Ocracoke 2009 - Part II

July 25 - August 2, 2009. Walker family vacation at Ocracoke (Part II). Lincoln, two years 4 months. Baby brother, 17 weeks!!!

Ocracoke beaches are always beautiful.

Lincoln enjoying the view from the front seat of his Tonka truck.

Erik showed Lincoln how much fun it was to drive the truck through the surf. Or rather Lincoln is watching his daddy embrace his inner child.

All played out! Erik was seriously asleep in this picture. Unfortunately I missed the very priceless moment when the tide came in and gave Erik a sudden, but oh so refreshing awakening.

In keeping with tradition, my mom and dad joined us for the last few days of our island visit. Lincoln was thrilled to have his Nana and Daddy Tom at the beach.

I don't think my mom had been on the beach for 10 minutes before she had taken a dip in the ocean and was playing in the sand with Lincoln. Lincoln loved every minute of it and admittedly, Erik and I relished in the fact that we were no longer the center of Lincoln's attention.

Run, run, run...put your toes in the ocean and stomp on the bubbles.

Lincoln had fun making his Nana's legs disappear and crawling up the dunes with Daddy Tom.

Feeding the seagulls. On the day we decided to teach Lincoln how to feed the birds, it was super windy. Despite Lincoln's frequent tossing of old bread bits, only a few gulls stopped by to take his offerings.

One evening we headed into the village to see the lighthouse, walk along the harbor, and visit the park service visitor's center. Canadian geese keep company with the island seagulls, and Lincoln thought it was really fun to chase them. Apparently the geese are used to small children finding wonderment in their simple feeding habits, because despite all the chasing, they continued to hang around and allow Lincoln to get pretty close.

Note visible baby bump.

Ocracoke lighthouse, built in 1823, is the second oldest lighthouse in the U.S. in continuous service, and the oldest in North Carolina. It cost $11,359 to build and it is believed that an Indian village once existed at the site of the lighthouse. The small graveyard located directly behind the lighthouse is said to be haunted by the former Indian residents. The lighthouse stands sixty-five (65) feet tall, and rises seventy-five (75) above sea level. It is made of brick and plaster. At the base, the walls are five feet thick. It was originally equipped with a 3rd-order Fresnel lens, which was replaced with a 4th-order lens in 1854. The current lighting apparatus has 8,000 candlepower and can be seen from fourteen miles out to sea.

Lincoln found a friend near the lighthouse. Perhaps a reincarnate of an old soul from the Indian village. Or just a friendly cat. You decide.

Taking a bath in the campground under the watchful eye of Nana and Daddy Tom.

As you can see, when Lincoln hangs around his grandparents he tends to get pretty dirty. Lincoln is enjoying his own cup of chocolate pudding.

Going home on the Ocracoke ferry.

In Lincoln's words....Good-bye beach. Good-bye ocean. Good-bye Ocracoke. Good-bye this. Good-bye that.