The minute I got to Aurora, we jumped in the car and headed for a family reunion on the Outer Banks! It was a really long car ride, but we made it there by Sunday evening. We stopped at the Green Valley book fair in Harrisonburg, VA. It was like heaven for Rebecca!
Day One
Sleep In!
L to R Isabelle, Ava, me, Elijah, Hannah.
And that camouflage lump in the floor is Joshua under his sleeping bag.
The only rule today was RELAX! I slept in a room with Rebecca and her cousins. Counting me, there were eight of us in there. We stayed up late talking Sunday night and were so tired, the grown-ups had to wake us up and drag us across the street to breakfast.
The main house, where we ate, was called Starr Light. It's right on the beach. We stayed in Millennium Sunrise, which was right across the street. Starr Light was kind of like a portal to the beach-- you walk in the door and go through the house, then come out the other side and you're on some steps that lead to the beach. You can feel the wind in your whiskers and smell the ocean and you want to run right to it. We go down to the ocean every evening. Every night Uncle Denny leads a Bible study and we go to bed all happy and satisfied.
Day Two
Isabelle and I on the Elizabeth II
We drove to Roanoke Island today, and visited a ship called the Elizabeth II. It's a replica of a ship that sailed over from England in the 1500's. There is a little colony right beside it and there are people playing the part of the colonists. There was a little museum and a place where you could look for shark's teeth and fossils. It was pretty cool.
Me, captain of my own ship
A list of rules hanging by the captain's quarters below deck.
Rebecca's family, obviously not trying too hard to blend in with the crowd!
Day Three
Jet ski day! Rebecca and her dad and her cousin, Isabelle, took one out. Her other family members went on some, too. And, unfortunately, they DON'T ALLOW ANIMALS! This was infuriating for me. Rebecca told me what it was like. If I had gone, it would have been like this:
We walked down a long dock to a gazebo out on the water. When we got on, I held on tight with my claws to the back of Isabelle's life vest (Later the girl who helped us off the ski gave us a funny look and asked, what on earth had we done to the vest? It has claw marks in it! For goodness sakes, sir, your daughter needs to cut her nails!). She clung to Rebecca's dad, and Rebecca was behind me. The wind blew harshly in our faces and water sprayed us. Isabelle's hair became wet and whipped my face. It stung badly!
A thick cloud enveloped the sky and rain pelted down. From the distance it was from the shore, the rain looked like a mist. Like someone had drawn a huge gossamer curtain of fog across the island. It was pretty, and we kept driving until the first flash of lightning. Then we beat it back to the dock. The minute we got to the gazebo a huge roll of thunder shook everything and let loose a downpour. We're going to be here a while, we thought. And that was the end of that.
Day Four
Just chillin' in the sun
Relaxing again! Rebecca and Isabelle snuck up to the hot tub on Millennium Sunrise and talked for a while. Tonight was Independence Day. Happy birthday, America! We watched the fireworks from the top deck of Starr Light. All the cousins got glow sticks and connectors and waved them around.
Day Five
Today is the last day. I'm sad. I don't want to leave! But we had a good time. I'll miss Rebecca's family.
Day Six
We are staying in Richmond tonight. I like looking out the window on these long drives and seeing what I can see. We stopped at the Morris' farmer's market and got some delicious peach cider. If it and me disappear at the same time, you'll know what happened to it. :)
