Ocean Isle Beach

Last week we traveled less than 4 hours to the coast to Ocean Isle Beach. It's a tiny little island right north of the SC border and was so amazingly perfect. The water was warm, the sand was cool, lots of fun shells, and our condo door was less than 100 feet from it all. Can't ask for anything more than that. Oh and since we went after Labor Day, it was basically deserted. We had it all to ourselves :)



 

One morning it did rain, so we hit some surf shops around us and then decided to drive about 30 minutes to Myrtle Beach and checked out some of their shops as well.



 

They had this store called RideMakerz, which is basically like a Build A Bear but with cars. So the kids each got to pick a car and all the random parts - and then build it! It was so cool, James even got to turn his into a remote controlled car. Very fun.



 

John got into the sand castle building almost as much as the kids.



 

 

 

James loved to boogie board - that was probably his favorite thing to do. Or trying to body surf. The bigger the waves the better for him.



 

I can't even tell you how many shells there were. The kids collected so many we had to stealthily put more than half of them back every night. And we still brought bags and bags home with us.



 

 

 

My favorite part of the trip was watching the kids feed the birds. The seagulls came flying out of no where (and there's like 20 of them) and then the kids got all overwhelmed and can only think of one thing to do...



 

Chase them away!! And then of course they would want another piece of bread and it happens all over again. It was the funniest activity for close to an hour. I don't think I laughed so hard all week.



 

Whenever we got back from the beach, we would put on tv - and the kids were always so zonked they would just lay there and watch it. Even if it was the nightly news. It was fantastic!



 

This is after day 1 of shell picking... I think we brought 4 times this about home. No clue what we are going to do with them all but James was not leaving them behind!



 

James did not want to leave, not that I blame him. He basically sulked the whole way home which made it a much quieter ride than normal.



 

It was such a fun week for all of us, I swear the beach is good for your soul. Hopefully this past week can tide of all over until we can get back next year! 

Photo Dump

Several weeks ago we had to put one of our cats, Vegas, down because of a fast moving cancer. Our other cat, Ace, has been a total mess ever since. Vegas and Ace had been together for almost a decade and really loved each other like brothers. I know Ace will settle down and be ok, but in the meantime he does not want to be alone. Ever. It is to the point where he has started to follow James around everywhere because James will always pay attention to him. And of course James is loving it.



 

In August, John's brother Will came and stayed for over a week. And it was awesome. The kids LOVE having their Uncle Will. John and Will flew out together, Will went back home and John had to go out on a business trip... and when John got back home the first thing out of James' mouth was "Where is Uncle Will?"



 

Madeleine has really gotten into her baby dolls, she loves to take care of them. Reading books to them is one of her favorite activities now.



 

A few weekends ago John dug out some nurf guns that he had buried in his closet and he and James had an epic nurf gun war. They did this all day - didn't even get out of their pjs. They made forts all over the house and Madeleine and I basically had to leave or get pelted in the back of the head every 5 minutes from a rouge dart.



 

Milkshakes!



 

This is James' first day of school picture... look how grown up! It is his second and final year at preschool. We are so blessed to have found the perfect school for him and our family. He has grown so much there in the past year and I cannot wait to see how he grows this year. The biggest bonus is how much he loves it there, he could not wait to go back. It's gonna be a good year :)



Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was a HOT one! I can't really complain because we have had such a wonderful mild summer and this 95+ degree weather is typical of Charlotte, but man is it hot. Even the kids don't want to be out in this heat. Since it was so hot, we decided why not go earlier than usual and head up to the mountains to go apple picking! In theory, it should have been cooler in the mountains... we were wrong. It was still a lot of fun though. And we all got to have apple cider slushies  which makes everything better.



 

On Sunday, one of James' good friends had his birthday party. Outside. In the heat. Did I mention how hot it was this weekend??



 

Kai's dad is an art professor at Davidson College, so the whole party was arts and crafts - which all the kids loved. Outside. In the heat.



 

Madeleine only liked the frosting of cupcakes (because, well.... she's my kid) so when the cupcake next to her wasn't being paid attention she didn't want it to feel left out.



 

The rest of the weekend was spent like this :) Because its the only want to be outside in this heat! John and I were tempted to put on our suits and join them!