Beach Week 2014

We spent the second to last week of the summer at the beach, just our family.  The introvert in me loves it.  We so enjoyed our get away two summers ago and decided we could no longer live without an annual beach trip.  Most of these pics are the first half of the week (and the best half).  Mid way through, we left our camera somewhere & it wasn't there when we went back the next day (no surprise).  We assumed it was gone and were so sad to lose ALL of these great pics, let alone our camera. But thankfully, we got a call on Saturday with the name of the person who picked it up for us. After a trip through the mail, we are SO happy to have it back.

We spent the first morning on the beach.  Benny was a great sleeper for us on the beach. Most of the week, I took him down in the wrap and that was perfect.

 Girlie loved playing in the sand.

 We made several trips throughout the week to Currituck Heritage Park.   

(The pier in the background is where we left the camera.)

A storm came in.  So pretty to watch.  And it got crazy windy!

We are so glad to have Holly with us again this year.  She spent a month in Africa earlier this summer and brought the kids these gifts. :)

a bow & arrow for Peter

mama & baby dolls for Lily (that P is picking up by the head)

We enjoyed hearing about Holly's trip and seeing her pics.

Tuesday, the 19th, was MIKE'S BIRTHDAY!

We enjoyed celebrating him all day!

Lily is our little family party planner (gladly!).  She insisted we take things to decorate for his birthday.  So the tablecloth from Peter's pirate party.  When we went school supply shopping, we also had to get "party hats" and various other decorations.  Love this girl and her joy.

The birthday boy enjoyed a surf on his birthday and several other mornings.

His activity of choice was a trip to the NC Center for Wildlife Education.  Also in Currituck Heritage Park.  It was such a cool center.  I highly recommend it.  There was a fish feeding that we went to see.

Then Holly met us for lunch and she showed us around the area.  It is such a great area and was such a gorgeous day!

I love the way a vacation encourages their "friendship" with a sense of adventure together. They were just so excited about everything new.  They played and pretended so well together.  Here, they are sitting at the base of the bridge above and pretending their sticks are the levers to open and close the bridge.  I love their imaginations!

Oh, Benny Boy, you are such a little doll.

The party planner was back to work that eve on Daddy's brownie cupcakes.

She piped them with icing, then added sprinkles.

Aren't they pretty!

And we couldn't miss the prettiest time of the day at the beach. We all headed down after Holly was home from work and got to do a little surfing.  Holly was the photographer of the eve and we are so glad to actually have these pics after they were almost lost!!

 Peter's turn!

 Fun with glow sticks!!

 I love this pic!  It just epitomizes childhood summer- tan bodies, up past dark, glow sticks, and a surfboard at the beach!

We spent Wed on the beach.

I mean, this little man and the swirl of hair on the top of his head.

(He also had a back to school trim when the big kids got theirs.)

 The kids had the BEST time in the waves.  I think they were even too comfortable b/c of their life vests and had no healthy fear of the waves.  They had a blast together.  Therapy mom point of view: the beach is like a week long therapy session.

 Wed eve we went back to CHP.  The kids got dinner off of a food truck and then we let them get an ice cream from the ice cream truck. They thought it was great.  I am a sucker for some beach babes with their sun kisses faces and bleached out hair for the boy.

Hello Kitty doesn't have a face!  WHAT?!

 So these are our final pics before we left the camera.  The sunset was so gorgeous and all that our brains got a little foggy.

On Thursday, we scrambled around the find our camera- to no avail.  We were all a little grumpy but we tried to pull it together. We headed out to see the North Carolina Marionette Theatre as a distraction.  It was really cute... and impressive!  Thanks to Holly for cluing us in to all of these fun events!

 At the end of the show, they brought the characters out to meet the kids.  They were so little and cute and really did seem animated after watching them in the show. :)

 Black Beard had a seat in Peter and Lily's laps. :)

That eve we were spoiled by some time on the beach by ourselves thanks to Holly watching the kids!

 We had two more great days of time on the beach.

and an evening out for ice cream!
And for my own memory for future years....

We took all fresh prepared foods to just heat up each eve.  I loved the minimal amount of work- or just popping it in the oven.  Another favorite part for me is all of the JUNK FOOD we ate.  The kids want a candy bar on the beach?  Yes, of course, you can have a candy bar!  There something about baking in the sun and splashing in the waves (and feeding a baby) that makes you feel like you can eat whatever.  

I also loved the timing.  We were coming to the end of our rope with unscheduled time until school started.  It was so nice to have the extra time with Mike and as a family as a last hurrah to summer and to gather before school started.  We are thankful for the luxury of a week at the beach!

Until next year!  

(I don't even want to think about how big this little guy will be. Oh, Benny, we love you!)

Gymnastics Girl

Lily took a weekly drop-off gymnastics class this summer.

She really enjoyed it.  She loves physical things like this and I think she is pretty good at it!

The final week she got to go three times with re-arranging make up classes. She thought that was pretty great!

