Best of the Beach

We have had a wonderful, long time away at the beach. It has been so nice to have a change of scenery and to feel that we have nothing to do but play and eat. We crammed three beach trips into one over the last week and a half: first, my family all came down, then a friend and her kids, and then Matt’s parents. Each segment has been different from the other and very much enjoyed. Here are some of the highlights...

Part One:

Extremely windy and foamy beach afternoon on Day 1. The cousins split into those that prefer being industrious and those that just wanted to embrace the sensory experience. 

We love a good walk to get ice cream!

Day 2 was a fun one!  We drove over to Beaufort and took a boat out to Bird Shoals island. 

Little girl on a big beach. She has loved being here, especially playing in the sand and water, which is one of her favorite things to do at home on a smaller scale. 

It was low tide and we could walk really far out into the water and feel tons of sand dollars under our feet! Most were alive but we brought home a few of the white ones, which mostly got broken later. 😞

We were having so much fun, we asked the boat to come back later for us...and most of us ended up with a sunburn.  Not pictured- Mama and Daddy took a loooong walk and finally found the wild horses on the island. 

Beach games! We made some putt putt holes on the beach...

And played a homemade beach corn hole game. 

The Leightons completed the cousin crew. They had a great time together and spent a lot of time enjoying the waves. They played a lot at the house too...Rook plus games they made up like throwing things up to the balconies (even GrandGene got in on this one) and “Beach House Dash”, which I think has an element of hide and seek. 

Cousin love. 

And uncle love. Allie enjoyed being silly with her uncles and giving them inappropriate nicknames. 🤣

Allie loved playing with Mimi in the water and thought it was hilarious when a wave made her fall down. 

We did get a sighting of Aunt Kathy, who later found a sea turtle nest right by where we set up on the beach every day. 

We did putt putt and split up into girls and boys. 

Then we came back together for go karts. 

We made the cousins all play spoons!  

This little girl was such a rock star, missing her nap most of the time. This day she just couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. 

So nice to have my family here, catch up, and just be “normal” again!

Thankful for my sisters!!

 Part Two:

The day my family left, the Mussers arrived. We did early dinner and spent the evening on the beach. 

The next day we got a little too much sun but loved our time in the sand and ocean. 

The older kids hung out in the water for a lot of the time. 

These sisters have gotten a lot of time together too...on the beach and doing “photo shoots” with Julia’s camera in the beach house. 

And the littlest ones had the best time in the sand and the edge of the water. They were pretty adorable and even had some conversation like “So Allie, I hear you’re going to kindergarten!”

We finished up our last night with a walk to ice cream and the pier. We saw tons of jellyfish on the way home via the beach. 

Part Three:

Matt came back the day the Mussers left and we had a nice walk on the beach with Raven. 

We found these beautiful Portuguese Man O Wars on our walk. 

Nanny and Pa joined us. Gray was worn out and did some sleeping in his hole while Pa and Joshua played. 

The girls were cold and made a fort to rest in. 

Joshua and I made a castle. 

We ended the night with more putt putt and go karts. 

Almost time to come home and back to reality...or whatever alternate reality we have been living these past few months. Time moves a little differently at the beach, but it still marches on and brings all sorts of changes with it. While we were away, the kids missed their end of year drive through events and it’s now officially summer.  Joshua is on his way to high school and will take driver’s ed next week.  Now we will try to just enjoy our summer and watch and wait for how the next phase of quarantine life will work!

Week 11- Getting Out Again...well, a little bit

Well, our glorious spring is gone and this week was either rainy, hot, or humid, or all three, but we are trying to make the most of it.  Other than working on filling in low places on the patio (which isn't really working so we will probably just call it good enough!), my projects have really wound down, which is perfect timing for our upcoming beach trip.  I don't mind a rainy day with a good book at all, but really would like the library to open soon, as we are running out of resources!  Since NC officially moved into Phase 2 of quarantine, we decided to slowly adjust our lives to and got out a little bit this week, among other new activities and same, old, same old....

Speaking of same old things...Allie got in some couch snuggles and tv with Matt this week with all the rain.

On our first really hot day in awhile, the girls and their buddies put together a homemade water park in the yard...plastic boxes were their pools and you should have heard the squeals of delight at the gymnastics mat "slip n slide".

Allie wanted in on the weightlifting.  She knows what to do!

We had such a nice time at Nanny and Pa's for a Memorial Day lunch.  The food was great and it was wonderful to sit and talk with the family.  We were just missing Emoni to have the complete crew.

The Cameron Park teachers planned a parade through all the students' neighborhood.  The girls did some chalk art and waited excitedly for them to come.  And waited.  And waited.  We eventually heard the horns coming but sadly, though our street was listed as a parade route and many students live by us, they turned halfway down the street and the girls had to run down to the end of the block, only able to catch the end of it.  We are over it now, but at the time, it was so frustrating that no one told us the plan.

