We're back from a trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Our whole family enjoyed spending time at the beach and our vacation home's private pool. We shared the home with my sister and her family and my mother and step-father. A good time was had by all!

On the road, we kept track of how many license plates from different states we saw. J really got into this as the trip went along, and then watched for them during our stay in OBX, even when we weren't on the road. We managed to see 39 states (inlcuding the District of Columbia) and 2 Canadian provinces! I was surprised at how many we saw. We even got some of the most difficult plates to spot--Alaksa and Hawaii! As we saw the different slogans on plates, we talked about what they meant. For example, Ohio's plate says "Birthplace of Aviation" because it's the home of Wilbur and Orville Wright. North Carolina's plate says "First in Flight" because that's where the actual flight took place (not far from where we stayed). J was unimpressed by the fact that the original flight lasted only 12 seconds. Ah, 12 year olds--so jaded when all they've ever known is boatloads of technology.

Since we were near Roanake, we also talked about the Lost Colony. This was something J studied in school in 5th grade, so I had to jog her memory a bit, but it came back to her eventually. If you're near the OBX, you can visit the theater production "The Lost Colony" which tells the story. www.thelostcolony.org. We did this several years ago, and it's a very good production.

On our way home, we stopped at the National Museum of the Marine Corps (www.marineheritage.org) in Quantico, VA. My husband is a former Marine, and he's wanted to visit the museum since it opened. I will admit that we did not spend near the amount of time there we would have liked and that a place like this deserves. This was due to 2 hungry kids who are female and really not all that interested in Marines, guns, and airplanes. But if you have a boy (of any age!) in your life who is into this stuff, this is the place for you.

The museum is really beautiful. The outside is sort of a slanted pyramid shape, which is the shape of the Iwo Jima memorial in Washington DC. The exhibits are laid out in a chronological order, starting with the Revolutionary War and going through present day. I learned that the Marines are called "Leathernecks" because of the thick leather collar on their original uniforms, which protected them from sabres. There's also a neat exhibit that takes you through Marine Corps basic training. You can spot the problems in a recruit's dress uniform, lift a backpack, get hollered at by a drill instructor on a recording, and try your hand at a mock firing range (admission to the museum itself is free, but there was a nominal charge to do the firing range activity).

Obviously, there's a lot of war material here, but my 6 year old wasn't phased by any of it. Granted, she is a bit young to understand everything yet, but the museum displays are effective but not overly graphic. There is even a table staffed by volunteers where kids can draw pictures of their favorite Marine, or just do a patriotic drawing. Several of their works were hung on display in this area. We hope to return someday when we have a bit more time to really take in the displays and get to the ones that we missed this time around. Now my husband is running around the house saying, "ooh rah!" and other Marine sayings. This trip surely brought out his inner jarhead (military speak for Marines).

Hope all you LancMoms are enjoying your summer and spending great times with your families! Thanks for reading!