Outer Banks

We decided to escape the 96 degree record heat and head out the Outer Banks (OBX) for a quick weekend trip.

(The Outer Banks are a 200-mile long chain of islands off the coast of NC)

We sent Kylie to her favorite place (Camp Bow Wow, her dog "camp" where she plays with other dogs) so we could head out on a family trip with baby Avery.

We booked a hotel right on the beach, here is a picture of Mommy and Avery enjoying a nice sunrise on the beach,Avery even seemed to be trying to wave at the camera!

During our morning walk along the beach, we picked up trash we found on the walk, Colleen was proud of her stash we collected!

That morning a really neat (and spooky) cloud formation rolled in!

We also found a protected sea turtle hatching area:

Then we went to the Wright Brother's musuem/memorial and saw the exact spot where the first flight was:

At the museum Avery found her future profession, an astronaut!

Then we headed up to Corolla Beach and rented a Jeep to drive on the beach to go see the wild horses!

The wild horses have been there for 400 years.  They are Mustangs from the Spanish shipwrecks of the 1500s and 1600s .  They were neat to see on the beach and even around houses!

 The only access up there was with a 4-wheel drive vehicle.  The northern-most 12 miles of the OBX have no paved roads, the only access is to drive up the beach and then inland on sand roads.  However, there were endless huge houses up there, it was amazing to see those with 10 miles of 4-wheel drive necessary to get to them!

There were also remains from a 400-year old forest that was overtaken by the beach and shifting of the islands:

After the Jeep driving, we saw the Currituck Beach Lighthouse:

For dinner that evening we ate at the first ever wind powered brew pub!

We headed home from there.  Avery was a good sport through it all and usually just slept or smiled and "sung"!

Avery's first time eating solid foods

At Avery's four month doctor check-up, Avery was cleared by her doctor to start eating solid foods.  It was a bit messy, and most ended up on her bib, but she was able to get a few swallows of rice cereal down!  She joined us for dinner and sat in her high chair with us in our dining room.

Notice Kylie's nose?  She's coming to check out what's going on!

Washington, DC

Jim had a work conference / training in DC (actually in Arlington, VA) for a week, and Colleen and Avery decided to join for the week and ride up!  It was Avery's first time out of NC, and she got to visit VA, DC, and MD.

During the day, Jim went to his classes and Colleen / Avery hung out at the hotel.  In the evenings and nights however, we all hung out and got to see the City!

We went to a couple museums.  The first museum we went to on Monday was the "Newseum", a museum dedicated to the history of news and media.  Here is a nice family pic with a view from the 5th floor balcony of the Museum, with the capitol in the background:

The next night we took a bus ride on an open-topped double-decker bus, and got to see all the monuments / buildings lit up a night, such as the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, WWII Memorial, the Capitol, etc.  It was very beautiful at night out and beautiful city lit up a night!

The next night we went down to the riverfront in the Georgetown neighborhood and dinner by the Potomac River while the Georgetown University crew boat team practiced/trained in the river behind us

Avery enjoyed the beautiful weather that evening

Then we took a boat tour of the Potomac!

Then we walked the quaint streets of Georgetown and had dessert/coffee before heading back to the hotel

The next night we met our friends Mike and Lisa (who live nearby in Silver Spring, MD) for dinner at a nice steak house.  Then on Friday afternoon we went to the Museum of Crime and Punishment before having dinner again in Georgetown and driving home.  Overall it was a fun trip, and Avery was so well behaved.  She was quiet in all the museums and loved riding the Metro around town!

Dahlem / Bounds beach Vacation

The last week of July we rented a beach house in Kure Beach, NC.  Lindsay and Aaron Bounds flew in from Albuquerque with their 14 month old daughter Emerson to join us.

Before we headed out from Raleigh to Kure Beach, Jim read a book to Avery:

And Lindsay got some good bonding time with the Avery:

Once we arrived at the beach house we put Avery into her swimsuit and got ready for the beach

We had a nice beach pop up tent that Avery used to keep her of the sun:

Then we visited a former Civil War fort, Ft Fischer.  Aaron and Emerson climbed up a bunker to see an old cannon:

From the top there was a nice view of the area and the intercoastal waterway:

 

And Aaron decided that signs don't mean anything!

Then we headed over to a gazebo where everyone took advantage of the photo op:

Then out of nowhere the skies opened up to a nice refreshing downpour:

The next day we took our car onto a ferry:

And headed over to the town of Southport and walked the old town:

There was a lot of places dedicated to a "James Harper" in Southport which we thought was neat:

Then we stopped for lunch at a nice restaurant that overlooked the harbor:

We went out onto a peir:

And from the peir we were surprised to see down in the sand a huge 6' sting ray washed up on the shore!

The next day we had Lindsay take a nice family picture of us:

We finished by waking up early the next morning to see the sun rise over the ocean, and had breakfast on the beach (well Avery had breakfast with her bottle!)