Travelog for: Mara-Joy

Today was Ballet Cindy's birthday and I still am very excited.  I travelled here for her surprise birthday party.  We played games and had a beautiful birthday cake. 

First we played "Pin the Horns on Smooch".
Buzz Lightyear turned each of us around, "1..., 2..., 3...."
Then, shouts of "The other way" and "Turn right," until the player pinned the horns on Smooch.
Smooch now has extra sets of horns and should never have problems while in traffic.

Then we played "Musical Chairs".
We walked around the chairs while the band played a horn and when the music stopped, we rushed to sit down. The player without a seat watched the next rounds. Sometimes more than one player tried to sit in a seat, sort of like cuddling.
Each round, there was one less seat until only one chair remained.

Ballet Cindy's birthday cake was a beautiful butterfly!
We sang,

"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Ballet Cindy,
Happy birthday to you."

And then she blew the candle out.
The cake was wonderful.

I rode Tee's bike this morning.  The wind whistled through my ringlets.  Then I looked inside Tee's school bus. 
I helped Gerdy garden this afternoon.  He's a man of few words and appreciated my ladylike ways.

Today was picture day at Tee's school.  3tmom took Ballet Cindy and me with her to school so we could get our photos taken.  I wished I had the beautiful outfit I wore at BunTraveler's house but realized it was too formal for school pictures.

We waited in line for a while. The students helped each other get ready and look their best.

Finally, it was our turn.  The photographer arranged our pose and took a picture.  The proofs will be back at school in a few weeks.

Wendy, we'll send you our school pictures when they come in.

Today, 3tmom and I discussed my pop star career.  We talked about the pros and cons of a high profile life with lots of travel, clothes, money, and groupies.  We decided we needed a professional consultation so we went to American Idol.
American Idol suggested I take private voice, theater, dance, and presentation classes. We'll look into those later.
American Idol also highly recommended Idol Camp 2008. Yeah! I registered right away.

This morning we visited a performance academy that offers everything I need: voice, instrument, and stage lessons.  I can start after I pay the registration fee.  3tmom says I need to show commitment by earning that money myself.  Maybe I can babysit... but not this weekend.  Ballet Cindy and I are going to a women's retreat in Nag's Head, North Carolina!

We're on our way to the Outer Banks (OBX), North Carolina. Ballet Cindy, 3tmom, and I are going on a retreat with lots of women.  We went over a bridge and through a tunnel and over a bridge, all called the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel.  We saw Navy boats.

The Outer Banks towns have strange names: Kitty Hawk, Duck, Nag's Head.  After we checked into our beachfront hotel in Kitty Hawk, we walked to the Atlantic Ocean beach.
The pier was fascinating, I wanted to surf underneath.

We skipped down the beach, picking up seashells and trying to catch tiny crabs.  All we could see were little eyeballs and movement.
I have to tell you about Emma.  She is an energetic dog who loves to play on the beach.  She helped Ballet Cindy and me build our sand castle.
We washed the sand off our legs and feet after we left the beach.

We checked out the pool and a dolphin statue next.  We saw dolphins leaping near the beach but we couldn't get a photo, they were sooo quick.

Ballet Cindy and I looked at fish in the hotel lobby aquariums while the women attended a meeting.  The fish were really fascinating.  The Dogface Puffer and another fish looked like they had dentures.  Ballet Cindy and I played hide-n-seek with the fish.

Ballet Cindy and I went sight-seeing this morning because the women had another meeting. Three women from  the Aycock Brown Welcome Center helped us.
I looked at the map first to see where we were going.

Kitty Hawk is famous as the site of the first controlled powered flight in the world.  Wilbur and Orville Wright travelled from Ohio to Kitty Hawk for their flight.  Kitty Hawk has soft dunes to land on.

Next we climbed 268 steps to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  It is the tallest brick lighthouse in North America.