OBX 2

Beach at Nags Head

We had a lot of fun at this beach just a couple blocks from us.  Our umbrella set up worked pretty well (at least until one particularly windy day).  Tess was much braver in the water this year and loved kicking and splashing in the small waves.  In this video, Ryan asked her to pick a silly word to yell while they were running away from the waves.  She loved the sand too--boy, was she ever sandy when we brought her home!

Coquina Beach

This unique beach was just a few miles down the road.  We happened on it in the evening and stayed until it was dark--we just didn't want to go home!   I noticed Tess was writing the word "TOP" in various places all over the shore.  When I asked what she was doing, she said she was making a "STOP" game and then asked, "Mom, you can draw the "S" for me?"  (She doesn't like drawing "S's.")  After I drew the S's she explained the game:  you run all over the shore until you come to a "STOP" and then you freeze.  Repeat.  It was actually a pretty fun game!

Wright Brothers Memorial

We spent a morning at the memorial at the Wright Brother's memorial in Kill Devil Hills, just a few miles up the road from us.  They have a small visitor's center there, so I told Tess we were going to visit an airplane museum.  "AIRPLANES?  An airplane museum?  I LOVE airplanes!"

So, of course, her expectations were high.  They did have one replica of the Wright Brother's glider, but that held her interest for only so long.  "Let's see what else they have."  The rest of the room was filled with portraits of famous aviators, so we looked at those for a while.  Then Tess got all accusatorial on me:  "Mom, you no telling the true!  This not an airplane museum--it an ART museum!"  I stand corrected.

We tried watching a film on the Wright Brothers, but finally had to leave because Drew was laughing so hard no one could hear the movie.   Tess liked the trek up the big dune memorial.

Dinosaur Golf

From our deck, we had a view of a dinosaur-themed mini golf place.  Its unmistakable identifying feature was a huge, grotesque, bright green T-Rex statue.  Once Tess spotted that T-Rex, mini golf was on our agenda.   On the way to the golf place, Tess came up with a game we all had to play:  "You look for dinosaur and when you see it you yell, 'DINOSAUR GOLF!  DINOSAUR GOLF!'"

Tess played pretty well, in spite of her awkward golf grip (she insisted on holding the club backward and refused Ry's attempts to help her).  It was Mir, however, who won this round of golf [gloat, gloat, gloat].

When the last hole took Tess' red ball, she ran off the green and stole a red ball from a group on a neighboring hole.  I think she really thought it was her ball, but it was the start of a meltdown that led to the end of that family outing.  She was crying so hard when we left that the cashier took pity on her and gave Tess a red golf ball to keep.

Nags Head at Sunset

After a good nap, Tess was in a better mood, so we headed over to the beach at dusk.   Tess insisted on wearing her swimsuit even though it was windy and cold.  She was freezing when we got there, so I had her wear her longsleeved pajama top and I buried her legs in the sand to keep them warm.  Tess had fun with a house sand mold that Dipsy found before our trip.  Tess enjoyed making "beach houses" and decorating them with shells.