Jun 18, 2012 - Sam's Entry: Manassas To Washington DC

Today we went to Manassas. There soldiers fought the Battles of Bull Run I and II, where the northern soldiers got their butts kicked. The battle field looked like a park and except for the cannons you would never think there was a battle there. I saw a re-creation of a house on the battlefield where Judith Henry, an old lady died. She was the only civilian death of Bull Run 1. I felt amazed by being on this historic battlefield. After looking at the battlefield we drove to Washington DC. First we went to Ford’s Theater where Abraham...

Jun 16, 2012 - Jill's Entry: A day with family

Today, we got a chance to the tour the Dismal Swamp and learned all about this incredible state park and its wildlife. Later, I had the chance to eat a great lunch with Rhonda and concluded the evening with a wonderful cousin gathering. I have had the chance to enjoy life within the warmth of extended family. It’s pretty cool. Jill

Jun 16, 2012 - Dan's entry: Thank's to our Virginia Family

Wow, The cousins have been taking good care of us. Mike (who sits on equivalent of the Suffolk city council) learned about a tour opportunity for the Dismal Swamp. With so many of us going the clan fill tour van so we got a "private tour". The Dismal Swamp is largest Nation refuge on the east coast. From their we went home and relaxed for a few hour riding various motorized vehicles, packing and getting ready for a feast. Mike and Fran were great hosts. Jill and I agreed that it was so special to spend time with the family. Thanks Aaron,...

Jun 16, 2012 - Cole's Entry: A Dismal Day

Our last day at the cousin’s house! We woke up relatively early, and went to this cool natural preserve called the Dismal Swamp. We went on a private tour set up by Cousin Mike, because we needed room for Abby’s friends we had our own van. The tour lasted a while, and we saw lots of interesting things, but eventually we went back. Amazingly, we had practically nothing to do for the rest of the day, so we chillaxed back at the house until dinner. Where there was a major feast that all the relatives came to. After dinner we got to ride ATV’s...

Jun 16, 2012 - Cosmo's Entry: The last day in Suffolk

Today was a good day. First we took a tour of the Dismal Swamp where I learned that a colony of runaway slaves lived for 200 years. Then we went back to Suffolk where we hung out for a few hours. After that, I was invited to go shooting a my cousin's house. There I met up with Mitch and Becky. Mitch owned two handguns and I got to shoot targets a few times. After we were done, Mitch let me take a few used bullets and two live bullets. After we were done shooting, we went to cousin Mike's house where we had a family dinner with all the...

Jun 15, 2012 - Dan's Entry: At the Outer Banks

Mike brought home a huge passenger van last night. Large enough for everyone. We met Becky and Mitch at the dealership in the morning and all nine of us (Becky, Mitch, Mike, Fran, Cole, Sam, Cosmo, Jill and me) headed out for the beach. Along the way we pit stopped at a small gift shop at the beach which featured art from our cousin Toni (Becky's son). From there we visited the Wright Monument. Wow, how inspirational! The Wright brothers epitomize the American drive to achieve. Their success was rooted in a multi year endeavor with plenty...

Jun 15, 2012 - Jill's Entry: Nagshead - Beautiful

A visit to Nagshead, North Carolina was supposed to be a beach day, but high winds sent us in another direction. Instead, we had an inspirational tour of the Wright Brothers Memorial and learned how hard the Wright Brothers worked to make flight a reality, how they wanted to give up, and how Neal Armstrong carried a piece of the Wright Brothers’ plane with them when he walked on the moon. Later, we walked up the huge Jockey Ridge sand dunes and felt the wind buffeting sand grains on our ankles. We got a chance to eat soft shell crabs for...

Jun 15, 2012 - Cole's Entry: Outer Banks, Out of this world!

Today we had a lot of fun. We drove to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, 2 hours away. Once there we went to the Wright Memorial, and learned about Wilbur and Orville Wright, and their attempts to create a plane. We went to the top of a hill, where a monument dedicated to them was built. It was so windy, I wished I had a jacket so that I could spread it out and glide down by jumping! (Side note to Kennis Booker: Remember? :D) Afterwards, we went to these cool sand dunes; they were the tallest in the East Coast! We climbed up to the top,...

Jun 15, 2012 - Cosmo's entry: To North Carolina we go..

Today we went to the Wilber and Orville Wright brother's memorial in North Carolina. The memorial was interesting -- 60 years after the first airplane flight, we walked on the moon. It was very windy that day. While we were at the memorial, we saw a model of the airplane the Wrights flew. After visiting the memorial, we went to the Black Pelican Restaurant where we had lunch with most of the Duman family. I tried calamari and soft shelled crab for the first time. After we were done with that, we drove and visited the biggest sand dunes in...

Jun 15, 2012 - Sam's Entry: Visiting the Horse's Head

Today my cousins took us to Nagshead, NC. First we went to my cousin Toni’s art gallery. We also went to the Wright memorial. We started with the museum. They actually had a piece of the original plane. After that we went outside. We saw the rail that the first heavier-than-air flight started on. After that we saw the monument. It had two bronze statues of Wilber and Orville. Next we went to a restaurant called The Black Swan, I tried calamari and soft shell crab and they were AWESOME. Still later we went to the tallest sand dune in North...

Jun 14, 2012 - Jill's Entry: Blustery Virginia Beach

It was an uncharacteristically blustery day in Virginia Beach. The plan was to take the boys to the beach to check out what the Atlantic Ocean felt like. Unfortunately, the red flags were out, indicating unsafe high surf. What to do? Dan rented a surrey and took Bradleigh, Cole, Sam, and Cosmo for a bike ride while couisin Fran and I checked out the annual art show. After perusing the goods, all of us piled into the surrey for a fabulous ride down the boardwalk. We verbally “beeped” those who obstructed our way. We ended up at Costco and...

Jun 14, 2012 - Sam's Entry: A bicycle built for eight

Today we went to Virginia Beach. On the way we stop at a southern restaurant chain called Chic-Fill-A where the cows try to get you to “eat more chickun”. We were going to go swimming and hang out on the beach, but the waves were huge. And there were “red flags” (closed beach). So instead we rented a surrey, which is a four wheeled bicycle for up to 8 people. We rode around the area, but I couldn’t reach the peddles, and neither could Bradleigh my cousin, so we got to ride as passengers. Unfortunately, Cosmo kept ramming us against the...