Halloween wreath that we just adore. Then we set off for the pumpkin patch with our next-door neighbors where we bought many pumpkins (and pretended to eat them where I taught Ethan to fake throw up, lol).
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Tags: crafts & cooking, friends, fun, halloween, holiday
Posted by Michelle on Oct 5, 2008 in Hayley, More Family
Hayley went over to my folks and had a blast. They went fishing on a friend’s farm and Hayley got eight fish! The next day they took a train ride!
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Tags: family, fun, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 1, 2008 in Hayley
Hayley had some photos taken recently by a wonderful photographer Kelly Murphy. I bought a few of the photos as instant download digital images before I get the rest in print and on a CD.
Tags: photos
