The Outer Banks

Branyon and I recently had our 10 year anniversary!  To celebrate it, we decided to take family vacation to North Carolina's Outer Banks.  There wasn't a particular reason that we chose this destination, but after doing some looking, we thought North Carolina would be a  fun and interesting place to visit.  Both Branyon and myself were unfamiliar with the region, but after getting to our destination city of Kill Devil Hills, we quickly realized how much there was going to be for us to explore.

As you can see from the map below, the Outer Banks is a thin strip of island along Atlantic Ocean.  From where we stayed, down to the southern part of the Outer Banks is about 90 miles.  Each day we were there, we found something new and exciting to do.  I had no idea how much foundational U.S. history was in the small strip of land!

Monday:

We chose to go to the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island on this day because it was raining.  The girls had lots of fun seeing the fish and other marine animals.

Branna's favorite part of the aquarium was "saving the turtles".  The aquarium had a mock turtle rescue station.  After choosing the turtle that you were going to diagnose, you took that turtle to the "scanning" station where you found out what was wrong with your turtle.  (I think each turtle must have had a computer chip that was scanned.)

After your diagnosis was made, you took your turtle to the next station where you administered the appropriate medicine.  (i.e. If your turtle had a shark bite, you but a pretend antibiotic wash on it. If your turtle had a gut impaction, you gave it an enema.  YIKES!  I'm glad Branna didn't ask what that was...)

Once you were satisfied with your turtles recovery, you returned your turtle back to the sea and returned your lab coat. :)  Branna did this activity about 10 times through out the day.  She loved it!

We also got to go to a program called Dialog with a Diver where the audience got to ask the diver questions.  Branna had lots of good, curious questions.

Tuesday:

Wright Brothers National Park and Museum

Tuesday was a day at the Wright Brothers National Park and Museum.  Just a little more than a stone's throw away from our rental house was where the Wright Brothers made their famous flight.  It was so neat to see the history there.

Branna was able to earn her Junior Ranger badge after she completed a questionaire about the Wright Brothers from information that she learned at the park.  (Behind Branna is one of the models the Wright  Brothers used.)

Wednesday:

On Wednesday, we decided to explore more of the outer banks and see some of its light houses during by taking a day trip down the island.  As I mentioned, it's about 90 miles from Kitty Hawk to Ocracoke.  However, with a low speed limit and lots of little towns along the way, it took us about 2 hours one way.  

We didn't get to make many lengthy stops along the way because we were trying to catch a ferry, but we did get to stop at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, also known as America's Lighthouse with its familiar diagonal black and white stripes.

Once we got to Ocracoke, we stopped at another lighthouse the Ocracoke Lighthouse, which is North Carolina's oldest working lighthouse.

Our last stop was at Teach's Hole, a museum about the pirate Blackbeard.  (Blackbeard's real name was Edward Teach.)  Apparently, Ocracoke Island was one of his favorite stopping grounds and he was eventually captured and beheaded here.

   

Thursday:

About 10 minutes south of Kills Devil Hills, is Roanoke Island.  This is the region where Virginia Dare, the first American, was born.  We went back to Roanoke Island later in the week to visit the Roanoke Island Festival Park where they had mock Native American villages, colonist settlements, and even a ship that we could board and explore that was a third the size of the original Elizabeth II.

Demonstrating the language barrier between Native Americans and the English

through a pictionary type game.

Hollowing out a canoe with sea shells

Branna was able to help make a chair leg at the English settlement...

and shave some wood.

Branna also got to try on some armor. When she put it on, she said that she looked like David when Saul gave him his armor and it was too big.  The man showing us around was VERY impressed that Branna knew that story and started reciting Ephesians 6:17.

My knight in shining armor...

Friday:

We took it somewhat easy on our last day and went to Jennette's Pier which was only a few minutes from the house we were staying at.  It was neat to walk out so far away from the shore (about a 1000 feet) and see some of the fish that were being caught.

We had such a great time and learned and did so much!  This was the scene after each excursion.  (Aisley looked the same... you just can't see her since she's rear facing. :) )

We did take some time to make it over the the beach as well.  Our house was actually right across the street from the beach, but due to it being so cold (mid-50s) we didn't go very often.  While we were there, the girls built sand castles and flew kites.

Branna couldn't resist being at the beach and not getting in the water.  I don't know how she stood it!  I stuck my toe in and couldn't stand it because it was sooo cold!

