happy sunday

Great morning at church, lunch out, a perfect hike around a beautiful lake, a swim and pizza and homemade gooey butter cake with friends.
Oh, and this big kid in the middle here?










It's his birthday. :)






We love you so much Birthday Boy.
Long story short, we are the luckiest to have you and are so very thankful to celebrate you and the day you were born!


Oh, and sorry to say it, but from the looks of all the candles on the cake tonight, I guess you're not such a kid anymore:


;)

i fear change

It's weird for me to admit that, because I like to think that I like change.
I like new things, changing things up, rearranging, new adventures...
But.
I've realized.
I like it to be on my terms.
Things that I want to change.
Not things that I'm perfectly happy with.

We got new house phones yesterday.
(yes we are living in the last century and still have a house phone. I feel safer with it. I like the 911 aspect, the fact that we always have a phone around even if I don't know where my cell phone is, and the fact that my kids can talk to their friends and not have to give out my cell phone number as theirs. :) )
Problem is, I was perfectly happy with our old phones. In fact, the last time we had to replace our phone, years back, we bought the same exact set as the previous ones. I liked it. I was used to it.

Now we got these new ones and they just look... so.... so......
New.
And it doesn't fit right on my shelf and it doesn't blink to let us know there's a new voicemail and I have to actually program them and blah blah blah blah blah. I seriously found myself bothered yesterday by these new phones. And I don't know how many times I thought to myself, I just want it to be like the old ones.

And I realized I do the same with lots of stupid little things like that.
When I have a foundation/concealer/mascara/substitute any make-up product here that I love... never fails that the next time I go to replace it, it's no where to be found. It's been replaced with the next bigger and better thing. So I buy something else. And don't like it as much and simmer about it almost every time I use said item.

I'm not sure why I let it bother me so.
Why do they always think newer=better??
I'm not sure why I complain about it so much and for so long.
Why can't they just leave a good thing alone??

I do it with kids' games too. Oh, big time.
All the classic things we loved as kids... they have to go and mess with them and try to make them "new and improved" and it drives me crazy. Everything has to be flashy and electronic -I'm looking at you Guess Who, Life and Monopoly- or just made cheaper -yes, you, Battleship-. They couldn't even leave a simple game like Connect Four alone. The Lite-Brite, the real classic Big Wheels... they have to keep changing it up until it's just a sorry imitation of what was a great toy.

And then I realize feel like an old fogey... "goshdarn all these these kids and all their new fandangled gadgets!"

...

So.
How do you feel about change?

what's on this week

on the floor:





(it's a more than a little disarming to me when I see a certain little girl's shoes creeping closer and closer to the size of my own!)



on the grill:







(apple crisp, by the way.
on the grill.
yum.)




on the table:





















on the wall:





















on the ball:














What's on around you today?

fall cleaning, a bed and an upcoming anniversary

This is the week of Fall Cleaning around here.
I have so many projects I want to do, but like I said before, with my newfound ADD when it comes to my time spent alone now during the week, instead of getting a good balance of lots of chores and lots of projects done... I'm really getting a lot nothing done.
So I'm trying to ignore the project ideas (at least for a couple of days) and get some deep cleaning done around here.
It's only 10:30 in the morning and I've managed to clean (DEEP clean, purge and organize) our bathroom, our closet, both the kids rooms and closets and the office. Pretty proud of myself for being on such a roll!
But this is how I have to do things, for now anyway. If I can get a,b and c done, then I'll allow myself to do x,y and z (read: fun stuff).

And my only motivation for cleaning up the office is because that room's on the top of my list for the projects! I get to do this week when I'm done cleaning.

Ryan and I built our second ever piece of furniture this past weekend. [The first was a storage ottoman we made when we were first married.] Last weekend we made a bed and I am so stupidly excited about it!

You see, we have a four bedroom house, but with a "bonus room" upstairs as well. We use that bonus room as our guest bedroom because what is technically the fourth bedroom is a tiny little room, like not even 10x10, with a walkthrough closet that adjoins the master bedroom. It's perfect for a nursery or an office, but not a great guest room.
We use it as our "office", however we would like it to also double as a second guest room now and then (as you witnessed this summer, it comes in quite handy!) not to mention being a possible landing place for a future foster/additional child in our family.
Other than our desk, we have had no furniture in that room and I've been trying to figure out how to make it a comfy room with a sitting/sleeping space, not only with severe size restrictions, but without spending $$.
Due to the layout and size of the room, our desk/computer is in a nook by the window in one corner of the room and that leaves basically one wall for a small bed. A SMALL BED. As in, even with a headboard, a regular twin sized bed doesn't fit there. So I've had my eye out for awhile for a small futon. Not even a regular size futon, but a mini. As in smaller than a twin bed when it's layed out. I hemmed and I hawed but I could never quite bite the bullet and spend the $100+ to get one that I knew would be so small and probably not all that comfortable to sit on, let alone for anyone to sleep on.

