4th of July Fireworks Show

We received an email from the Boxers today and I have copied it here for general info.  Thanks to Ben who can find the latest data on anything anywhere!

ROANOKE ISLAND FESTIVAL PARK

440TH ARMY BAND
FIREWORKS BY THE TOWN OF MANTEO
July 4 at 8 pm
Outdoor Pavilion
Pack up the lawn chairs, blankets and picnic and bring family and friends as the nation celebrates July 4th in the Outdoor Pavilion.  The 440th Army Band will begin their patriotic concert at 8 pm.  Fireworks will be provided by the Town of Manteo beginning at 9:30 pm.  Gates open at 6 pm.  Parking will be available at the Park until the lot is full and also in downtown Manteo.  Handicap parking will be available at the Park.  The celebration is free and open to the public.

Sounds like the perfect thing to do.  We can either eat dinner early or have our Wednesday hosting family do sandwiches, chips, etc. for all of us to take to the park.  Heather and Miles have that night and are ready to do whichever.  Any input?

Only two more days!!!!!!!!  Excitement mounts.  See all of you at the beach on Sunday afternoon.

The 'Big Picture'

Bing Maps Bird's Eye view site

To get an excellent view of our Reunion Home location and surrounding area, I suggest using Bing Maps: enter the home's address:   1001 N. Virginia Dare Trail, Kill Devil Hills, NC.
Or click HERE.

When you open the Bing page, make sure you are in the "Bird's Eye" view (at top) to get a great panorama. ZOOM-IN all the way to get a clear close-up view of the area.  You can rotate 360° (upper right corner).  While you're at this site, check out and "explore" Bodie Island (a.k.a. Outer Banks/OBX) to get an idea where the parks and sights are.  A great place with lots to see and do!     FUN...FUN...FUN

Took this photo from the Ballon-Ride Grandma and I flew on June 5, 2012.
NO,... not really...just kidding...we were Hang-Gliding when I took this!

Here's the beachfront of the house. As Grandma noted earlier, we will have a 10' x 15' cabana set up each morning and taken down in the evening, at the base of these stairs.

  

Grandma at the Bodie Island Light Station
June 5, 2012

Dinner Assignments

Since I know Danielle already has a fun game planned, we don't want to trump her activity with the talent show night.  So I moved Danielle to Thursday, and I'll take Friday with the talent show.  Since that means we don't have to plan an activity on our own, we can help with any of the other nights - so if Linnea, Devry, Heather, or Danielle need some extra manpower or ideas, please let me know!

Sunday - Grandma and Grandpa
Monday - Jason and Linnea
Tuesday - Quinn and Devry
Wednesday - Miles and Heather
Thursday - Kevin and Danielle
Friday - Ben and Cara
Saturday - "Get Your Own" - whether you want to go out to eat or not, we all can provide for our own and keep it casual on the last night.

Calendar Items

Now is the time to finalize calendar events, such as dinners, and evening activities.  Yesterday I noted some activities avvailable in the area which would be a lot of fun for the adults as well as the kiddos.  Any of these activities can be done in the evening as well as the day.  Families can take off and do things on their own or we can all decide to do particular things as a group.  Those things can be decided each day of the week and need not be carved in stone here.

Anyway,  the dinner nights do need to be agreed on.  Linnea has asked for Monday night and Grandpa and I will take the arrival night (Sunday).  I have a program in mind for that very first night.  The rest of the nights need to be claimed and I  know that some have been, I just don't remember.  So use the comment section to claim your night.  First come first served, so to speak.  The best way to do each night is to have one family responsible for the dinner, the clean-up, and the activity for that evening.

The activity for each night can be ANYTHING which involves the kids and teaches a lesson about moral courage in these latter days.  For instance, on Sunday Grandpa and I will do something about work and the joy of working and the challenge of working.  We will talk about keeping the beach house clean and being responsible for it.  We will also give out the handmade beach bags with towels to each of the oldest 19 grandchildren.  We will talk about rules around the pool and about rules pertaining to helping each other and loving each other and being kind to each other.  You get the idea.  If any of you have suggestions are want something discussed that first evening let us know.  We want the rest of the week to be a happy, safe, and bonding time for our family.

