Thanksgiving Week 2019 with Bonny

My mom came to visit us for Thanksgiving and stayed for the week. We visited Beaufort, New Bern, and the Battleship North Carolina. Thanksgiving dinner was at the Officers' Club on base where we rode our bikes over. My mom brought down her trike so we could all ride around to school, playground, or bowling alley. The dinner was really yummy and we will probably do it again next year. The most fun event was going to see a live-action play of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer in Raleigh. It was really cute and the kids had a ton of fun.

Guilford Courthouse NMP Goldsboro, North Carolina

The Guilford Courthouse National Military Park commemorates the Revolutionary War Battle of Guilford Court House, fought on March 15, 1781. The losses by the British were about one quarter their soldiers. The British were commanded by Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis who ultimately was the general that surrendered at Yorktown seven months later to General George Washington and Lieutenant General Comte de Rochambeau. The battlefield was designated for preservation by a local resident, David Schenck, in 1886. The battlefield was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service August 10, 1933. It is a very different type of battlefield from what we are accustomed to in Virginia and Maryland. This was all fought in the woods which made for more difficult fighting conditions. 

Oak Island Lighthouse, North Carolina

All along the barrier islands are lighthouses.  The Oak Island Lighthouse isn't all that stunning, in my opinion.  It was built in 1958 and is about right for that era of architecture - concrete columns. The nearby buildings looked like they got hit pretty bad from Florence as the tarps on the roofs were rather worn.  The best part for us was taking our kite to the beach and Owen learning how to fly a kite.  With the strong winds and clear beach it wasn't all that tricky for him to get the hang of it.  Milton preferred going on the paths through the dunes or around the beach.  While on our way we got stuck on a bridge in Wilmington because of crossing the path of the Wilmington Ironman triathlon biking route.  Why the bridge wasn't closed off before the on-ramp is a mystery to me but at least we were not in a hurry to get somewhere.  Damon liked watching all the bikes.  It ended up being 2 hours on the bridge.  Damon took Owen to the Subway nearby to get some sandwiches for lunch.

November 2019

My biggest excitement for November was getting a new bike.  It is a custom build from the Bicycle Shop in Jacksonville by Jack Kane.  It is carbon fiber and about half the weight of my white bike from Spain.  It matches with Milton's trailer too.  We had 2 parades this month.  One for Veterans Day and the other Holiday Parade before Thanksgiving.  The Holiday parade was definitely better.  We parked in our chapel parking lot which worked out perfectly.  The best part about the Veterans Day parade was that they had a carnival afterwards.  The kids loved playing laser tag and getting to go inside the construction equipment. Damon and I went to the Marine Corps birthday ball which was fun to see everybody all decked out.  A bit of a scramble to get Damon's uniform ordered and fitted.  Thankfully I squeezed into an old dress I had from before Damon and I even met.  We love going bowling and we got 2 lanes, one for the kids and one for Damon and I.  The kids (with bumpers) got a better score than us! We have lots of room for improvement! The best part of November was that my mom came to visit for Thanksgiving week.  All of those pictures are in a separate blog post.