Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Outer Banks Vacation
We’re back from our annual trip to the Outer Banks. As usual, it was a great time. I think this year’s house has been by far the nicest. It had every amenity imaginable including flat-screen TVs in the bathrooms, double showerheads in the master showers (there were 3 master bedrooms), a 56 inch TV in the rec room, and a very sweet pool table. We chose to have the outdoor pool heated this year, and it made a world of difference. I think we spent more time in the pool in one day than we’ve done for entire weeks in prior years. We had the pool heated to 89 degrees, it was so warm that we rarely used the hot tub –nobody was ever cold.
We had perfect weather for the trip; sunny and in the high 70s or low 80s all week. Pierce and Anna were more interested in the pool than the beach this visit, so we really only had one “beach day”, but Doug and I got several days of surfing in (the waves were pretty small, but we had fun). Unfortunately, Scott brought some work with him this year, but was able to bring his laptop out to the poolside bar –so at least he didn’t have to lock himself away to get it done.
Chance’s friend was not able to come out with him this year. He had to drop out at the last minute. Chance took it in stride and managed to find lots of things to do. He was very good about playing with Pierce, Anna and Kevin, but tended to do more things with his parents and grandparents. Kevin is of the age where he wanted to be around Pierce during most of his waking moments. If Pierces said it or did it, Kevin said it or did it too. Anna had a few unhappy moments where she didn’t feel like she was part of the club but it didn’t get out of hand.
Bill, Joanne, and Carrie were not able to make it this year. Their absence was felt and we hope to have them join us again next year. With them not present no one attempted to complete any jigsaw puzzles. Nora and Stacy brought lots of activities for everyone to do. Nora brought lots of gear for tie dying and the shirts came out great. Stacy brought crafts for making door hangers, necklaces and bracelets. And Nora brought crafts for making picture frames. All the kids had lots of crayons, paints and paper and I think all of the adults ended up leaving with a custom picture drawn by at least one kid.
Nora and I took Pierce and Anna to go see the movie “Over the Hedge”. It was very good, but a little slow for Anna –more jokes than action. We also managed to make a trip out to the Currituck Lighthouse –always a favorite with Pierce. Both kids managed to climb to the top themselves. We got some great pictures of them looking out over the island.
Doug, Scott and I made good use of the house’s basketball hoop and pool table. We usually did one or both every evening. I think Scott and I were neck-and-neck in our skills this year (Scott ultimately walked out with the “King of the Pool Table” title).
Joining us this year were Doug and Erin’s new arrivals, Derrick and Adam. The twins were born in February and were all of 4 months old. Unfortunately, they both had colds, so they weren’t as happy as they could have been. All the adults had lots of opportunities to hold and feed babies and I think my Mom must have been holding one of the twins for most of her waking hours. Both boys are exceedingly handsome and when they smile they light up a room. Doug and Erin managed their additional parenting tasks with finesse.
The Kansas contingent of the Lindenberg family didn’t have much luck with air travel this year. Our flight out should have been about 6 hours, landing us in Nofolk, Va a little after 6:00 pm. Instead we were about 12 hours in transit and arrived well after midnight. Sadly, we had equally poor results on the way home; getting home after 9:00 pm when we should have been home by dinnertime. Fortunately, we’re all seasoned travelers –we bring food, snacks, games and a portable DVD player. Pierce and Anna both did great.
-Eric (Dad)
We had perfect weather for the trip; sunny and in the high 70s or low 80s all week. Pierce and Anna were more interested in the pool than the beach this visit, so we really only had one “beach day”, but Doug and I got several days of surfing in (the waves were pretty small, but we had fun). Unfortunately, Scott brought some work with him this year, but was able to bring his laptop out to the poolside bar –so at least he didn’t have to lock himself away to get it done.
Chance’s friend was not able to come out with him this year. He had to drop out at the last minute. Chance took it in stride and managed to find lots of things to do. He was very good about playing with Pierce, Anna and Kevin, but tended to do more things with his parents and grandparents. Kevin is of the age where he wanted to be around Pierce during most of his waking moments. If Pierces said it or did it, Kevin said it or did it too. Anna had a few unhappy moments where she didn’t feel like she was part of the club but it didn’t get out of hand.
Bill, Joanne, and Carrie were not able to make it this year. Their absence was felt and we hope to have them join us again next year. With them not present no one attempted to complete any jigsaw puzzles. Nora and Stacy brought lots of activities for everyone to do. Nora brought lots of gear for tie dying and the shirts came out great. Stacy brought crafts for making door hangers, necklaces and bracelets. And Nora brought crafts for making picture frames. All the kids had lots of crayons, paints and paper and I think all of the adults ended up leaving with a custom picture drawn by at least one kid.
Nora and I took Pierce and Anna to go see the movie “Over the Hedge”. It was very good, but a little slow for Anna –more jokes than action. We also managed to make a trip out to the Currituck Lighthouse –always a favorite with Pierce. Both kids managed to climb to the top themselves. We got some great pictures of them looking out over the island.
Doug, Scott and I made good use of the house’s basketball hoop and pool table. We usually did one or both every evening. I think Scott and I were neck-and-neck in our skills this year (Scott ultimately walked out with the “King of the Pool Table” title).
Joining us this year were Doug and Erin’s new arrivals, Derrick and Adam. The twins were born in February and were all of 4 months old. Unfortunately, they both had colds, so they weren’t as happy as they could have been. All the adults had lots of opportunities to hold and feed babies and I think my Mom must have been holding one of the twins for most of her waking hours. Both boys are exceedingly handsome and when they smile they light up a room. Doug and Erin managed their additional parenting tasks with finesse.
The Kansas contingent of the Lindenberg family didn’t have much luck with air travel this year. Our flight out should have been about 6 hours, landing us in Nofolk, Va a little after 6:00 pm. Instead we were about 12 hours in transit and arrived well after midnight. Sadly, we had equally poor results on the way home; getting home after 9:00 pm when we should have been home by dinnertime. Fortunately, we’re all seasoned travelers –we bring food, snacks, games and a portable DVD player. Pierce and Anna both did great.
-Eric (Dad)
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