Fast forward to two weeks ago; I was at a local thrift store and they had a whole wall stacked with dorm mattresses for $20 each. My first thought was "dorm matresses?? ew." but the $20 price wouldn't stop chiding me so I eventually made my way over and looked them over. They were vinyl covered, not a loud, uncomfortable plasticky vinyl, but just vinyl enough to not be cloth. Meaning they seemed more sanitary. And while a few had spots/stains here and there, there were actually a handful that looked really clean. And they were full and comfy. So I talked to Ryan about it and brought him back later that weekend and we threw one in the car. Score!
So now we had a mattress, and I was on a serious hunt for a bed. Problem was, anything we found on craigslist or anyplace else for cheap, wouldn't fit in our room. The mattress alone was pretty much exactly the length of the wall itself. So I started looking for platform beds... but that was still going to cost $150 or more. Not excited about that.
And then I kept thinking... a platform bed is so simple. Why can't we just make one ourselves??
So I consulted the amazing Ana's website, and zero'ed in on this plan. We obviously tweaked the measurements, as we were going for a twin sized bed and not a toddler bed, and we left off the backboard, but essentially, those were the basics of our plan. We bought all the wood and a box of screws for about $30.








We measured our mattress, made a frame, slapped on some slats, upcycled some legs from a bookshelf base we no longer use, added a "skirt" over the frame and within an hour and a half on a Saturday morning, ta-da!...







we have a new daybed! Something that actually fits in the room to hang out on or sleep an extra guest on. It's comfy and sturdy and it only cost us a total of about $50, bed+mattress!!












Here's a peek at the bed, but I'm going to wait and show you full pictures when the room is all put together.








I'm also upcycling a hutch/shelf and planning to get some painting done this week as well as some homemade artwork and then hopefully this room will be d-o-n-e and I can share it with y'all. I'm excited!!

With this office done, we will be soclose to being completely done with the whole house, (okay, is it ever really done?!) and my personal little lofty goal is to have the entirety of our rooms decorated, done and presentable to do a little bloggy home tour next month. Which marks the one year anniversary of being in this house.
Wow. Next month-- a year.
On one hand, I can't believe everything we've done in a year. (not to mention the fact that it's even been that long!)
On the other hand, it feels really good to say we're about done. To say that we've taken this house from one of the drearyest, boringest, plainest houses I've ever seen, one that we were really none too excited about... and filling it with light and warmth and comfort and inspiration and letting it become ours. The fun thing is, the majority of my decorating has been reusing, recycling, recreating or making from scratch. And the funny thing is, most of it is so (I think) different from our houses before. And yet this is the first time I really feel like a house is ours. That it truly feels like us.
It makes me happy.
And I'm excited to share it with you!

the first week

sI'm still processing this whole "stay at home mom alone" thing.
On the one hand; peace! and quiet! and I can do whatever it is I want whenever it is I want to! and I can get so. much. accomplished.

But on the other hand; no babies here. :(

The truth is, it's been a long week making the transition back to our school routine. Mostly highs, not too many lows, overall it was actually a great week, but definitely long! And I'm still praying for peace as we settle into our new routines.

Honestly the kids are doing great. Other than being a bit extra tired by the end of the week (throwing in a late night with church small group and another evening of babysitting friends didn't help the tired situation!) both kids have had a fabulous first week of school.
Savannah loves her class and her new teacher and has taken on life as a third grader just fine.
Sawyer is LOVING school, eagerly telling me lots of what they're doing all day... "I did so much fun things today Mom!". He's come home with papers showing he's written a ton more this week than I struggled and battled and bribed him to do the entire summer, copying complete (small) paragraphs and filling in blanks and sounding out/spelling words himself. And happily! (and proudly!) He LOVES the work at school. Which is such a relief to me because he is so not a reading and writing kid at home, no matter how I try and approach it. I'm so happy he's got a great teacher who is excited about this class and clearly already loves these kids and whom Sawyer has easily bonded with. Like instantly. She's very thorough and very communicative and I'm happy our first year of school for this kid is off to a wonderful start with a great teacher.

