vacation with my mama.

My mom and stepdad came to visit us last week.  We did lots of sightseeing in Charleston last weekend.  Pictures with actual people can be seen at megsandbens.  Here are a few of the pretties:

From the ferry to Ft Sumter.

Visiting Ft Sumter.

So there was this little spot at Ft Sumter that was so spooky!  To my left was a pitch-black... something.  Maybe a hallway?

To find out what was back there, I took a picture.  I was just sure a ghost would light up in the flash!  Luckily, this is what I got:

One of the beautiful churches in Charleston.  Isn't it funny how the spanish moss looks kinda blue?

A funny barkless tree.

I loved the trees in Charleston.  This one is a Palmetto, I think.

Another amazing church.  Don't the trees look so pretty against the blue sky?

Charleston is such a beautiful city!  It was so much fun to explore it a little with my mom, Mark and Ben.

Bryner Vacation!

This last week, my mom and step-dad came to visit us here in NC.  We really enjoyed their visit and got to do some sightseeing with them.  We went to Charleston over the weekend and saw Fort Sumter.  Here we are on the ferry:

Ft Sumter.

Pretty churches in Charleston.

We also spent some time in downtown Fayetteville (NC), looking at the cool old buildings.  And we visited the Airborne & Special Operations Museum, where I tried to stare down the wax soldiers.

It was such a great week and we were so grateful to get to spend time with my mom and Mark during the holidays.  : ) 

YOAFF!

As Air Force acronyms go, this one takes the cake.  YOAFF: Year of the Air Force Family.  Love it.  Rolls right off the tongue.  Last week was full of activities at Pope to celebrate.  We attended a kick-off party Monday, a fun walk on Tuesday, a free showing of Monsters vs Aliens on Wednesday, and a couple of talent shows at the end of the week.  Busy busy...  but a lot of fun!

These pictures came from the kick-off party on Monday.  I had to scan them in, so the originals look much better than this.  I'll be framing them for sure.

Happy YOAFF everyone!  Ha!

Halloween!

This year we got to spend Halloween with some fantastic friends.  Ben was excited to dress up 'goth' again.  He added a mohawk this year.  Here he is mid-transition.

At the Jacksons', we first carved pumpkins.

 

 

Ben and Cameron had a Monster Egg hunt before Trick or Treating.  Cameron won!

Our pumpkins turned out so well!  Ben's scary skelleton was extra tricky to carve, but he created a work of art!  My spooky tree was carved out of a small white pumpkin.  Different, but very good!

Tiffany, Sarah and I handed out candy while Ben, Douglas, Cameron, and Lillie went Trick or Treating.  Then we sipped cider and ended the evening with a game of Settlers of Catan.  We're so fortunate to have such fun friends here!

Lillie's Halloween.

Lillie played a lot of dress-up this year.  She was very excited to spend Halloween with us at a friend's house, so she insisted on wearing costumes. 

For funsies, we made her into a dalmation with black hair spray just before her bath.  Oh, and the ribbon around her neck... It was a medal Ben won at the Pope Olympics last month, but she loves it and wears it all the time.

We found doggie costumes on sale at Petsmart for $2, so we couldn't resist.  She started out as a firedog.

But the big Trick'r'Treat event called for something a little more extravagant.

Lillie had a fantastic Halloween this year.  She loved playing at the Jacksons' house and gracefully accepted the 'ooos' and 'ahhs' from her adoring fans on the Trick or Treating circuit with Ben, Douglas, and Cameron. 

Flamingo Cake.

Ben had a going-away party for a lady he works with today. She loves flamingos, so last night Ben and I made her a cake. Here's how it went, step-by-step.






Ben was so proud of his finished piece of art. Looks pretty sweet, huh?

Corn Maze!

Saturday we went to a corn maze with some friends from Ben's squadron.


JP, me & Ben, the Botinellis, the Jacksons, the Springs, and Lillie. That's right... we brought the dog. And she LOVED it!

Katie Spring and me on the lookout bridge.

Thanks again to Sarah Jackson for coming up with such a great fall activity! It was so much fun!

The Outer Banks.

I have been DYING to see the outer banks since before we moved to North Carolina. I even planned out the perfect weekend trip a few months ago, in hopes we would make it happen. So we decided to take the trip last weekend.

After Ben got off work, we hit the road for the 4 hour road trip. These were my passengers for most of the trip:


We got to Rodanthe and set up camp around 11pm. I'd been seeing lightning on the drive out and the rain was just starting, so we hurried and set up camp to beat the storm. We woke up at 2am to the weirdest sensation... our tent was FLOATING in about 6 inches of water. I poked my head out of the tent and realized our campsite was bowl-shaped and completely flooded. I nudged Ben and said something like 'we've gotta get our stuff out of here before the water starts coming into the tent!' He, of course, thought it was a cool water bed and tried to go back to sleep.

Once I convinced him to wake up, we moved the bedding into the back of our car and slept there. It was actually more comfortable than I expected. There were a few casualties of the great flood: all our clothes for the weekend were drenched (pretty much everything was soaked) and even after I tried to dry it out, my phone was ruined.

But we couldn't let that dampen (get it?!?) our vacation. We headed out first thing to start exploring. We found some fun pirate stores, since Blackbeard hung out in that area.



Saturday morning we headed south through the Cape Hatteras Seashore, took a ferry, and spent a few hours at Ocrakoke. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed, so we couldn't climb it.

The Ocrakoke Lighthouse.

That afternoon, we headed back north to climb the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in the United States and the tallest brick lighthouse in the world. It is 208 feet tall and requires a climb of 268 steps to reach the top. Beautiful views.



After the rough night before and climbing the tallest lighthouse in the country, we were beat for the day. So after some tasty foil dinners, we slept like rocks.

Sunday morning, we headed out for more fun!

Love the giant chairs we found!

We stopped by the Bodie (pronounced body) Island Lighthouse, which was closed for climbing...


...then Fort Raleigh, site of the first English Colony in America in the late 1500s, on Roanoke Island...

...then the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. Lillie especially liked this stop.

Last stop was at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse in Corolla. This was my favorite lighthouse to climb. The inside was beautiful and mostly original, with exposed brick walls and amazing floors.

You know it's a great weekend when your legs are sore for days afterward. :)

Little Benny got a bike!

Ben sent his dad on a mission to find him the perfect motorcycle, and he came through like always! It's a Suzuki Boulevard s50 and I think Ben is in love! This is our newest addition:

We'll be meeting Ben's parents and siblings at his sister's house in Texas for Christmas, so they'll bring it down for us then. Ben is already plotting ways to get it here sooner...

Isn't it pretty?

Girls Night.

Last night I went out with some friends for Krysta's birthday dinner. It was so much fun, having tasty food and fantastic conversation.

Aren't we a good-looking group of ladies? Happy birthday Krysta!

Buff for the Weekend.

We were so lucky to have Buff the dog stay with us this weekend while her family played at Busch Gardens in Virginia. Lillie was so happy to have a friend around, even if Buff couldn't quite keep up. :)