There was also the tumble track, trampoline, & "flying" that she loved.

I don't think I ever got to watch the class all the way through (baby to feed, errand to run) but this was the most impressive station to me.  I can't imagine being able to do that!  And they would hold it a whiiiile.... these genetics did not come from me, for sure!

 On the last day we went for Sweet Frog.  It was on our summer bucket list and hadn't done it.  She got cake froyo with marshmellow, sprinkles, & fruity pebbles for her "3 toppings", plus chocolate syrup.

 This guy was along too. :)

Lily's Tomato Plant

Around the time of Benjamin's birth, Paw bought Lily a tiny tomato plant. 

It was in a tiny container and sat on the table on our deck for weeeeks.  It nearly wilted to death many times.  Finally, maybe near the end of June, I finally transferred it to this pot, only 1/3 full with soil.  Then a few weeks later, I finally managed to buy more soil to fill the container.  Then we got serious about watering it.  

We've slowly and patiently waited for those tiny green tomatoes to grow and ripen.

Yesterday was the day that Lily finally got pick and eat her tomato.

She has lived up to her name and loves some tomatoes just like her namesake.

She enjoyed every bite possible.

Today she gave the 2nd and 3rd red tomatoes to our neighbor boys.

She's a generous one.

Ben: 3 months

This post dictated by Lily:

Benjamin is soooo cute!

Benjamin is chubby and sweet.

Mama loves those little hands.  They are so chubby.

Benjamin likes to swim in the pool.

Benny's laying.

 Snuggle Benny.

This is what I looked like at 3 months old.

 This is Peter.

Mama says:

Benny loves to coo & have little conversations & sweet interactions with us.  He enjoys experimenting with all the different sounds he can make.  He has discovered his hands and likes looking at them, holding them together, and sucking on them.  He is a great sleeper & usually does 6-8 hours stretches at night.  Although he has "woken up" & learned to cry when he's restless or bored, he is still a happy, easy baby.  Because he is a good day & nighttime sleeper, he still doesn't have an official schedule... just a general eat every 3 hours & the eat, activity, sleep routine.   I've noticed that he's more content when we are out and about.  (I think that may be true for all of us.)  So for now, we are enjoying the lack of needing an official schedule and will probably start that in a couple months when it seems necessary.  

RIver Adventures

We spent a week at the river house with my side of the family.

Sadly it rained a lot and there is a lot of coordinating involved in 6 kids and under.

But we made it out for one good day of water sports.

 Paw bought a "ski trainer" this season for the older kids.
Peter has impressed himself by standing up while tubing so Mike acted as water buffalo and let him try out the new equipment.  Easy Peasy.

 So off he went!

 Meanwhile, other cousins, aunts, and uncles crashed the tube.

John held on.

 A close up of the great support crew. :)

 And not to be outdone, Sister had to "ski" too, of course.  And that she did.  Up and down the river like there was nothing to it!  We are so proud of them!

 Maw and Benny Boy had a great time on the dock.  

Thanks for hosting us, Maw and Paw.  For cooking, baby sitting, supplying all kinds of water toys, and cleaning up after us!  We had a great time!

NY Adventures

Way back in early July, we had lots of fun adventures in NY.  M&C are always such great hosts & plan fun activities.  One day we took the train into NYC. 

 We wandered around Rockefeller Center

 and gazed into the Lego Store and admired the window displays.

 My favorite adventure was a treasure hunt.  

Uncle Matt made the kids maps and they followed the Hudson River down to here.  We entered through the lions, then made our way up an overgrown hill, 

 had beautiful views of the river,

 and discovered the amazing Untermeyer Gardens.

 The kids played and explored and we enjoyed a picnic lunch.

We drove home on Lily's birthday.  It was fun to have Liam ride home with us.  The kids did awesome and rocked that ride home.  No complaints, no extra stops, just driving.  We stopped for birthday donuts!

Throw Back Thursday

A few minutes ago, I looked at the date on my watch and realized its 8/7. Then remembered that was the date that Peter had his first seizure: 8/7/08.  Its burned in my memory.  Then a few minutes later saw a "#TBT".  So thought it was appropriate.

 Peter was 11 mo old and had his first fever- from his one and only ear infection.  We knew that he was bad off because he just laid on Mike like this- which was a rarity for him to be still.  His fever peaked at 103.8.  I was nursing him before bed when it happened.  Terrifying and yet you feel the presence of God in a particularly close way- maybe because you are simultaneously screaming at Him for help and wanting to add some curse words to the Curse.  

His first night in the hospital.  I am glad that we didn't know then what we know now.  Although, apart from the first few months when he began having non-febrile seizures, let it be said that this has been an easy and ideal epilepsy journey.  

*In unrelated news, its been a great summer.  I've enjoyed it and its clipped by quickly & with a good balance.  But this week the kids are driving me crazy.  It helps make the going to school thing easier.