I also have to add that my kids have been getting along really, really (abnormally?!) well, being very much on the same "team", especially at school, making me a little misty eyed at times. I guess that means at least smidgen of my goals for the summer paid off. They're sharing excitement about each others' days when they're at home and Savannah is wholeheartedly looking out for her little brother and they're both being helpful and mindful of the other throughout the day at school. At least from the stories I hear. Love it!

Me at home on the other hand, I have been all over the place.
I've only actually had one "normal" all by myself day as we had a couple of half school days in there and one day with a roofing crew here and all over our house the entire day.
But one day was nice.
And so it turns out when I am here by myself, I am actually completely ADD.
This is kind of a new revelation for me, as I haven't regularly had time alone in oh, say, twelve years!

Just for fun, here's a short list of possible ADD characteristics:

-Has difficulty keeping attention during tasks or play

-Does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace

-Has difficulty organizing tasks and activities

-Avoids or dislikes tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork)

-Often loses toys, assignments, pencils, books, or tools needed for tasks or activities

-Is easily distracted

-Is often forgetful in daily activities

Um, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes. That is me exactly this week and the hours I've had to myself.
I'm just overwhelmed with all this "free time" and I have so much I want to do and (seemingly) so much time to do it, I just don't know which way to go.
I start cleaning this but get distracted by wanting to organize that and then get distracted by upcycling this and then get distracted by running out and finding something to go with that and then get off on a tangent of how to create this and decorate that and then get distracted by needing to clean this and oh what about my ideas for that and so on and so on. A million things I want to do and suddenly all this time to do it -in peace! without inturruption!!- but I keep interrupting myself with my (hopefully) temporary ADD.

So I'm definitely hoping to settle into more of a routine next week.
Maybe I'll just spend today making lists. :)

p.s.
I did have a "Mommy's Morning Mimosa" date with some new ladies at church this week. A bit overwhelming for me, as it was a complete house full of people I didn't know and a million little kids running around and the one new friend I did know -the one who invited me- left in the first hour. But I stayed and mingled with the couple dozen women I was just meeting right then for at least another hour on my own... which is big for me! It was fun. Kind of exhausting for the introvert I am, but fun!

whats on wednesday

on the counter:














on the table:





















on the grocery list:














on the roof:














on the bus:






















What's on around you today?

first day

First off, I have got to say that I cannot believe it's been a whole year and we're here again.
The First Day of School... and this time with two kids!!






















Sawyer was a little bit anti-school earlier this week; I think a combination of not wanting the lazy summer to end and the uncertainty of starting at a new, big school. But we got class assignments yesterday and met his teacher and saw his classroom last night and from the moment we stepped in there, he was sold! Nothing but excitement from that point on.

The kids had a great morning. They were up and dressed (our school dress code is not just strictly khaki and white, but if you know my kids lately, they had to make a point of matching each other of course!) first thing and were so excited they could hardly stop talking and eat their breakfasts. They were all smiles and excitement.
Until I alerted them that it was time for pictures of course.














Introducing... the First day of Third Grade:














she looks entirely too grown up to me today. :(






And the big boy's first day of Kindergarten:












okay, him too. this needs to stop.



























And they're off...




































And just like that, our boy is officially a kindergartener...

















Oh, and after we dropped the kids off, Ryan and I went out to breakfast. Alone.
So this is what it's like to not have kids at home with you all day... ;)

whats on this week

on the list:




















on our flowers:














on the couch:














on a lunch date:





















on a moonwalk:



































What's on your where you are today?

jobby jobs

Sawyer has a habit for making a "cute" nickname for almost everything. When asked if he did his morning jobs, his reply is always, Yes, my jobby jobs are done.
Flip flops are flippity floppities, when he wants a snack he asks for goldfishy fishies and juicy juice, dessert is icy creamy, his sister is Savannie Banannie... you get the idea.

So Jobby Jobs it is.

It's not, technically, Works For Me Wednesday, but the topic of Chores and family responsibilities have coincidentally come up in a few of my conversations lately and I wanted to record what has (and hasn't) worked for us this year. It occurs to me this is something I should have jotted down at the beginning of the summer, but I didn't, so oh well. Now I know how well it works, so even better to share now, right?! :)

You guys- I feel like after almost 10 years of being a wife --and more than 8 years of being a stay-at-home-mom-- that I'm finally, finally, really getting the hang of and doing a decent job with the housekeeping thing. Finally. (I'm a slow learner I guess.)

