New Bern, NC and Ocracoke Lighthouse

2009 was our first summer in North Carolina. The first time we went out to explore the coast we saw Cape Lookout Lighthouse and I thought it was so cool. At that time I made a goal of seeing every lighthouse in NC and I can say after 4 years, I finally have. On Saturday we spent the day in New Bern, NC. They have a neat historical downtown that is located right on the water. We spent the afternoon walking around and checking out the scenery. Cameron is the only Pepsi drinker in our house and thought it was so neat that New Bern was the birthplace of Pepsi. Yesterday we then made our way to Ocracoke Island to see Ocracoke Lighthouse. It is a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride to the island. Once we made it to the island we saw the lighthouse, ate a yummy lunch, shopped, and took in the scenery. The Island itself was a little too busy and touristy for my taste. Growing up in a tourist town, I don't like vacationing in these kind of spots. Give me peace and quiet any day!

Cam in front of Bradham Pharmacy where Pepsi was invented

My fellas in front of Ocracoke Lighthouse

Cam enjoying his crab legs

Look at this pretty lady! 

Bald Head Island

As our time in North Carolina is coming to a close we are trying to get in as much beach time as possible. We are going to miss the beach. If you have never gone and are looking for an awesome summer vacation, consider the North Carolina coast. Yesterday we went to Bald Head Island. We just planned on seeing the lighthouse, but the island was so cool. We ended up renting a golf cart to explore and got some swimming in as well. We had a great time!

Old Baldy Lighthouse

The road around the island 

Marsh land in the middle of the Island

The beach

Season of Change

As our move to Germany approaches, to say I feel unprepared is an understatement. I keep adding things to our to-do list without ever marking anything off. I need a couple of house fairies to appear and help me! I was going to work until the end of May, but forgot I had to ship our vehicle. Logistically there is no way for me to work with only one car between Doug and myself. This will also give me 2 weeks to get the house in order before the movers come the first week of June.  I have to split everything up as there are 3 different movers coming. One will be for storage items, such as our washer, dryer, and fridge that we can’t take with us and will be stored here in the States during our time overseas. The second set of movers will be for unaccompanied baggage. This is for things we need to live our daily lives, such as basic kitchen items and clothing. This shipment gets there relatively fast. The last shipment is our household goods which includes everything else and will take 2 months.

So, the movers will be at our house the first week of June. That weekend Douglas will be graduating from high school and that following Wednesday Doug will start flying to Germany and the boys and I will be going to South Dakota. Douglas has been accepted into the Summer Bridge program for freshman at SDSU and will begin classes on July 22^nd. Cameron and I will then start traveling to Germany in early August.

My main goal for this week is to get my car shampooed before I ship it out. It is 6 years old and has hauled many stinky, sweaty boys and has never been shampooed before. It will sit on a ship, in a metal storage container for 6 weeks while it goes across the Atlantic and I don’t want anything to grow in there during that time. Is that gross or what?!?!