So by Wednesday, we were halfway through the week, and having a great time! My mom had arranged for a professional family photo to be taken that night, but during the day we were free to do whatever. We were all finally together by Wednesday. My sister Cheryl's family had arrived on Saturday when my parents arrived, and my sister Katie had arrived with her two children. I mistakenly mentioned that her husband Scott had shown up on Saturday, but he actually didn't arrive until Tuesday afternoon. My brother Andrew and sister-in-law Meredith arrived on Sunday morning and stayed for the day, but had to go back home until Wednesday afternoon, and then came back for the rest of the week on Wednesday evening. So we were finally all there on Wednesday, which was nice! That day, everyone except Josh and myself went to the Maritime Museum, which was down by Okracoke Island where we were on Tuesday, but we decided to head in the opposite direction to Kitty Hawk, and visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial. As is typical for us, we accidentally did the entire memorial backwards, so things didn't quite make sense until we got to the visitor's center at the END of our tour and found a map of the park lol! But we had fun nonetheless. Unfortunately, it was the one day I didn't wear sunscreen, so my shoulders and feet got pretty burnt....of course the day of the family photo. But hey, I guess if you are going to take a picture on the beach, might as well look the part and show that you've gotten some sun! We spent about an hour and a half on the beach taking pictures, then came back snack on leftovers and look at pictures. My mom asked each family to bring about 100 pictures that could be shown on the TV, and we got to see what everyone has been up to for the past 18 years, so that was fun! We took our turn on Wednesday evening, along with Scott, Katie, Laura, and Nicholas' pictures.
Outside the room after the picture:
Thursday
Thursday was the Fourth of July, and also my dad's birthday....the reason for the whole trip! As ANOTHER surprise for him, my mom had arranged to take him parasailing! Morgan loves to parasail, so a whole group decided to go....my parents, Morgan, Scott and Katie, and Laura and Nicholas. Morgan went up with my parents, Katie and Nicholas went together, and Scott and Laura went together! Josh and I drove out with them so he could give his permission for Morgan to go, then we went to the Elizabethan Gardens to look around until they got back.
We went back to pick up Morgan, and the three of us went to lunch before heading back to the beach house. On the way, we stopped at Bodie Lighthouse, and climbed the stairs to the top, where we had a great view of the island!
The parasailers:
The lighthouse:
After we got home from visiting the lighthouse, it was almost time to eat. My dad grilled out brats, hot dogs, hamburgers, and chickens, and we had potato salad, baked beans, fruit, chips, and, of course, birthday cake! I ate way too much but it was so delicious. Around 9pm, Josh and I headed down to the pier about 20 minutes away to watch the fireworks. Traffic was so backed up, we didn't get as far as we would've liked, but we were still able to see them parked on the side of the road, and without all the noise! Turns out they were also visible from the beach house as well, but we had fun driving to go see them!
Time to grill:
Poor Brandon got WAY too much sun:
Blowing out the candles:
Smells good:
Present time!
All in all, it was a great two days. The weather continued to be beautiful, and everyone had a great time doing whatever it was they wanted to do each day! Part 3, coming up!
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