So mid-school year last year, we started more specifically doling out and teaching more household responsibilities. I wrote about that plan here; basically boiling down to the kids having simple morning responsibilities and after dinner responsibilities as well as a few "extra chores" asked of them each week.
Theoretically that works really, really well for us. I am so not a clean-up-right-after-dinner type of person... I'm much more of a hang-out-together-and-relax,-I'll-get-around-to-the-dishes-in-the-morning type of person. But by breaking up after dinner clean-up into different steps and by all four of us doing it, dinner and dishes are cleaned up and put away in a clean kitchen in about 5 minutes. Seriously. (I say that works "theoretically" because we've let that slide big time this summer -with so many guests here and there and the radomness of summertime- but I'm excited to get back into it this week getting into more of a regular routine) The kids actually love it!

For the summer we basically ignored our "extra" jobs list that we had for school year weekends. Instead, since the kids had more free time to help with this stuff, I broke down the main housekeeping jobs into categories and assigned each job a day of the week:

• Vacuuming and dusting is done to start off our week on Monday,
• Tuesday, we get the all the sheets and towels washed real quick,
• Wednesdays are our regular laundry days,
• bathrooms get cleaned on Thursday,
• and we do another round of vacuuming and dusting on Friday, getting ready for the weekend.

I even wrote it on the weekly calendar in our laundry room on the back of the garage door

This way of doing "chores" is more of a group effort for us... the kids switch off vacuuming or dusting the upstairs and downstairs each week, they fold towels and help make beds, sort laundry, put away their own clothes, and while I still mostly do the big bathroom cleaning (ie., toilets and tubs), they've gotten good about wiping down the counters and mirrors and taking out the garbage.
And the great thing is, when it's a group effort like that, it goes so fast! Which is a win-win for me... the kids are learning learning these life skills, contributing to our family and household, and eventually lightening my work load! For someone like me, who has never been a great housekeeper and dreads the thought of actual cleaning, it is really fun to watch that suddenly change for all of us... that doing these things regularly and together? Actually does make it so. much. easier. We never (except for laundry obv.**) spend more than about 15 minutes of our morning on our "chore of the day" total. And then it's done for the week! :)

So those "chore of the day" chores, combined with the fact that the kitchen is supposedly being kept up with by at least every evening with the afterdinner jobs, and then adding in the practice of starting the day with a standing rule for the summer (complete with a reminder sign that was flipped over the tv to greet them in the morning) that we didn't watch tv/play video games/play outside or do our "fun" for the day unless

a) beds are made and bedrooms are tidy,
b) kids' bathroom is neat with towels hanging and counter/sink wiped down if needed,
c) the living room is free of toys and mess (they use this room as an extension of their playroom)
and
d) the family room is straightened up









...and basically our house stays clean.
I know, novel idea, huh?
Let me tell you, for me it is!

If this summer has taught me nothing else, it's that my kids want to help. And they're actually (gasp!) good at it! They -dare I say- thrive in the responsibility and they want the pride in a job well done. As soon as I take the time to show them how to do it correctly and efficiently, they (for the most part) are perfectly willing to do these things. Because they're seeing that, in fact, if we do work together as a family, as a team, these annoying jobs that have to get done aren't really so bad and it gets done fast. And if that realization sticks with them? They'll have a much easier time in this life.
And they won't be as much of a slob as their mother. :)

I'm not sure how we're going to transition back into the school year for certain as far as household responsibilities go... we'll have to see what works best. We'll most likely just go back to our last year's school year plan with just the Saturday extra jobs for the kids. I think I'll still stick with my weekly assignment plan myself though... just breaking it down and knowing a job is getting done each day and then I don't have to think about it again for a week, works for me!

**I've seen/heard the "laundry day" vs. a little every day debate several times and mentioned it here when I very first discovered for myself the "freedom" that is having one day a week set aside for laundry. I've said it before and I'll say it again... I LOVE having just a specific laundry day. I love not having to think about laundry all week long. (doing sheets/towels on another day doesn't really really feel like laundry as it's just a few loads and so easy to put away) On laundry day, I just throw in the first load in the morning, switch them over and throw the clean clothes on my bed. I usually have between 3-5 loads to do and it's not like I have to be home all day to do it... I can pop them in and out of the machines when I'm around -and it's quick and painless because I don't fold the loads as they come out. They just get tossed in the pile. Ideally, if we have been mostly home all day, the washing and drying is all done by lunch and that afternoon I fold all the laundry on my bed while spending time in my weekly indulgence... my hour-long Wednesday date with Days of our Lives. If not, I try to fold it all before bed. So other than putting in and out of machine time, I just fold it all at once and spend probably about 30 minutes on laundry while I watch tv.
I must admit, this routine has probably taken the worst turn of all the household stuff this summer... between houseguests and trips, laundry has been thrown way off and often only gets done when it needs to. But I so hate that and I'm actually looking forward to Wednesday this week and getting back into the habit!

winding down

I really can't believe this summer is winding down already.
School starts Thursday.
Of this week.

