Mississippi - Vicksburg National Park

We also stopped by the Vicksburg National Park during our drive home. What an amazing experience to be right where these battles took place, and to get to share that with the kids. 

 

USS Cairo was pretty amazing to see. The ship sank in the Mississippi river in1862 and was discovered in 1956.

North Carolina - Airborne & Special Operations Museum

On our way home from North Carolina we stopped at a pretty cool museum, The Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, NC. It was nice to have a little break from driving. Kingston thought all the soldiers with guns, helicopters, and jeeps were cool.

Got to explain that this is what Uncle Phil did as an officer in the Military.

North Carolina - Havelock

We took a summer trip to Havelock, North Carolina to visit Phil and Renee. Phil is retiring from the Military in the fall and they'll be moving. Any trip spent with cousins is a good one! The kids had so much fun, and even got to sleep in their cousin's rooms.

Kingston has been determined to catch a lizard! Stephen found this tiny little guy and had to get Kingston out of his bed so he could hold it.

We are so proud of Phil and grateful for his service to our Country!

They have constant visits from hummingbirds at their house. I was enthralled! I watched out the window constantly waiting to capture the perfect picture of these sweet little birds. 

 I spy with my little eye another humming bird...

North Carolina - Neuse River

Phil and Renee have friends that live right on the Neuse River so we were able to go play there a few times during our stay. It is a salt water river so they get dolphins, jelly fish, crabs, and all other sea creatures. Our favorite part was getting to longboard.

Eden just tried to stick her head in the water.

Bethany couldn't get enough of Eden!

North Carolina - Cape Lookout

Cape Lookout was by far the highlight of the trip, and of course the one time when my camera ran out of battery! I had my phone so we took a ton of pictures, but I have been weeks behind on blogging. The other day I washed my phone and I didn't have my iCloud set up...all my pictures are gone! I'm crying a little! Luckily we got a few on the camera before it died. We took a ferry out to the island, and on our way we saw dolphins and wild horses. We were hoping to see them, and considered ourselves blessed to have gone at the right time that morning because on our way back the captain of the ferry told us that was the only spotting of both that day! Thank you Taelee for your sincere prayer being answered!

We spent hours at the nearly deserted beach! Taelee mastered the boogie board, and Stephen finally convinced me to have a go at it too. The kids built a giant see creature, and had a blast!

Thanks to Instagram I have a few of the pictures that got deleted from my phone.

The Sunday we got back I gave a talk in church. I spoke about an experience I had while at Cape Lookout. "I was able to walk along the nearly deserted beach. It was absolutely tranquil, listening to the waves crash onto the shore. As I walked I noticed the shells being carried onto the beach and then quickly taken back in by the receding wave. As I was walking I found a small piece of a shell that over time had been carried along by the waves and formed into a small heart. How similar the family is. Over time waves have beat upon the family, leaving shards of broken shells. Today the waves are constant, capable of breaking down the family. As members of the Church we have an opportunity to stand out and stand up for the family, just as this heart stood out to me among the broken shell fragments."