More chalk work-- Julia and Addie, renamed "Ava" and "Eva", a safe 6 feet apart, of course.

Julia needed swimsuits so she and I went shopping on one rainy afternoon.  Besides the strawberry picking right outside our neighborhood, this was her first time out of the neighborhood for her since March 13.  She was pretty excited.  We just planned to go to Target and it was my first experience waiting in line to get in, but their selection was minimal so we headed to Old Navy.  I think it was love at first sight.  She found perfect suits and had the hardest time decided what to spend her $10 on.  So many possibilities.  I see Old Navy giftcards on her Christmas list this year.  :)  It was nice to have some time with just her.  

Then it was Allie's turn to get out and boy was she pumped.  She got all dressed up and was disappointed that only I could join her because clearly no one else would want to miss the pure joy of going to.....the dentist.  "It's a special day for both of us!  Twinsies!" She said, to acknowledge my own inevitable thrill at getting to be the one to take her.  She did a great job there and was super excited to find out she can go back in a few weeks to get some stuff painted on a back tooth.  Sighing contentedly that afternoon, she laid her head on my shoulder and told me, "I wish I could go back to my dentist right now."  May we all be so blessed.  :)

After days of staring at computers for schoolwork, we decided to get away from the screens and have a family night in the loft.  There was air hockey, darts...

...music and dancing...

...some wagering of screen time between the boys (Gray won it all)

...and some learning to crochet.  

Not pictured on this family night:  arguments, tears, sassiness, and ending on a bad note.

A highlight of everyone's week was our adoption group being able to get back together.  Only 4 families, but we are 25 strong so we couldn't gather until the Phase Two 25 person limit came out.  We assembled four areas to eat lunch...

...then everyone took off playing frisbee, football, chase...

...and climbing trees.  Most of the younger kids were really into this.  Both this pictures are of fearless Gray, who claims he doesn't like heights, but "climbing is different!"

Such a good afternoon being outside and with friends like old times!  It was so good for the kids especially.  Thankful for Phase 2 and looking forward to Phase 3 and normal-er life.  

An eventful and rainy Week 10

This week seems like it lasted a month.  I think part of that was the days and days of rain, which had my kids so crazy.  I knew they were spending a lot of time outside but I didn't fully appreciate it till that wasn't an option.  And then after the rain, we had a theme of mud.  Mud on white sweaters, multiple pairs of muddy shoes, muddy towels that retained said mud and an earthworm post-laundering, muddy floors, mud cakes and pies, muddy deck, muddy bathroom, you name it.  I just kept telling myself that this is so healthy for the girls' brains to get all this creative sensory outdoor time.

We had a lot going on this week.  Some exciting news- Matt was offered a daytime, weekday job at UNC.  As I was vacuuming the guest room where he sleeps during the day, I was pondering taking down those blackout curtains that make the room cavelike in the day, not having to creep around being quiet, soon having no nappers (Allie takes one maybe every other day), no rushed dinners and evenings of just me and the kids, being more free on weekends, and most importantly, Matt being able to get enough sleep.  We are thankful!

A big transition- I finished my job at BCP.  I cleaned the class on Monday and saw most of the kids in the parking lot, then said final "I love you! Have a great summer!" on Wednesday zoom.  Which was so strange so say that, end the meeting, and sit in my empty office trying to process the end of this chapter.  It was such a great job for me.  I really never dreaded work, was able to teach what I wanted, had some really great kids, and learned that I belong in the classroom.  My favorite part was reading and learning with the kids during our carpet time.  I will miss it.  But I'm hopeful that my new job will be just as great for me...whenever I get to start it, which is as up in the air as everything is these days.

Something weird- My occasional fluttery heartbeat had been getting more frequent over the last month or so and then last weekend became almost constant, even keeping me up at night.  So I went and got an EKG.  So weird to be at the doctor and see no other patients.  I'm now wearing a heart monitor for another week or so to try to figure out the trigger, though the doctors are confident it's nothing serious.

More yard work!  We refinished the surface of the patio before the rain, then had a few days of rest, then built a wall and did plants and mulch.  Many long days of work, but I do love a good project.

We also played some board games this week and the kids continued to enjoy outside time with friends.  The tennis court reopened and the boys have enjoyed that.  Gray continues to find creative ways to get soaking wet while on a bike ride/creek walk.  And I'm currently listening to the girls and their constant companions squealing with delight in their homemade water park in our yard.

And keeping me going this pandemic, my unexpected bonus in all this-- the cul-de-sac zumba.  Love it so much.  Surprised and happy this week to have a long-lost friend I hadn't seen in years join us, who is a sister of a new friend in the neighborhood.