As always, it went way too fast.
Only this time it went WAY too fast.
I kind of feel like we had such a barrage of visitors and houseguests this summer that we really didn't DO much. We did keep our house clean and hang out at the pool a lot. :)

We did manage to squeeze our own fun in there here and there and amidst and around our visitors: VBS, swim lessons, we visited the zoo here and there, we had lunch with Ryan a few times, we rode bikes, we did our traditional car cookies, we swam, we had the slip-n-slide out almost non-stop, we took a quick weekend trip to friends and we spent a whole week at the coast.
But the overall gist of our summer was that we had at least one houseguest per week, sometimes more. There was one week where we had four different sets of overnight visitors within a six day period!
I just counted it up and discovered that we had guests here 34 days of the summer. That's over half of our nine week summer (school end to school start)! Sheesh!
(and I'm not complaining... we loved it! it's just that in hindsight, well... that's a lot!!)

Anyway.
I can't believe it's come to an end already.
We're trying to throw a few last minute summer fun things in there this week... we went to the Adventure Science Center and had lunch with good friends today. We want to try and get out to explore the lake this week before school starts. There are a few storms in the forecast, so I don't know that'll happen, but we'll find something to do.

I'm not ready for summer to end. Usually by this time of the year, I'm ready for it; ready for the cooler weather and the routine of the school year. This year, notsomuch. Maybe it's that we had such a full calendar, maybe it's not having the time to take in all the summer stuff in a new state, maybe it's that we never went camping (yet!)(but seriously, how can it be summer without camping?!!). But I'm not ready to send the kids back to school and say goodbye to the sweltering summer weather yet.

I can feel I'm almost there... almost longing for the change in wardrobe; almost ready to break out the long sleeves and deeper fall colors... almost longing for some cool, rainy, just-want-to-curl-up-and-read-a-good-book days... almost ready for the crisp fall days perfect for baking and cooking up warm hearty meals like pot roast and simmering soups.
Almost.

But today I'm still content with my shorts and flip flops and our AC and our pool bag/beach bag and not minding if these morning clouds will still give way to a sunny, 90° day where we complain *just enough* about the heat and humidity and eat cold sandwiches and need to go for a swim.

august 2011

I've been asked a few times recently how I'm feeling about my youngest starting school. The inquiries have run the gamut from how am I dealing with my baby starting kindergarten... how am I shifting my identity as a stay-at-home mom of young kids to a stay-at -home mom w/ all her kids in school... to what am I going to do with days to myself? Am I going to look for a job? Pick up a new hobby? Go back to school myself?

And I don't really have any answers to these questions.
I am completely at a loss of how to respond.

You see, in my mind? This isn't where I'm supposed to be.

Two kids? That's not it for us.
The fact that there are no more babies or toddlers or preschoolers in the house? Hasn't even crossed my mind.
You see, there are still more coming.
I don't know how, I don't know when, but I know I'm not completely done with this mom-of-little-ones season.

From the get-go our family has operated under the assumption that we'd have more kids than the two we have -whether they be adopted or through foster care- that we'd have more children filling up the rooms of this house. Or, as the Amazing Katie coined the phrase; filling up our couch.

A little over three years ago, we had a glimpse of an opportunity to take a step in that. And even though that situation turned out differently than hoped, it whetted our appetite big time and by two years ago we were again ready to take steps in that direction, being licensed for foster care.

Then came a job upheaval, an incredibly drawn-out uprooting and moving to a new state and a long-a$ time of gettting settled and stable here.
And now here we are.
And both of my kids are headed off to school next week.

And all of a sudden, I'm going to be left here all day with an empty couch.

As this realization hits, I have to be honest; I am kind of in mourning.
Not so much about my baby going to kindergarten. Not really about my little ones growing up and taking on new seasons of life, but about the fact that I have no little ones here right now. About how the past couple of years have gotten away from us and whether it was out of our control or solely our own dropping of the ball, we are not actually any further from square one in adding to our family than we were three or four years ago.
Oddly, I find myself mourning whoever it is we might have had as a part of our family if things had been different... who we might be as a family these days if things like fear or hesitation or procrastination or moving hadn't been in the way. And I'm mourning this ideal time line of mine that I somehow let veer off track.

