Just beachy...

Julia's beach experience.

Jackson's beach experience.

Enough said!

Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Outer Banks, NC

We just returned from a week long vacation in the Duck area of the Outer Banks of NC. Being from Florida, our family never ventured to the outer banks for a beach vacation so this was my first experience and it was beautiful. I'll blog later about the beach. In our rush to escape home, I left my smaller portable camera at our rental house (along with a empty suitcase in the closet - brilliant!). But back to the lighthouse, it was amazing! Jackson was so excited to see the lighthouse with me. He climbed all 214 steps and descended all by himself.

The stair case is a spiral with gorgeous tile at the bottom.

The view from the top of the lighthouse. Jackson didn't inherit his dad's fear of heights.

A view of the detailed windows that are on the roof of the top floor.

A view of the interior brick. This exterior brick of the lighthouse was left unpainted to distinguish it from the other lighthouses in the outer banks. The approximate number of bricks used is 1 million!

The Currituck Lighthouse was the last major brick lighthouse built in the Outer Banks. It was built in order to cover a 40 mile stretch of dark coastline in 1873.

Dinner and dancing

With that title, you probably were thinking of a romantic night out with your loved one. Wrong! The new favorite time of day in the Rhamy household (ie roost) is just after dinner. Since Scott has link our house to Rapsody, with the click of a button, we have music! So lately, we've been dancing to "Who let the dogs out"! The kids go crazy and our dog, Cody, even chimes in with barking. Jackson thinks he's singing! I love that my kids bring out the kid in me:)

Pool anyone?

Julia is ready! She absolutely loves the pool! She kept sitting down in it and would get out then in about 1000 times. Jackson really wanted to go to the big pool but it was crazy busy (given it was Memorial day). So, we all settled in the baby pool. Darn!

Enlightenment

As I am boiling eggs for potato salad this AM, I thought of random things I've learned lately.

1. Bamboo trees feel like velvet - thanks to Jackson for insisting that on our bike ride in the neighborhood we all stop to feel the bamboo.

2. Put the eggs in the pot before you have water it in - they tend to crack if dropped in water. Hence, inspiring the list today. It may be that it's also only 6:30A and I'm already making potato salad. But, it is Memorial Day and BBQ is on the agenda.

3. I truly appreciate how lucky I am for my health and my family. I've known this for sometime. Guess I've felt reminded!

4. Buttermilk is the secret ingredient for fabulous banana bread.

5. Jackson makes some mean homemade banana pancakes - Yummy!

Happy Memorial Day!!!

A Memorial to Clutter

In an effort to utilize my 3 day Memorial weekend, I have vowed to work on organizing my house. First on the list is the kitchen. I've done a pretty good job on the pantry given I bought a crap load of tupperware recently. But, I have an issue with what ends up on my counters. Yes, that is the dog bowls up there! Julia loves to eat the dog food and drink from the dog water - lovely! Yes, I did take pictures for later torture during her teen years:) But, back to organizing! Below is the area of dread! I constantly try to organize it but it never works. It plaques me. I did the baskets for the cabinet cubbies which does clean it up a bit. Stupid design that I didn't pick but have to live with it. And, I'm not liking the windowed cabinets. Need to rearrange what's in those! Plus, I want to summerize (is that a word?) my closet now that it's 90!

Happy Strawberry Day!