Posted by Michelle on Oct 15, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
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First, I fixed the link to the photo galleries for day one photos
Tuesday was a day for seeing sights that truly blew us away.
We drove about an hour up the coast to Corolla to go on an open top Jeep ride on the beach to see the wild horses, nature and sunset. We picked the open top jeep to see more but also because it was a rougher ride. It was bouncy and bumpy up and down dunes. Hayley and I both loved it, laughing into the wind when it got wild.
Riding all the beach was gorgeous and then we headed up into the dunes. We came across our first wild horse. By wild I mean they aren’t herded in, aren’t fed, no shoes, nothing – truly wild creatures. There are 101 right now and we must have seen about 15 of them. It was amazing. We saw stallions, mares and three month old foals. Hayley was entranced, as any young horse crazy girl would be.
These guys feed 16 hours a day so mostly they were munching. There are houses out there and the horses freely roam through yards – one guy (some famous monster truck driver named Gravedigger) waters his yard but lets the horses basically mow it and fertilizer it for him, lol.
It can’t tell you what it was like to see these creatures. These animals are descendants of mustangs brought to the New World by Spanish explorers, living here from the 16th century on. Since the area is so isolated, their blood lines have stayed pure.
We drove to see the gorgeous sunset and then back on the beach under the full moon. It was amazing. The driver let us break the rules for a bit and stand up, so Hayley and I were in the back, up holding on the rollbar, our faces and hair fly backwards. It was exhilarating and we were both hooting and hollering.
After it was over, we headed to dinner at Awful Arthur’s, one of my favorite places. Hayley even tried some crab! I’ll get her eating seafood yet.
We came back to the house in the dark and decided to go down to the beach to see crabs. We followed some around, mostly Hayley skittering after them. I suspect her laughing clued them in someone was coming!
We sat down to relax and then the ocean and moon combined into an awesome display. It must have been the full moon cascading at just the right angle and hour on the waves but every so often there would be this electric blue spark running down the wave crest horizontally. I don’t mean like a just brighter blue, I mean neon blue! It was stunning and sitting there in the dark watching, well it was like mother earth had shown us two of her most wondrous things with the horses and this streak of blue fire.
Tags: beach, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 14, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
I was laying out on the beach this morning and reading a book as Hayley ran circles around me, looking for all sorts of shells and creatures. She came over to show me her latest find and as I looked up at her with her wind-blown hair, I’d swear her eyes were the exact same color as the sky. They were all lit up with the sun, sand and water.
We came back, hopped in our very own private pool and are chilling eating lunch. Then off to Corolla for Jeep rides on the beach to see all sorts things and most hopefully the wild ponies.
Tags: beach, family, fun, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 14, 2008 in Hayley, Michelle
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Monday was a fantastic day. We slept late, hit the hot tub and then headed out on Hwy 12 down the Outer Banks. By the end of the day, we’d visited three lighthouses (Bodie, Hatteras & Ocracoke) and ridden the ferry twice.
Hayley, bless her youthful legs, climbed ALL the way up the Cape Hatteras lighthouse – all 270 steps. Interestingly after our studying the moving of the lighthouse, she was fascinated with the old site. On the stories we read and video we watched, they talked about the quality of the granite the movers found and it is that rock that is left.
Hayley is also entering a contest for the school system for artistic endeavors, so she took my camera and got some shots. Sitting on the bench outside of Bodie Lighthouse, watching her out in the fields with the camera, lining up angles – well let’s just say it was a moment I never want to forget. She’s ten and can already handle $3,000 worth of camera gear. The child has a great eye.
On the final ferry ride back from Ocracoke, she curled up in blankets and got up on my lap. I held her, we sang songs we made up when she was younger and acted silly. The wind blew and the ferry swayed – and I fell in love all over again with my child, with motherhood and the beach.
Tags: beach, family, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 12, 2008 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
The bags are backed and we are almost out the door for the beach for the week. Hayley and I leave today, then Jeff will come down mid-week with the dogs.
We’ve got an awesome house two lots back from the beach with a hot tub and four bedrooms. Three decks with a great view of the beach and the sound! Every room as a TV so the Wii is packed up to bring! Books, notebooks, scrabble and DVDs too – all you need for a good week at the beach!
