August 2022

 August was a great month with a great trip!  

But first, I went to Indy for an afternoon with friends for a special performance at Rock the Ruins.

I had not been to this park before and it was fun to walk around in the sweltering sun!

On the way home we drove through historic Crown Hill Cemetery in Indy.  It was beautiful.  I loved all the deer walking around as well.

We enjoyed our Litwits book club at Bianca's.  She makes the best food.  It was a great evening.  We discussed "The Lincoln Highway" which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Brennan finished summer classes and came home a few days early.  We had fun walking the dogs at the park.

And then Thomas finished his classes and we headed to the Outer Banks for a nice beach vacation with absolutely no plans.

We were not sure we could make it the entire way with the dogs in one day so we planned to spend the first night in Charlottesville so David and the boys could tour Monticello the next morning.  I had toured it before a few years ago with Renee, plus dogs were not allowed.

Instead the dogs and I checked out some of the Jefferson Trails in the area.  It was a chance to get out of the car and explore a little before continuing to our apartment in Corolla, NC.

But first, we drove through the University of Virginia.

Our goals for this trip were to relax, hit the beach, and eat all the seafood.

The first morning at the Outer Banks, I got up early and went out to do some exploring on my own.  The guys all like to explore, but they also like to rest on vacation, so that worked well.

I went to the Monument to a Century of Flight and then continued driving south to see as much as I could before lunch.

Bodie Lighthouse was fun to explore.

And then I went further south (which I really enjoyed - not as crowded) and saw the beach house from the RomCom "Nights at Rodanthe".  It looked a little different than I expected but I loved the area.

That afternoon we went to the beach and had a lot more seafood.  

We also toured Currick Lighthouse in Corolla.

The dogs did well at the apartment when we were out, but we decided to take them with us the next day so we could explore longer than a few hours.

Remy is a teddy bear.

We went on a Wild Horse tour in Corolla and this was a highlight of the trip for me.  We met up and then go in an open truck for the tour.  There is a 4x4 beach where only 4x4 vehicles can drive and park.  There were quite a few people out.  It looked like a great option.  There were dunes behind that beach and beach houses on the other side of the dune.  That's where we saw all the horses.  In this area of the Outer Banks there are 110 horses that are wild, descendants of the Spanish horses 500 years ago.  There is a group who advocates for them, with 4 vets who take care of the horses and a very large portion of beach dedicated to them.  But the horses go wherever they want.  There are sea oats around the beach houses so we saw the horses primarily there.  When it storms they go a little farther inland and take shelter under live oaks.  It was so fun to see them.  You are not supposed to get anywhere near them or feed them but it was great to just watch them.    

We toured Kitty Hawk and the Wright Brothers memorial and museum.  It's really well done.

And we took the dogs to the beach.  They weren't huge fans and there were other dogs so they didn't get off leash, but they did get caught up in a big wave landed on shore.  They had had enough so we headed out.

We also toured the Lost Colony of Roanoke which is on an island in the Outer Banks.  There is a state park with a museum.  We took a walking tour to see the remaining Earthen-fort and other historical sites there.  Great place for lunch and a stroll with the dogs.

I was hoping to see the Elizabethan gardens but dogs were not allowed and I think they may have been closed for an event later that evening when we arrived.  

After dinner we spent our last evening exploring Corolla and north.  This was a cool shot at a park that I took.  We loved this area and I would love to go back and rent a proper beach house.  It was a great mix of all the things we like - great weather, good food, lots of history, beach, and museums.

My favorite? part of the trip was that each evening we played games together.  We had so much fun!  I love the time together.

The boys are back in school and sent me first week photos.  Thomas is starting his senior year studying Data Science at IUPUI in Indy.  He will have a Purdue degree in May (fingers crossed).  He is busy exploring internship opportunities to go with his classes next semester - an internship is a requirement to graduate.  He's got a full load of courses and is working at the Student Center.  He's got a busy semester ahead of him.

Brennan is starting his junior year at Purdue, studying Math-Computer Science.  This degree is in the Mathematics department.  He is pursuing approval to minor in Computer Science, exploring potential internships for next summer, and attended a study abroad informational meeting today.  He continues his Chinese and Chinese culture studies and I think he would really enjoy a short term study abroad in China.  We'll see!

We joined our friends John, Ginger, Gene and Laura at Ribberfest music festival in Madison, IN.  I was excited to hear the North Mississippi All Stars perform but right before they were to go on the heavens opened up.  We had been watching the radar and clouds shifting overhead and we finally had to call it.  We finished the evening with pizza and ice cream at our friends' house so it was a fun day regardless!

Gene got a new pizza oven so we headed over one night for make your own pizzas.  So much fun!

All the toppings - it was really delicious!

Violet brought s'mores so the night ended just perfectly.

The dogs are just fine.  They spend their days with us since we're at home full-time.

This month though I signed Remy up for a one day a week daycare so he can play with friends.  Bailey doesn't play much and Remy is always wanting to play so I thought daycare with our friend's dog Bentley might work well.  It seems to be.  Even though Remy is skittish by nature, they say he's very social at daycare.

Remy sleeping after his first day of doggy daycare.

Bailey, always with Mommy, loves to nap and have tummy rubs.

We also signed up for our Dog Park finally.  I pass it all the time but had not got the vet records to Parks and Rec so I could officially get our pass.  The dogs seem to like it OK!

Our Wine Club has not been super active this year, but we had an epic adventure at the end of August.  Our friends who both live on a lake in our community had us over for a pirate party.  We pontooned between the two homes.  It was a ton of fun.

Kelly's pirate ship fruit bowl was adorable!

Taking the supplies to the pontoon

Our hosts:

Scott and Kelly

and 

Jan and Roger

August was a memorable month with family and friends.  

Looking forward to a big trip with David later this month.