HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

"you have reached your destination" boy we were excited to hear that!!

St. Louie here we come...

we didn't stop in St. Louis, but I grabbed a couple of pics on our way thru... the kids were sleeping this time around...i think...Jerad took over driving again and I slept almost all the way to Joplin with only a couple of times being awaken. We stopped In Joplin to eat and then headed home. The kids were clapping and excited when we saw the Welcome to Fredonia sign and we no more than hit the garage and they were at Mimi and Papa's breaking the door down! We were all very happy to see them and HOME!!!

Dalton called last night. He is doing fine. Making friends and has gotten started in school. He said they keep you very very busy and it's hard to have a free moment. We miss him terribly, but we know this is a wonderful opportunity for him!!

Creekin Pics & Trip Home

Sunday June 15th - Happy Father's Day!!!

Sorry I haven't posted. I have had no internet access for the last couple of days. Sunday we took Dalton to IHOP to eat a big breakfast and then checked him in. We took lots of pictures, shared some hugs and waited around a little bit. Then we headed on out. It was so HARD to leave him, but we did it. He called while I was still in the elevator and we offered to stick around, but he said no. So we pulled on out and headed where Tom Tom said to go, ended up not being the route we wanted, but we made a pit stop in Mt. Airy (Andy Griffith's hometown) and visited. Most things were closed b/c it was a Sunday, but I took a couple of pics and then we headed on out.
We stopped in Hiddenite, NC at the Emerald Mines. Dayton and Dayne really enjoyed it. I think mom and dad did too. We found garnet, amethyst, pyrite, blue and green adventurine, rose quartz and tons of little tiny pieces we still haven't identified. We went creekin' where you go down to the creek and dig for gems and then we sluiced as well. We were a bit dirty by the time we left, but a good time was had by all. We then hit the interstate and headed towards home. Jerad and I both were ready to be "home" at this point so we decided to give it a shot and see how far we could get. We stopped around Hickory and ate at McDonald's let the kids climb on the play yard and then hit the interstate.

Go West!!!

We headed out of the outerbanks this morning. We drove through smoke and about the time the smoke got better we had a little "incident". A spray can of red paint fell out of a truck and bounced down the highway underneath our car and sprayed my car. Talk about a custom paint job!!! We turned around and headed back towards a car wash and pulled into a car dealership. A FORD dealership http://www.feyerford.com/ (pictures to follow of this unheard of event...this is even rarer than Haley's Comet) The body shop manager loaned us some rubbing compound to clean up. Jerad spent almost an hour getting it off the paint and wheel. It was even up the back end of the car. Our undercarriage is still red, but the main concern was the white paint.

After that delay we headed on down the road and stopped at a Hardees for a burger. Then on the road again towards Winston-Salem. We tried to check into our hotel or as Dayton likes to call them "show and tell" and they did not have a pool. Sooooooo they sent us down the road to their sister hotel and we checked in, unloaded the car and the kids hit the pool!

We are back in the room anticipating a storm. I think we might want to head out to eat before the weather gets real bad. Tomorrow we will execute Operation Dalton Drop. Signing off ...b

The Lighthouses

Playing Tourist

• '
• We played the part of tourists today. We toured Bodie Island Lighthouse (pronounced Body) and Cape Hatteras. We headed south out of Nags Head and even though we were only going about 55 miles it took almost the entire day to get there and back. Our first stop was Bodie Lighthouse. Then we needed to take a break and eat. We came upon the http://www.froggydog.com/ The food wasn't bad at all, service was decent and we came away with full bellies. They sold conch fritters there...eewwwww that just sounded gross! We then continued south until we went to Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. One of the most famous for some crazy odd reason. They actually have moved that lighthouse...we looked through books of pictures and it was pretty amazing. We will have lots of stories to tell about the lighthouses. They look so HUGE in person, but when you are driving down the highway you sometimes can't even see them. We drove to the end of the island and went to a new museum "The Graveyard of the Atlantic" even though it is not completed they have a couple of rooms to view miscellaneous items. It appears that it will be a neat little place when finished. From the street the museum was on we could barely see a ferry coming in and one taking off. Would have been neat to get closer and watch. I would have loved to have went on to Ocracoke and see the lighthouse there, but unfortunately the ferry waiting was more than we wanted to wait and Jerad wasn't real excited about taking a ferry. So we headed back north towards Nags Head. We stopped along the route and had sno cones and ice cream. You almost can not find a sno cone stand anywhere here. Ice cream every other block, but no sno cone. I was craving one a couple of days ago and there was nowhere to get one. The southern shores are not as developed as the northern shores. I have no idea what Ocracoke is like, but it is rated the #1 beach by Dr. Beach so it must be pretty cool! We also stopped along the route and pulled off onto the beach. There are several little boardwalks along the highway you can just park and walk over the dunes to the beach. There was a shark that had washed up on shore. The kids were pretty fascinated by it. It was small, maybe 2 1/2 feet long? Not for sure. Some guy pulled it's mouth open and said he thought it was a sand shark. That is as close as I care to get to a shark. Dead or not!! There were also tons and tons and tons of shells on this particular stretch of beach. It looked like someone had just went along with a bag and dumped them out all along the shore. This stretch of beach was kind of crowded. I think it would have been neat to walk up or down it where there weren't people and let the kids do some shelling, but the heat was pounding down pretty good and none of the kids had their shoes on ...then Dayton kept itching her legs saying something was wrong with them. So we were at best there maybe 15 minutes? Back in the car and on the road.... When we were about 5 miles out from Nags Head Jerad said if we wanted to stay another night we could...YEAH!!! So we wheeled into our motel and they had one room left (see i knew we were supposed to be here!) The good thing is our room is spacious and has a kitchenette...the bad thing is it's not oceanfront and it's on the 2nd floor....would have loved to have had this room on the first floor the first couple of days. The motel is very old...has been here for years...I think it has even been blown away I think...it reminds me of a circa 1960 motel...especially with the color of the signs and doors. Our bathroom upstairs has a new floor and is really pretty clean and nice - just outdated a bit. The other room was very small (I suppose they made smaller ones on the bottom so they could sell more ocean front rooms) After seeing some of the places available along the beach I think I'd come back again. They have a great beach...easy access...the staff is friendly..things are clean... some of the others were off the beach and didn't look so marvy!