The weather should be mid to high 70s so it’ll be pleasant but we have no illusion of sunny beach skies. However Hayley is dying to see lighthouses so we are off to explore for them! Our plans also include seeing the Wright Brothers memorial, breakfast at the aquarium to help feed the rays, hearing the red wolves howl at night, jeep rides on the beach to see the wild horses that live there, riding the ferry and trying to see if the dolphins or sea turtles are around at all, the maritime museum, the dunes at Jockey Ridge and then maybe a few forays down to the beach for walks, especially fun with the pups. Can you tell I’ve been there tons of times already?
Tags: beach, fun, travel
Posted by Michelle on Dec 8, 2007 in Hayley
The Holly Springs Sun had an article on Hayley’s soccer team making to the finals in their first big-time away tournament in Myrtle Beach, S.C. I finally got around to scanning it in.
It was lovely to see an article on them since we had such a great time down there and the girls played so well. I was a bit astonished to be going five hours to play but it really was lots of fun.
The file is a pdf so you can read and print it easily:
Read the Holly Springs Sun article: Great Carolina Shootout Finalist.
Tags: beach, in the news, sports, travel
Posted by Michelle on Oct 16, 2007 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
We are back from Myrtle Beach where Hayley’s team finished 2nd in the U10 group tournament, going 3-1! They even got cute trophies for second. Hayley played well and had a nice goal on Sunday afternoon.
We were right next to all the fun stuff so we went to the Hard Rock Cafe and MagiQuest, the kids played in the pool and had an ice cream sundae party. The funniest was excited they all were to be in a hotel WITH each other nearby. Four hours from home and we even ran into someone from our neighborhood playing for another team there.
After watching coach after coach SCREAM at their teams, we know for sure how lucky Hales is to be playing for Coach Dan.
Upstairs with teammate at Hard Rock Cafe
Oh so close to a goal
Win in sudden death penalty kicks (after regular pks)
Tags: beach, photos, sports, travel
Posted by Michelle on Aug 2, 2007 in Hayley, Michelle
Hayley and I went down to the beach to visit my old college roommate and pledge class buddy, Nicole. We got our first apartment together and I still remember moving in that day. It had been over 15 years since we saw each other but we picked right back up and had a lot of fun with them, including her adorable and smart son Mason.
I didn’t take the camera down on the beach but I did to the aquarium and the waterslides! I only wish I’d gotten a photo of Nicole and I together.
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Tags: beach, friends, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Sep 26, 2006 in Hayley, Michelle
The end of the summer was nearing so we had to make one last trip to the beach – especially before the puppy arrived.
We didn’t even leave the hotel – thank you beachfront hotel with pool, room service, movie rentals and convenience store! Hayley made me watch some of the oddest shows – like The Contender and then Project Runway, back to back. Odd but I loved it because she is following her own beat despite what anyone thinks.
Photos from playing on the beach and at the aquarium. (These are from about 2 weeks ago).
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Tags: beach, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Jun 18, 2006 in Hayley
Hayley is back from Camp Seafarer! This was her second year at the camp down the coast. She earned her ranks in golf, soccer and volleyball, sailed on speed and sailboats, swam, looked for shark’s teeth, did the zipline and all sorts of other stuff. She made some good friends and had some great counselors.
Some photos are ones that camp took, some are ones that we took dropping her off and picking her up.
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Tags: beach, camp, fun, photos, travel
Posted by Michelle on Apr 14, 2006 in Hayley, Jeff, Michelle
We just got back from Atlantic Beach, had a fun time staying at a local hotel called the Windjammer that had all oceanfront rooms with balconies, pool, big hot tub and a walkway right down to the beach.
Of course, it was too cold to be in the pool or beach for too long but the hot tub was fine and Hayley found some kids to play with quickly.
Of course, Hayley and I ended up sunburned anyway – the curse of ash white people who won’t leave the sun & sand!
We had fun feeding the birds from our deck and watching them go NUTS for it. And my complete (unintentional) somersault in the ocean was rather interesting… getting the sand out of my ears only took a few showers!
Lost treasure mini-golf where Michelle hit two hole-in-ones in the first five holes (1st and 5th) was fun too. You had to ride a mini-train up to the top of the ‘mountain’ to start the courses.
All in all we had a great time and really relaxed a lot. We enjoyed Atlantic Beach but still prefer Nags Head more.
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Tags: beach, fun, photos, travel