I have to remind myself of the fact that God knew how things would go from the beginning and even though it may have been MY plan to have another little one or two by now, He knows who and when is best for all of us and will put it together in His time.
It's just our job to be looking for the direction and the means and the obedience by which this will all (eventually) come about. Turns out that's not the easiest job.

I guess what it boils down to is when I think about this coming fall (Fall?!? Fall won't be here for another couple of months... school starts next week!!) it hadn't fully dawned on me that after the blur of the last couple of crazy years we've had, we're here already: No little ones in our house and I'll soon have seven or so childless hours to do something else with each day.

I wasn't prepared to have this "freedom" this soon.

So how do I feel about my baby going off to school?
Well, I'll tell you.
In my mind, this is just an unscheduled break in the routine.
And I fully plan on investing my "free time" in working on getting this couch filled.

prayers are appreciated :)

whats on this week

I've had a ton of fun doing these little "what's on..." posts I've been doing the last few weeks. It's been an easy way to capture little snippets of our days when a whole post on pudding pops, for example, isn't necessary. And using the "what's on..." idea can be used in lots of different ways; I can show off a project or a new thing around the house, I can snap a picture of what's for dinner, I can capture things we're doing or people we're with, things that are on my lists or our calendars... but to phrase it and picture it in a "what's on" point of view sometimes takes a little creativity. With the added bonus of snapping those every day pictures is in there too. :)
So I'm going to continue this new habit, every Wednesday. What's on Wednesdays.
I'll put a spot for links on below too... in case anyone wants to join in the fun and we can see what's on yours... ;)

Here's what's been on my weekly posts so far if you've missed it and you're curious.

And here's What's On around here today...

on the lawn:





















on the table:





















on the bed:














on the nails:














on the dashboard:

















What's on yours this week?

holden beach, nc

There are other beach pictures dispersed over the last couple of posts, so I'm going to try not to repeat those in this recount.

And if you hadn't guessed, this is a pretty picture heavy post so if you want any chance of pics matching up with narrative, you'd better click out of your reader and hit my actual blog. In Firefox. ;)


So.
Here's our beach story for 2011.
We left Friday and stopped for the night to see my aunt uncle and cousins in South Carolina before heading on to Holden Beach, North Carolina the next day. We got into town at about dinnertime and got our stuff settled into our cozy little beach house...
It was quaint and beach cottage-y and just perfectly sized to not be over the top (read: more expensive) but rather exactly what you need to eat and sleep and be comfortable when your plan is to spend most of your time on the beach.















We were directly across the street from the beach front on the island and had direct access just steps from our front door. We also had a screened in porch where we spent a lot of time doing puzzles and just rocking in the rocking chairs listening to the ocean.
































As soon as we had checked out our digs, we headed down to check out our beach.



































And so the week began. :)
A few mornings were rainy, but it pretty much cleared up by every afternoon. Mornings were our movie/puzzle/games time and then we'd either eat lunch or pack it up to take with us and head down to the beach for the rest of the day. After dinner we did s'mores over the grill a couple of evenings too...






























































By Wednesday, when we woke up to rain again, we decided to get out of the house and took the ferry up to Fort Fisher and went to the visit the aquarium. On the way back we skipped the ferry and drove up through Wilmington, stopping at Kure Beach for ice cream and a walk out on the pier, before heading back to our island.




















































The aquarium was pretty darn cool!





















































































Thursday was our best beach day. We were out there All. Day.
Lots of sandcastles, kite flying, walks down to the pier, swimming, fishing, body boarding, sitting our chairs in the waves and napping on the beach. LOVE.
























































That evening Ryan and I snuck out for a little date night, finding the most fabulous Firecracker Shrimp at BooneDocks and finishing up w/ dessert at the Purple Onion.
















We topped off the night by grabbing a redbox movie on the way home.



Friday, our last day there, was another lazy beach day. I made the kids get dressed to attempt beach pictures that morning (with poor results)(I should have hired someone!)
(I'll save posting these for another day)
and then we spent the rest of the day back and forth between the beach and the house. I was a little sunburned and the kids were completely wiped out so we were a little beach bummed out by that point.
















We spent the evening at the token miniature golf course before dinner and then went out to the pier for ice cream after.

















And then with an early bedtime for everyone before our 12 hour drive home the next day, thus concluded our magnificent beach trip to the Carolina coast.













I can't wait go back!