We lost most of Spring Break, thanks to the two solid weeks of snow days.. However, we’re pressing forward with our planned trip to the beach! Sue wasn’t able to come down with us, and it just isn’t the same without her–and my dad. I keep expecting to see him sitting out on the deck, drinking his morning coffee. I’m having some pretty tough moments, where the grief really hits me.. So much of him is in this house, this place, this saltwater wind and waving marsh grass. But the kids keep me busy, and I have to function for them. I’m trying to focus on appreciating being around some of his things, in a place he loved so much, instead of the loss.. Oookay, more than a little verklempt, let’s get back to happy kid narrative here..! I’ll try, but to be honest, the posts are pretty hard to write lately.
Anyway, we decided to be scofflaws and truants, and blatantly disregard the reinstated school days this week, opting to go for the “excused absence due to an educational field trip” tactic. We’re taking the requirements pretty seriously–packing in tons of educational trips each day, and making Brian take notes for an eventual portfolio, detailing all the things he learns. We did let the kids ease into the day with some Lego time. I’d brought along the “suitcase” Lego sets I’d gotten them probably more than a year ago. They were quite excited, as you can see! Brian compelled me to make a video of him creating a scene with his set. 😉 We eventually had to start educating, so we made our way to Harker’s Island for the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitor Center, and the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum. Brian “borrowed” Grandma’s notepad, and made some pretty great drawings and notes of the things he saw along the way. He was interested in the big cranes he saw at the seaport, and made us look up the word for “not the crane part, the other part”–gantry, is the word he wanted to know. We got lunch at a Burger King (not one of our usual places–it was kind of gross, reminding us why it’s not one of our usual places!) But at least the kids got paper crowns out of it, and Brian made some excellent drawings of the seagulls we saw outside (love the action shot!) Both kids enjoyed (or at least were decent sports about) the educational exhibits, but the surprise kids’ area at the waterfowl museum was a really big hit. Since they’d put up with a lot of historical artifacts, we let them play there for a good long while. Brian found some books for his wishlist, and Kendall played with the puppets and seashell tic-tac-toe. Both kids got a prize or three from the gift shops at each place. At the Cape Lookout visitor center, we picked up one of those National Park passport books. We got our first stamps for it, and Kendall stamped herself for good measure. 😉 We picked up some groceries on the way back, and bless him, Brandon made us dinner while I occupied the kids (and I really phoned it in–introduced them to Full House reruns on Nick). 😉 It was a fun, but long day, and I was pretty well exhausted by the end. 🙂
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Sorry your Dad passed away and you could not share this beautiful setting and day with him.