July began right away with a road trip to take Joshua and a friend to Woodlands Camp in Georgia. It was a complicated scheme in which I dropped different kids with different relatives along the way so I wouldn't have all day in the car with all the children, but it went smoothly and I got them checked in just fine. I had decided to take the rest of the week to see some of my side of the family, so Gray, Allie and I hung with the Moores and were later joined by Matt, while Julia spent time with Mimi and cousin Carly, and then we all met up in Asheville on July 4th to see more family and switch out Gray and Julia and then finished up a few days with Jeannie before camp was over. Then I picked up camp kids and Matt took the rest of our kids home. Simple plan that makes perfect sense, right? For some reason, I had to explain these logistics to Matt and the kids on an almost daily basis.
Joshua and best bud Connor right before check in.
Impromptu early bday party for Allie at the Moores. Her reaction says it all.
Jeannie planned lots of fun things for us to do, like bowling at this fancy place.
Gray was totally obsessed with taking selfies on the scoreboard, which projected our faces onto animated characters like muscle men and grandmas on the big screen.
Just hanging in the yard.
We did a lot of pool time.
Having my family in all different places was a weird feeling. Felt like I was constantly checking in for news of those not with me. Thankfully camp posted some pics each day. Joshua looked to be doing well, but then we got some really sad news that on the second full day of camp, his friend Connor got an appendicitis and had to go to the hospital for an operation, then home to recover.
Joshua did have 4 girls from school/neighborhood with him also and he managed to pull through the rest of the week with them, plus a few new friends from another cabin. He sure missed his partner in crime though.
We were so excited to meet the newest member of the family--my cousin's son Jude. Gray was particularly enamored and couldn't get enough of holding him.
We did a few small firecrackers/smoke bombs, had some great food, and sent all the kids to a nearby pool for awhile. Such a nice afternoon catching up with family!
We came back hoping to catch fireworks on Jeannie's neighbor's porch but it was storming a bit so they never materialized.
Joshua continued his adventures with zip lines, climbing, white water rafting, etc.
The last time I went to Clemson, I was really pregnant with Joshua and coming to a friend's wedding...14 years ago!! I was so happy to revisit the place that holds many great memories.
It was a terribly humid day, but the kids hung in there on our walk around campus for the most part. The highlight for them was the tiny frogs they played with outside the library.
Two Clemson girls! We were able to go in one building where we remembered often checking email in the computer lab there and going to Campus Crusade meetings.
Soon our week was at an end. Joshua had ice cream and donuts for breakfast at camp and then I picked up him and 3 of the girls to make the trek home. It was nice to see Joshua had bonded with these friends a little more over this trip. The ride back was a good chance for me to hear about their week. I didn't realize they had had no toilets! Joshua seemed to take the primitive conditions in stride and wants to go back next year.
After a few days at home, we hit the road again for Emerald Isle. We did a lot of beaching and game playing.
We hit up Matt's beloved Ben and Jerry's after dinner one night.
The small water park on the island was such a hit with the kids last time we went and this time Allie and I got to go as well. She did not want to slide too much but enjoyed it when I made her.
One morning, we headed to Beaufort for a boat cruise and stopped at Fort Macon on the way. You couldn't get in the water, but the morning was a little overcast and cool and the beach was fun to explore, as it was at the end of the island, had lots of shells, and looked a little different.
Another of our fun stories from the trip involved the bird above. We looked out while Matt was boogie boarding one day and noticed a bird that looked like it was riding the waves. So funny, we thought, and even funnier when we saw Matt getting the bird onto his board. Then it fell off and began to be pummeled by the waves as it came into shore and I got a little worried that this bird was really hurt and not going to make it. Nanny was brave and picked it up to put in the shade on the dunes while Julia faithfully attended it, bringing it water and peanuts. She was so concerned about it and I didn't know what to do. It seemed to have a broken leg and wing, poor guy. Then I remembered that my aunt Kathy would surely know what to do, as a local and sea turtle nest patroller. Well, she did and got the right people to come get it and take it to their wildlife rescue center. Whew.
Our last day with Matt, Nanny, and Pa was Allie's birthday. She was sooo excited, particularly about graduating to a 2 vitamin dose!
She has gotten so strong this year and has gone from barely walking any distance to pulling the wagon much of the several block walk to the ocean.
Our little one LOVES the beach. She did not once ask to go inside.
So Julia had been practicing hand stands like crazy and Allie wants to be just like her, so she started trying to hand stand too...and then Gray and Matt followed...and then poor Joshua went (pic above) and as he went over onto his back, he somehow landed on his face, making a huge scrape on his nose and lip and tiny shells stuck all over his face.
After nap we had a little party for Allie with a "nudicorn" cake, ice cream, and presents. Then Matt and his parents (oh, and the dogs) headed back to Hillsborough and two of my friends and their kids joined us.
Day 1 at the beach. We lined up all 11 kids and numbered them. That was so we could say, "I'm sending 3 and 4 down to you on the bikes." or "Looks like #9 is our only kid in the ocean right now."
The oldest ones were very helpful in wrangling the kids and keeping an eye out in the ocean. They seemed to enjoy their time together a lot.
This was an evening trip to the beach.
Moon's out. We got out the helicopter slingshots and they had lots of fun.
These two just read "Soul Surfer" and were pretty obsessed with trying to "surf".
Gray with his buddy Will. The kids spent a lot of time with their closest friends in the bunch, but we also had a nice mix of different combinations of kids hanging together too. So fun!
These two were so funny. They each had their moments of little kid drama, but enjoyed developing their friendship too.
Mom pic! It was a lot to get these kiddos ready for the beach, fed, cleaned, and to bed each day, but it really went pretty smoothly and we had some moments to sit and talk too, even if a lot of it was a bit late at night.
Last day on the beach! All a little tanner/redder, closer to each other, and more tired that when they arrived, but lots of memories made!
We got in a quick visit with our resident turtle expert, who answered a lot of questions for us. Thanks, Kathy!
Our last night, we walked down to get ice cream with everyone, pulling the littlest in a wagon. Then we maneuvered our crew through a crowded pier shop to get out on the long pier and enjoy a night walk. It was super windy but felt so good and everyone enjoyed.
We ended the night walking the 15-20 minutes back to the beach house via the beach, which was beautiful, with a large orange moon over the ocean and cool sand on our feet. Trying to find where to get off the beach was a little bit of a challenge, but we did it and it was a highlight for many of the kids.
The next morning we cleaned and headed home to get back for a visit from Mimi and GrandGene and a basketball game for Joshua. Unfortunately in the haze of getting resettled I did not take a single picture, but we did have a good time and enjoyed going swimming, playing games, and (for me, Mimi, and Julia) seeing the new Lion King movie.
And so that ends our summer travels as a family. Gray has camp coming up in Asheville, but otherwise, we will be sticking here in Hillsborough soaking up one more month of summer break!
