Beach!

We missed going to the beach with the Caldwells last summer because of our NYC trip and their trip to Alaska. The salty air was just what we needed! We ended up back in the Outer Banks, this time at Kill Devil Hills. There's really not a bad beach in NC though! It was pretty windy the day we arrived. The kids still wanted to head to the beach after pizza dinner, though. It was a red flag, which means no swimming. It ended up being a red flag (or double red!) all week. I guess "swimming" is a bit subjective. They were definitely in to their waist. Further down the beach I just saw heads of people with a lifeguard nearby. Seemed like swimming to me...

The house had a pool, which the kids enjoyed. It wasn't heated but they seem to have a different tolerance for water temperature than the adults!

The kids did jumps into the pool and the adults judged and gave them scores. 

We headed to Jockey's Ridge on one of the cooler days. We thought that would make the sand cooler to walk on but that wasn't necessarily the case. 

Owen fully embraced the sand...and his hair still showed evidence two days later!

Trying to cram into the shade as our feet were burning!!

Owen dug this hole and waited and waited for it to be filled by the waves. He was so happy!

Sometimes we get a warm week and sometimes it's cooler, like this year:

The kids (and adults!) enjoyed the hot tub! Chad made the kids hop out and jump into the pool. It's good for their heart, right???

There were plenty of games played!

We went out to a restaurant and Owen and Hunter had a separate table next to the rest of us. This was Owen's seat!

Sooooo many puzzles! I had to capture this moment because it was rare for Owen or Chad to join in!

Owen and Hunter's usual ritual in the early mornings:

On one of their early mornings they finished this puzzle! They wanted to be timed because it was smaller than many of the rest that we did. They finished in 25 minutes!

We enjoyed our traditional water balloon fight!

We tried out all the ice cream places! We decided Holy Cow, two blocks from our house, was the best!

A rare sibling moment:

Her fingers make hearts:

The Caldwells went to this ropes course a few years back. None of us had close-toed shoes so we weren't able to go. We intentionally brought them this year, though, and really enjoyed the course! It had 4 levels, each getting progressively challenging as you went up. Hunter, Chad, Willow, and Chris did a section of level 4, which confirmed to the rest of us that we'd made the right choice. I was super proud of them though!!

Willow is always up for seeing the sun rise! We got up early the day we were leaving to check it out. It never disappoints!

A few pictures (out of order) from Kim and Chris:

We played Sardines (someone hides then you stay with that person whenever you find them) and were seriously stumped by Hunter's last hiding place! We were close to telling him to just come out!! He wins!

We will be headed to Hawaii next summer as our "beach trip!"

September Fun

Just a little fun chalking on a nice weather day!

Owen was invited out for ice cream with a friend!

We love Tim Hawkins and were so excited to find him coming to town! Kim and Chad joined us for a weekday date night!

We enjoyed getting to a couple minor league baseball games this fall!

 

We stayed for the fireworks and realized they were the first fireworks that Owen has ever seen!

Tilly and Whiskers had a well-visit at the vet. 

They made it clear they were not happy about being in the car OR the carriers!

Owen's class had a lesson at school with the counselor and were asked to set goals as a family. One of ours was for the kids to spend time together (very rare these days, unfortunately!). Here's some of their "forced sibling fun time." 

Clearly they made up their own rules!

Willow is still enjoying her time in the nursery at church each week. She's got some good tricks up her sleeve!

 
Owen had a couple buddies over for a sleepover. Thankfully they're both super respectful young men, which makes it easy to have them over!

Owen's friend posing for him to draw his portrait. He actually took it very seriously!!

Owen even made a spinner of activities for them to do!

Making apple muffins always reminds me of this book that the kids enjoyed when they were younger. 

 

Chris hasn't read it for AGES so I was super impressed with how well he did with his memory test ;)

Fun flowers I learned from an Instagram video!

Owen and Willow both tried too!

I made lollipop spiders as a treat for the Question of the Day winner at school while we read "Charlotte's Web." Many of our craft supplies were passed down from my mom or her friend who retired the year I started teaching. We have a ton of googly eyes to choose from. The price on this container made me wonder what they'd cost today, and if the person who bought them knew how many years it would take for them to be used!!

Owen started a ninja class at a new gym closer to our house. It's more of an American Ninja Warrior type of gym than the gymastics gym he was at before. It's challenged him in a different way and we've already seen him show growth in his ability to maneuver the course. We can't wait for him to "beat that wall!" Either way, he comes out sweaty every time!