Topsail

**Super long, picture-filled post.  I apologize in advance.

We didn't let a day go by without starting our summer fun.  School let out on Friday--and late that night our cousins arrived so that we could all head down to the beach for a week.  Saturday morning we piled into the vans and set out on a little (5 hour) road-trip down to Topsail Island.

When we stopped for gas I bribed all the boys with red vines to stay against this wall so they would be out of the way and out of the street.  I also told them I was going to take their picture... so I took a few so that they'd actually stay over there.

They also took turns sitting up on top of the magazine stand.  It said "free" on the box... and a lady came up and asked which of the boys was going home with her.  They weren't quite sure what to think about that.

We did pretty good until the very end and then Henry was just too tired.  We left at his naptime hoping he'd sleep for a good bit of the trip.  Instead he slept an hour and was miserable. 

We finally made it to our home for the week.

We sure got a work out on those stairs a hundred times a day!

The weather was perfect the entire time we were there.  Every day followed the same pattern--mornings on the beach, afternoons taking it easy inside, and after dinner we'd head back out again until bedtime.

Henry loved to pick up handfuls of sand and put it in his hair.

The boys loved to build sandcastles and try to defend them against the waves.  I think they called it "castle defense".

The cousins had so much fun playing with each other.

A few times we even found these awesome little jellyfish.

William, James and Ben really loved riding the waves on the boogie boards.  But William would spend hours in the water and was pretty awesome out there.

James really loved sitting on the beach in the sun.

Can you blame him with this view?

Alexander loved to play in the sand.

Anna and Alex were the only two who would let me bury them.  I have fond memories of my aunts burying me in the sand.  Once they buried all of the cousins at once and we looked like a bunch of heads sitting on the sand.  I wish I had been able to get a picture of these kiddos like that!

William needed to start a collection of something for cub scouts so he chose to collect sea shells while we were at the beach.  He found a TON.




One day we even ventured over to a park for some change of scenery.

 Aren't these trees awesome looking?

There was a cool little walkway where we watched some ducks and crabs.

Of course, James dropped his shoe into the muck.  We tried to hang him upside down to grab it but he got scared... so Rich hopped down there to save the day.

The week was so great!  There was lots of sand, perfectly warm water,  plenty of food, and wonderful relaxation and conversation.

Some highlights: late night walk down the beach with Rich, playing bananagrams after the kids went to bed, playing Uno with the kids, watching the cousins play with each other, sitting on the deck listening to the ocean, and catching some great waves on the boogie board.

The last few days our friend (and Bob's former roommate), Rob, came to stay with us.  It was fun to have him around.

Poor William learned that he should listen to his mom and drink more water.  He got dehydrated on our last day there.

By the evening he was feeling a little better so William and I took a little walk down the beach... with some ice cream sandwhiches.

It was a beautiful night and I enjoyed spending a little one-on-one time with my oldest boy.

We even found a birthday cake made of sand...

And I nearly stepped on this little crab!  He was so fast!  (Earlier in the week Bob, Rich, and James each claimed they had been pinched on the toes by a crab--it was probably this guy!)

We can't wait until we can get back to the beach again!

Henry at 2

It's our little Henry's birthday!  I can't believe he is 2 years old already!  Two years ago a tornado had just hit our town, we had just moved in the middle of the sweltering summer heat, and trying to get everything unpacked before our little guy arrived.

Henry is such a sweet boy.  He is always waving 'hi' to people and making them smile.  He is just so cute.  And it's a good thing too--because he is t.r.o.u.b.l.e.  We have to keep a good eye on him--and the bathroom doors shut.  Some of his favorite places for trouble are the toilet.  I also found him on top of the piano... not on the keys, on the very top!  He likes to reach into the kitchen drawers and pull everything out.  He even pulled the laptop off of the kitchen counter... goodbye laptop.  And his most recent troublesome trick?  He learned that if he pushed a chair over to the counter he could get into a lot more stuff.  Awesome.

I have a million head shots of Henry.  Whenever he sees me with my camera he pesters me until I take several pictures of him!

Henry loves his milk and "baby" which is his little elephant blanket.

And this boy loves his hats.  If he is going outside he has to be wearing a baseball hat... preferably his Thunder hat.

He also loves to be with his brothers.  He loves being with the big boys outside and doing what they do.

And the person he loves the most is his dad.  I think all of my boys have been the same way at this age.

Henry can say "please" and "thank you"... and knows the signs.

He loves to talk on the phone.

His favorite character right now is Cookie Monster.  If he sees a picture of cookie monster he'll say in a really deep voice "cookie!"  It's too cute.  I need to get a video of it.  He also loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Curious George.

Henry wants whatever he sees.  If we open the fridge and he sees string cheese then he wants it.  Until he sees that Alex is having blueberries... then he'll want that.  And if you mention something else he has changed his mind again!  

And if you are ever fortunate enough to receive a hug from Henry you won't regret it.  It's the sweetest thing in the world.  I think we'll keep him.

Happy birthday, little friend.  We love you!

School's Out For Summer!

It's hard to believe that another school year has come and gone.

The end of the school year brought exciting activities and events... not the least of which was President Obama visiting our district.  William saw the helicopters doing some practice landing a few days before his visit.  And we even saw his helicopter fly right over our house after school.  Pretty awesome--no matter your political persuasion.

The end of school also brought with it the Kindergarten Spring Sing.  It was so much fun to hear all of the songs that they've been learning in music this year. 

(James is in the middle of the first row)

He also got perfect attendance for this last quarter.  I'm pretty sure that he only missed 1 school day all year!

(James is in the light blue shirt next to the state flag)

William's teacher did a little awards ceremony for their class.  Each award was a candy bar... and William recieved the "Mr. Goodbar award" for being a good citizen at school.

William really loved his teacher this year and he was blessed to be in her class.  I can only hope that we will be so lucky next year.

James loved his class as well.  Mrs. Sloan and Mrs. Kennaday were so wonderful to him and helped him so much to adjust.  The night before the last day of school he cried because he was going to miss his teachers during the summer.

We love the schools--and more importantly, the teachers here in Mooresville. (But what do you expect from the #1 district in the nation??) Our boys have thrived in school this year! 

Strawberries!

Last week we went with some friends to the strawberry patch nearby.

We had a fun time looking at the animals... especially the brand new baby goats.  They were so cute!

And then we got to pick some strawberries!  They were so good!

Henry picked a ton... and popped them right in his mouth!  He couldn't shovel them in fast enough!

His shirt and face were stained with strawberry juice.

Afterwards, we played at the park until we were all worn out and ready to head home.

It was fun with the little boys but I think that William and James will really like it.  I'm hoping there are still berries to pick in a few weeks and we'll go back as a family.  I just love strawberry season!