• Anyway...so we are back at The Seafoam. The kids hit the beach immediately...then the pool! We then hopped in the car to do some laundry..you know it's time when you run out of undies. While our clothes were washing we grabbed some Subway sandwiches and ate in the car. The locale of the ONLY laundromat withint 40 plus miles was fine, but there were a lot of folks that made us all feel a little uneasy. Once our laundry was all fresh and dry we then hit a couple of souvenir shops for the last few items we needed to pick up and then came back to the motel. Jerad says tomorrow we are headed to Winstom Salem ear-lye in the morning. Our car is overflowing with items...and shells...and shells....I think I could ship them home if I didn't think they would crush into bits! It really needs reorganized and such, but that is on the agenda tomorrow. We are planning on arriving to Winston Salem, chcking into the motel and getting the remaining laundry done, cleaning out the car, double checking Dalton's list of needs, etc. Then we will get him all ready with a good breakfast on Sunday and take him to Wake Forest. I'm not sure what time we will actually leave Winston-Salem, but I'd assume shortly after we drop Dalton off. Then we will head out driving and see how far we get.


• Hopefully will post on Sunday morning....love to all of you...b

Sunrise at Nags Head

These pictures just do not do it justice...almost ashamed to post them. I took like a jillion of the sun as it was rising. It was beautiful and so peaceful. Just posting a few for your viewing pleasure!!

Today has been great so far. Jerad woke me up really early and we went down to the beach and found a few shells. Then we came up and grabbed the camera and started taking pictures of the horizon and the sun as she rose upon the sky. Tricky pictures to take and I really needed my tripod, but my husband took it out of the car before we left. Oh well...I used the railing to set my camera on a few times and the pics turned out ok, but I would have loved to have had my tripod and about 2 hrs to get just the right pic!

Papa got to see us on the web cam at Nags Head http://www.surfchex.com/ early this morning. There was about a 20 second delay so that was interesting trying to find the right spot to stand, but he saw us!! How cool is that? Just goes to show you can run, but you can't hide even halfway across the US.

the kids are showering and getting cleaned up, I suppose my turn will be coming soon. Then I have to find a place to put all the stinky souring salt water clothes and sandy items. We will be loaded down with about 100lbs of seashells from our many shelling excursions. Might even have to rent a Uhaul! Not really..it's not THAT bad. So I think our goal is to clean up, load up and then head south towards Hatteras to see the lighthouse and possibly Ocracoke. Along the way is Avon, Frisco and Buxton...someone told me to check them out for shelling as well. I guess we'll just have to see.

Signing off for now...wish you were here!!!

Day 2 more pics

Along one of

the shopping boardwalks there was a place to have your picture taken as a butterfly...Dalton humored me! The kids and Dad in front of the lighthouse up at Corolla....I can't even remember the name of the lighthouse right now...maybe Currituck?

Nags Head Day Two

The Hoag's Family Portrait!!! Met a lady on the beach and asked her to take a couple shots of us. Turns out her husband is also a photographer! How cool is that! Kids playing in the sand...turning Dalton into a sand mermaid! Dayton and Jerad flying kites! Dayne flying and flying a kite!!!

Waking up at the Beach.....

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh it's so beautiful! Dayton has already been shelling this morning. Surprisingly enough she isn't expecting to take home every shell on the beach. Just every other one! We found a jellyfish on the shore this morning. Jerad said "that's it I'm not going back in the water"!

The view outside our motel room as I'm typing

The jellyfish we found.

Dayton and her "booty"

Dayton & Mom shelling together.

We might sit on the beach today, we might check out some lighthouses, we might go shelling again, we might go shopping....we just don't know what to do! Boys are still sleeping....although Dayton is starting to get them moving. Our cells don't work while we are at the motel room very well....so if you need us remember we are at the www.seafoam.com

Jockey's Ridge State Park

I gave up on the video clip for now. For some reason they are getting hung up. Here are a few pics from Jockey's Ridge. They are huge dunes. http://www.jockeysridgestatepark.com/

We ate at http://www.pigman.com/ Pigman's BBQ Pretty good stuff!

kids want to hit the beach again so signing off

Wish you were here............Nags Head, North Carolina

We pulled into our motel parking lot, grabbed a couple of bags...entered our room dropped the bags, walked across the room to the back door and wha la .............. OCEAN!!!! The kids immediately began shelling and within a few more minutes they were swimming. They found out you have to keep your mouth shut while swimming. Salt water tastes like - well salt!! We already have about 10 lbs of shells. Dalton felt something on his foot and it was a huge seashell. A couple of people on the beach even made comment how big it was. I'm guess 6 or 7 inches long? We managed to drag the kids out of the water long enough to get rinsed off - which is almost impossible. We are headed out to find something to eat. We skipped breakfast and then thought we'd grab some lunch, but the ocean was just too inviting to stop and eat. Posting some quick pics. Wish you were here!

My little astronauts!!

Dayne holding up the giant mouth full of teeth! Dayton playing dental hygienist and cleaning teeth. Dayne with a static charge and whoa!!! MOM is Electric!!