Nag's Head, NC

This last weekend we headed south to Nag's Head, North Carolina. We stayed in Haley's Mom's beachhouse. It was the coolest 70's house with wood paneling EVERYWHERE! Her house looks right over the ocean. It wasn't always oceanfront property. But because of all the hurricanes during the past few years, the houses that used to be between her house and the ocean have either been washed away or moved. And most of the other houses along the same row are now condemned. The only thing keeping them from washing away are huge sandbags, which they will no longer be able to keep for much longer.




We got to the house late Friday night and quickly chose our different bedrooms. We walked on the beach in the dark for a few minutes and then came inside to play Guitar Hero III (provided by Brian).









Saturday we woke up early for the sunrise that never came. It was too overcast to see anything. That morning we played on the beach - it was too cold for most of us to get in the water. But not for Cameron and Brian-they're crazy.

We found some cool shells -ones that had been rubbed really smooth by the waves- to the point that they look more like striped rocks.















We drove to a visitor center and talked to the nicest guy who told us all we needed to know about the outer banks; most of which we forgot in a matter of seconds.






We went to the North Carolina Aquarium where we saw all sorts of aquatic life. We also went to a discovery class and learned about different types of turtles. The instructor was really nice and let the kids try on the turtle arms. Aren't they so cute?!?
We also went to the lost colony of Roanoke. It was pretty interesting. Historians still don't know what happened to the colonists.











It was pretty windy, so Matt (you know how he is with kites) decided now would be the best time to build his biggest kite ever. Cameron was so excited to help him accomplish this. They started out at the dollar store then went to the hardware store to get all the materials. That night Matt and Cameron made the kite while the rest of us watched TV and played Guitar Hero.

We ordered pizza and watched Ratatouille. It was good. I liked it. There were a few minutes in the middle that we didn't see because we started smelling something burning, which freaked us all out. We're thinking it was from the furnace that had been worked on earlier that day. As a precaution we slept without the heat on that night. Luckily we had lots of clothes and blankets to keep us warm.

Sunday morning we enjoyed the sun and the sand as Matt and Cameron flew their masterpiece- the 7 foot 6 inch tall kite. They had to make several adjustments to the tail to get it flying straight. But they eventually got it in the air and quickly realized they may have bit off more than they could chew. The force of the wind was so strong that they needed more than their own body weight to control it. They found an 8x8 frame post to wrap the string around. They had to keep extra weight on it because the kite was still dragging it along the sand. pretty crazy.



































Later that day we went to Kitty Hawk to see where the Wright Brothers had the first flight. We went back to the house for some lunch and then drove to the Bodie Island lighthouse. For some reason the sign in the lighthouse says BODY but all the street signs and markers say BODIE. So I'm not really sure which spelling to use.













And during the course of the trip the guys found a wig in Haley's Mom's van. Whoever had shotgun had to wear the wig. Doesn't he just look gorgeous?!?