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!"

July

Gramps is doing great at the memory care facility where he's lived for about a year now. They get to go on outings and he's recently visited a drive-thru zoo!

Chris and I visited a new peach orchard last summer during their festival which was way to "peopley" so we opted to visit the weekend before their festival this year. The peaches were still great and we were practically there by ourselves! Win win!

I got together with a girl from my school to paint rocks for a local student fighting cancer. We even got the school staff and families to join us to paint more!

Our library has hosted a few puzzle races but we've had conflicts with the dates until now!! Chris and I were the only two there at the start, so we had to battle against each other (he's not really into puzzles....). I've never consciously tried to do a puzzle quickly, it's always been more of a relaxing activity, so it was fun to try. We'll have to try again sometime and hope for more competition!

We had a tree taken out from the front yard. Its roots were cracking up the driveway, it oozed liquid, and had a large root that made it difficult to back the camper into the carport. A friend from school recommended a company and they did a great job! Since it was during the summer, it provided great entertainment for me! :)

We've never seen Betty and Terry's house so clearly!

We should've warned the neighbors they were about to have a very sunny backyard!

We had a chance to go see Hunter swim in his tournament!

A little time on the water with friends!

 We also saw Hannah's performance for her summer theater camp. It was a fun show!

Owen stayed with Nana and Grandpa and attended a bowling camp with Hunter. They each got a new bowling ball and got to pick out the weight and color!

The kids' friends had a slip-n-slide at their grandparent's house. It was the perfect hill and a classic way to finish up the summer!

Chris and I celebrated our 20th anniversary with dinner reservations to a new restaurant!