Critters at the beach

 This photo is a teaser as well. There will be a separate post as we did a wild horse tour in Corolla for the first time this summer. But she counts as a critter, too:

Lots of lovely, large dragonflies visit the beach house. Muggin had a friendly one land right in her open book while she was reading.

I love the calm efficiency of the pelicans as they float by...

Say hello to my little friend. I can't get enough of the little sand crabbies. They are so cute scuttling out of the way. They make me laugh every single time!

Okay, this isn't a real critter, but he's a lost toy we found on the sidewalk so we tucked him into the rocky bank and then looked for him every time we went on our walks. Maybe someone in a stroller will find him and be delighted like we were.

I don't know what kind of lizard this cutie is, but he consented to stay put and say cheese for the camera during another of our walks. I wonder how many more were amongst the bushes that I never saw!

This is Lexie, one of the beach house dogs. We firmly maintain that she is at least part fruit bat. She looks a bit sinister here, but truly just wants back scratches and could also be part bear due to the way she wedges under chairs and rocks them while scratching an itchy spot. Apparently I didn't get any pictures of Hacker this year, who is looking as noble as ever with his beautiful brindle coat, as well as more distinguished with his white eyebrows and graying muzzle. Such sweet friends. 

Vacation mash up

Damon in the saaaand with diaaaaamonds

Hacker in the background and elderly Annie in the foreground

Tiny frog in the left hand window, checking out Lainie's wreath

Aunt Lainie, Hinrew & Muggin, and us

We used Damon's fourth grade Every-Kid-In-A-Park pass to check out all the new exhibits at the Wright Brothers Memorial. We hadn't been there since Liam was in 4th grade and they've added quite a bit since then. It was hot, but there was a great breeze blowing, which was one of the reasons the brothers picked Kitty Hawk to test out gliders in the first place. I read on vacation and highly recommend David McCullough's The Wright Brothers. It is excellently done and made visiting the Memorial that much better.

A certain someone was up to no good while out unsupervised. At least he didn't come home with any more wool blankets...

Getting some kisses from Hacker. Check out how hard that tail is wagging. He is such a love bug!

OBX Trip 6

 

We're back!

 

We spent a week in the Outer Banks- did you miss us?

 

We knew we didn't want to get stuck in DC traffic on our way there like in previous years, so we left Thursday afternoon and made it the first four hours without stopping. Dada took over the driving at that point and did the next two hours to Breezewood.

 

From there, it was only two more hours to Uncle Rob and Aunt Jana's, where we crashed really late and then had some cousin time in the morning before hitting the road again.  

 

*REMIND ME TO UPLOAD PICTURES FROM MY PHONE*

 

Believe me, you'll want to see them. There are pictures of the cousins in dress up costumes having breakfast together. Priceless.

 

Anyhow, since we weren't in a huge rush, we left midmorning and putzed our way down the coast. We stopped at Assateague Island to see the wild horses: 

 

 

That's right, you're seeing as many in the above photo as we saw. Zip. Zero. They must be really good at hiding. We did hear some but the dense foliage between the path and the giggling, shy horsies was too thick for us to find them. They were a few days away from the annual pony swim and roundup, so maybe that's why they were being extra cautious.

 

We made it to the beach house Friday evening and were greeted by my aunt and uncle's mixed breed puppy, Hacker, who is all brindled wiggles and kisses and powerful tail. We were sorely tempted to bring him home with us. Annie, their German Shepherd, needs more time to warm up to people but remembered us and allowed us to love on her even when she'd broken a tooth and wasn't feeling her best. We missed Dutch, who'd passed away last fall, but we had lots of puppy love while we were there.

 

We goofed off a lot at the ocean this year as the temps were just about perfect and the kids were less afraid of the waves. There are plenty of pictures to come, but here are some taken at the pool: 

 

Dada and I even got our annual dinner date at the Black Pelican sans kids. He had an amazing halibut dinner with sour cherry butter sauce and a tasty veggie medley involving Swiss chard, red onions, and some others. I had Chef's Pasta, which is penne in roasted red peppery cream cheese sauce with humungous scallops and shrimp. I delighted in my leftovers later on. And we got a walk on the beach in the almost full moonlight.

 

Aunt Lainie has been decking out her deck in teal and a soft green, so naturally we had to get a picture mid-act.

 

 

We clean up pretty well. And Dada's in snazzy white pants. And no, you may not have the cute, sleeping urchin. He's ours.

 

Miss Maudie had her 86th birthday while we were there, so of course we had to celebrate. She brought glow sticks for the kids, which ranked her even higher in their esteem, if that's possible. I called in to Damon to tell him she was there, and he hollered, "Miss Maudie's here? I LOVE Maudie!" He couldn't get out the door fast enough.

 

Here she is on the phone with Nana, who helped us sing "Happy Birthday" to her. And somehow Maudie got one trick candle, to everyone's amusement and the kids' wonderment:

 

Lainie's friend Linda came for the birthday party, too, and cheerfully took a million pictures of us. Here's one with everyone's eyes open and smiling!

 

Birthdays at the beach are exhausting.

 

I have probably 100 ocean pictures but I hear beds being jumped on so I must go parent awhile.

 

*REMIND ME TO BLOG ABOUT THE TRIP BACK*