Fall Outer Banks Trip

We took our annual fall beach trip to the Outer Banks in early October. The weather turned out to be pretty good, warm and sunny, but still really windy. The water was extremely rough, and you could definitely see the impact of Irene on the beach. We took a half day off from work on Friday, so we could get down there at a decent hour. We checked into the hotel, went out to eat, and then just hung out in the room before bed.


The next day we went walking on the beach

and then to the Wright Brother's Memorial.

Me and my precious Aidan

My two boys

They were having a stunt kite flying contest that day, so we got to see some of the pretty kites. Had never heard of stunt kite flying until this, so it was neat to see some of the stuff they could do with kites.

Aidan learned all about the flight attempts and enjoyed looking at all the markers.

By the time we got to the fourth and final marker, he was tired of walking and was ready to "ride shoulders" with Dada.

"Flying" the plane

Later that day we checked out the new pier before going to supper. It was very nice and very crowded!

I actually didn't worry about Aidan falling in the water on this one!

When we got to the end, I was shocked at the number of jelly fish in the water. There had to be thousands of them! Not sure if that is a good sign for the fishermen or not.

After supper, Aidan really needed to burn off some energy so we took him the park at the Manteo waterfront. The lighthouse:

Sunday we went to the Aquarium. Otter had to have his pic taken. :)

Aidan's turn

He always has to splash in the water!

Our favorites, the Otters!

They had a new exhibit that we loved! They had a sea turtle rescue center. You picked up your sea turtle (it was plastic/rubber, of course!) when you went in and then took him to the first station for a check up and to see if he was sick.

The machine scanned him, did x-rays and did a blood test. Aidan thought it was the coolest thing ever and was so happy his sea turtle was healthy. Then on the last test, we found out that he was sick because he had gotten too cold. Aidan teared up and was extremely worried about his turtle! Of course, that made me tear up too! We reassured him that we could make him all better at the next station.

At the next station, the lady explained what was wrong with the turtle and what Aidan needed to do to make him better. Aidan did exactly what she said (put a blanket on him), and his turtle was fine!

Next he had to take him to rehabilitation. He got to swim in the pool.

Finally, he got to release his healthy turtle back to the sea!

This was such a great exhibit and so educational for kids. We loved it! We didn't realize the impact it had on Aidan until we got home. That night at bedtime, Aidan was really worried about the sea turtle again. The next morning he got up still asking about the turtle. They had some for sale in the gift shop but we didn't get one because it didn't seem to have a huge impact on him at the time. After all the questions once we got home, I was on a mission to get a sea turtle! I called the gift shop and they were happy to ship us one and we had it in a couple days. Of course, by this time Aidan was over the sea turtle and wasn't all that thrilled when it came! Imagine my disappointment! However, when I asked him if he wanted me to send him back to the aquarium, he said "No, I want to keep him!". He wrapped him up in a blanket and keeps it on him all the time so he doesn't get sick again!

Still at the aquarium:

The huge shark tank is another one of Aidan's favorites!