The Outer Banks

Our first night in the Outer Banks
The humidity and heat were insane the first couple of  days
even so close to the ocean.

After visiting Currituck Lighthouse, we found this little garden that
utterly delighted  me with its beautiful sunflowers. I am, inexplicably, drawn
to sunflowers. 

The Elizabethan Gardens near the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island.
Luke and I found several birds for our Big Summer List here.

These ancient oaks in the Elizabethan Gardens were imposing.

Ancient Oak- over 500 years old, I think.
These trees reminded me of The Two Towers.

After the initial heatwave when we arrived, the weather turned gray and rainy.
This is Cape Hatteras. It was raining when we arrived and I thought I wouldn't get to
climb to the top. We decided to come back after a little more sightseeing. When we returned, the weather had cleared and Luke, Sam, and I climbed to the top. It turns out that Sam is afraid of heights. He cried almost all the way to the top.

Luke and Sammy

The view from the top

Kity Hawk Memorial

This photo has a poignant atmospheric quality. This is at Cape Hatteras  Light Station.

Sunflower garden

The cottage that we rented had a lovely and relaxing porch swing. I spent some time there  looking for birds
or knitting. 

Currituck  Light house in the historic Corolla village.
Can you see both Luke and Sam?

The boys took a tour of the pirate ship in the background.

Can you see the dragonfly here?

The view from the porch swing

Another view of "our" yard

The only picture with me in it

Almost all of these photos appeared on my Facebook page at some point during our trip, but I wanted to put the best ones here.

The flights were grueling. This will be the only time that the twins will fly as lap babies. They turn 2 in October and after that, they will need their own seats on a plane. I'm fine with that. My arms were so sore after several hours wrestling with one of the twins.  I know that although most people are kind regarding small families traveling , they are still hoping that the couple they see boarding the plane with the 1 1/2 year old twins isn't sitting anywhere near them. I get it. I understand.

Traveling isn't easy or always fun with small people, but it's worth it for those precious family memories.