I think we made lots of memories to look back on.  Atlie still prays for North Carolina and getting on the airplane... that might have something to do with Branna hyperventilating during our first flight. :) 

Aisley at 5 months (April 17)

If this month had a theme it would be: Going Places.  You are so mobile even though you are not crawling.  Anytime I lay you down to play on the floor, you immediately start making your way across the room rolling or scooting.  And you are so close to crawling!  You've been attempting to get your legs in underneath you, so I know it's just a matter of a few weeks.

You love being around your sisters.  You enjoy watching them in action and get so excited when you even just hear their voice.

You have been sitting up so well, too.  It hasn't been completely unassisted yet, but even when someone is holding you, you are so strong and can hold yourself up very steadily.  Because of that, you've been able to sit by yourself in Bible class for the first time this month.

You are such a happy and easy going baby.  It doesn't take much to get a big grin and a smile from you.  I love it!  You've also started giving "kisses".  You will grab my head, pull me to you and give big open mouth slobbers.  Very messy, but super sweet!

I had a hard time getting your monthly pillow shot because you don't stay still very long.  My, how you've grown!

Happy 6th Birthday Branna! (April 12)

I can't believe that I have a 6 year old!  Branna has grown so much and in so many ways this year.  Not only she very tall for her age (95th percentile) she is also ahead in her education (she's reading at a 4th grade level!).  I am continually amazed at her insights and imagination.
One of her biggest interests this year has been in robots, which partly inspired her wish for an Astro Boy themed party.  Since Astro Boy is somewhat outdated in the U.S., it was difficult to find Astro Boy stuff, but we were able to make due and it pulled off to Branna's satisfaction. :)

Food and Dessert Table

Fun Playing at the Park

Blowing Out the Candle

Friends!

Opening Gifts (She's very thankful for this one!)

Aisley (4 months old)

This month has been a fun one!  You are really becoming aware of people and things around you and starting to interact more.  You laugh and smile all the time.  In fact, it's the first thing you do every morning.

You've also started rolling over from your back to tummy (about 3.5 months).  You've gotten pretty good at getting places by rolling.  One morning, I left you on your pallet and when I walked back in you had rolled several feet away to the front of the fire place.

You're grabbing skills have gotten really good, too.  If you see something you want, you reach for it and can get it to your mouth most of the time.  It's also been fun to see you notice your hands and feet.  When you catch a glimpse of them, you pause and wave them back and forth in front of your face.

You are such a sweet little girl and I'm looking forward to sharing more of your adventures as they come!

Branna lost her first tooth!

Due to illness and the craziness of everyday life, I have neglected the blog more than usual over the last couple weeks it seems.  Here is a little bit of catch up of what we've been up to...

Branna has continued to excel in all her school work.  She loves to read and is currently reading through her first novel based on her favorite movie: Astro Boy.  She also got a cute book from my mom called Three Stories You Can Read to Your Dog.  She was very excited to read them to her dog, Cooper!

She has done really well with her math work and has surprised me at how quickly she catches on to things.  Recently, we started counting by 2's. (She already knows her 5's and 10's.)  After our first day, she was able to count by 2's backwards from 100!  And I didn't even prompt her to do that...I was impressed!

(A side note:  She has recently wanted to start "posing" for her pictures.  She wants to act like she's doing something and then have me take her picture.  Here she is "acting" like she is counting. :) )

Here is another pose for the family tree she put together:

For math one day, we used Easter eggs for patterning:

I used a simpler version of this with Atlie where I gave her one card and she had to find the matching egg top and bottom.

Branna loves to help out in the kitchen and I was very excited to find this easy cookie recipe we used when we talked manna.  (I replaced the egg with oil to make it for safer handling for the girls.)

Atlie has also recently become fascinated with scissors.  I think it's partly just that age and she sees Branna using them, but I also think it's due to her recent experience at the doctor's office.  Over the Christmas holiday, she ended up with nurse maid's elbow and had to get a soft cast while we waited for the diagnosis.   When she got the cast off, the nurse had to cut it off.

 Since then, she has loved to pretend to put a band aid on (usually a long sticker or piece of tape) and then cut it off.  But, I really think this has helped her cutting skills!

I also had her work with tongs to enable that coordination:

By the end of the first week with the tongs, she was able to cut paper! (See the aftermath below...)

The sticker alphabet pages we did a few weeks ago were such a success, that I made another sticker activity.  For this, I labeled a each letter with a different colored sticker (you can see in the picture E=green, F=orange, G=pink, H=yellow).  Using this legend, Atlie identified the letters in the upper portion of her worksheet with the corresponding color.

We also took some time out for a little bit of good old fashion painting.  Branna wanted something "better" than paper, so she painted a box.  I found out later that she intended me to hang it on my wall...