Another evening activity will be the popular talent show, which I am scheduling for Friday night.  So, whoever decides to take the Friday night dinner slot can work with us and the talent show and not worry about doing a separate activity.  If you already have something in mind that you would like to do for an evening activity, grab Tues, Wed. or Thurs. night.

About the Talent Show!!!!  Anything goes!  Individual performances or group performances, or family spoofs, etc., will be wonderful.  We will have fun and act silly and give the kids (and their folks if they want to) a moment in the spotlight to show off.  This is wonderful for the kids to see each other and team up with each other.  Last time was so much fun that Grandpa is already working on what he wants to do for the Talent Show.  Just don't let anyone stress out about it because it is all for fun.

I still haven't decided on what I want to serve for dinner and we still haven't decided whether or not to go out just the adults one night.  There are plenty of Food Lions in town and I think the more casual the meal the more in keeping with beach life.

Let me know what you all have in mind.  Love each of you.

OBX Scoping Results This past Monday morning Grandpa and I jumped in the car and drove to the Outer Banks to scope out the fun possibilities for our upcoming family reunion. We had a blast and have accumulated another load of in-jokes. Anyway, here are some findings for you all to consider. We are very happy with the house we rented via a catalogue, so we lucked out there. The beach which adjoins the house is fabulous. Grandpa has Already reserved a large, 10'X 15' canopy cabana which will be set up for us each morning by 8AM and will be taken down for us each evening by 6PM. All we need to do is schlep whatever beach chairs we need back and forth. Remember all of the oldest 19 grandchildren will be getting their own beach bags and beach towels from Grandpa and Grandma. The adults need to bring their own beach towel. The other recreational opportunities are a bunch of awesome miniature golf courses, several go-kart businesses, hang gliding, laser tag, jet skis can be rented for use on the sound side of the island. For the Fourth there will be limited fireworks along the beach front. They used to have larger fireworks display there but a couple of years ago an accident occurred which killed six people so they (the county) has minimized the professional fireworks. The drive in and out of the Norfolk/OBX area is beautiful. In Norfolk you will have a challenging drive but all the bridges, and a tunnel, and all the ships, etc, are fantastic. Use your GPS for sure. When you access the Chesapeake Expressway you will need $6 in cash for the toll. Along this area, after Norfolk, are a few fesh produce roadside markets. They are fun. Sights to enjoy while on the OBX are lots of black pelicans, lots of wind, and lots of sand. Grandpa and I went to scope out certain areas of interest. We went to the Bodie Island lighthouse but it is under renovation and won't be open to the public for another year...bummer! The Hatteras lighthouse is over an hour's drive south on Pea Island and the drive is fun with huge, huge sand dunes right up against the road. We also took Monday evening to check out Roanoke Island where the outdoor drama, "The Lost Colony", is performed (see earlier posting). There is also an aquarium there on that island. There is an outlet mall just before you cross over to Roanoke. There is plenty of commercial shopping and grocery shopping within walking distance from our house. Restaurants and even a Sonic are right there. Just down the street from us is the Wright Bros. Museum and another mile south of the museum is Jockey's Ridge National park which is all sand dunes and is a great place to turn the kids loose to see how much sand they can get in their eyes, hair, and mouth :). Also, it is a great place for kite flying because of the wind. There is no place suitable for launching rockets so that event will probably changed to kite flying. Back to the house, the linens and pillows for all the beds will be provided. I do ask that these four people bring their own pillows since they will be on air mattresses and I don't have enough pillows to provide them. Would Chloe, Asher, David, and Garrett bring each bring a pillow? Also, Moms, don't forget THE SUN BLOCK and THE BUG SPRAY! Also, re-read Devry blog about the color theme for our family portrait. Tomorrow I pick up the reunion T-shirts. I will post another entry about the daily calendar tomorrow. Love all of you!