TARHEEL MOM OF FOUR: Day 4: Vacation Extravaganza

We played tourist...

A quick stop one street over to take a pic of this...the Rodanthe Inn from the movie Nights in Rodanthe.

Never read the book or seen the movie, but for those who have...there you go. And you can rent it as well.

Bodie Island was our true first stop for the day. We got our tickets and were set to climb.

Short stuff here couldn't climb because she's about 2 1/2 inches too short. Poor girl...maybe next time.

It was a little warm on the ground, but 164 feet up it was breezy and cool. The view was amazing! I could've stayed up there all day! If only someone would've brought us a chair and a cocktail!

See our baby girl on the Lighthouse Keeper's House porch?

Here's a close up! I'd arranged for Nana and PawPaw to present her with this mega-lollipop once we started up. She was happy and was waving like crazy.

Here's a group shot. Just the 8 of us after the climb.

After Bodie, we skipped over the bridges to Roanoke Island and hit the historical waterfront of Manteo.

This cute little pirate ship was just heading out into the sound when we arrived.

Apparently, the British (or whoever...can't identify the flag) were not in hot pursuit of the pirates as they remained docked.

After lunch at a little port side deli we headed over to the NC Aquarium at Roanoke. We got there just in time to see the divers in the big fish tank with lots of fish (duh) and sharks. Then we watched the caretakers feed the alligators (above). They held these little clickers in one hand and then would bring the food around with their other hand. Why? I don't know.

This is a rescued and rehabbed sea turtle. He was being fed some freshly caught crabs from the sound. He would be released in a few weeks.

The aquarium had this cute little sea turtle rescue center for kids. You chose a random turtle...took it to a work area where you scanned, tested, and received a diagnosis on your turtle. He might have an infection, a shark bite, a wound from a boat, etc. Then you took the turtle to another area where you washed it, gave it meds, etc. Then you re-scanned...got the okay and released him back into the ocean.

Okay this little puffer was just cute! I mean it looked like he had this too funny little center tooth. I couldn't resist taking like 10 pics of him.

Outside they had a dinosaur exhibit. The kids loved them because they moved and made sounds.

Here they are running scared from the ferocious T-Rex! They thought this was a hoot! It was.

Next up...the Lost Colony play which opened July 4, 1937.

I took this shot of the "Indians" getting ready before the play during our backstage tour. And no it did not go unnoticed by my older children that they did not have anything on but a thong under their loincloths!