Friday, June 26, 2015

Happy Birthday Derek


Tonight we celebrated Derek's birthday with our good friends.  This party was even more special because we found out that a baby is on the way (for our friends).  Congratulations!  Let the rumpus continue!

Sunday, June 21, 2015

More Beach Fun!

We really enjoyed our time here at Isle of Palms!


It was very hot, but much hotter (we heard) back in Raleigh.  We spent one afternoon at the local playground.  Luckily there was a nice breeze to keep us from melting.



Before heading back to Raleigh, we found a very small waterpark that the kids could enjoy for the morning.  The plan was to spend the morning there and then pack the cars while the little ones napped and then hit the road.  I normally like to drive during nap time, but there was no time to get packed up and cleaned up otherwise.  


The boys enjoyed the few slides and swimming in the pool.  Jamison even was brave enough to ride a  medium-size slide.  Here are a few more pictures from some times a the beach.  I bought all the boys long-sleeve swim shirts to cut down on sunscreen use.  I also insisted on hats.  I think it's funny to see Brighton swimming below with his hat on.


Maverick is such a cutie!



Also while we were there, my aunt and uncle as well as my cousin, Joyanna, and her fiancĂ©, Joe came by for dinner one night.  Joyanna and Joe are getting married this fall and we'll be back for the wedding.  It was a fun trip and I know we'll always have these wonderful memories.



Monday, June 15, 2015

Isle of Palms, SC

As soon as the big boys were out of school, we headed off to the beach.  We didn't get to go last year, so we were super excited for a beach trip.  My mom (Mimi) has a cousin with a beach house on Isle of Palms, so we decided to head there for a change this year.  We've never been there before and enjoyed the new adventure.  The boys were excited to sit on this tree in the yard the first day down.


With all the shark bites happening, we were lucky that the only sharks we saw were this size.


Brighton didn't miss out on the fishing action, and helped with this one.  I think he was overly tired by the time they packed up though (or so I heard).  


While there, we headed into Charleston, SC for shopping and museums and playgrounds.  There is a really cool firetruck museum that the boys loved.  I was really impressed with their simulator (like you are driving a real firetruck) and the action 3-D movie that they show about fire safety!


You can even make your own fire badges with customized colors, pictures, and names.  The boys loved that!


Then there was the beach.  Going anywhere with four kids can be challenging, but the beach is no picnic.  Just getting ready for the beach and getting everybody's swimsuit on and sunscreen is a challenge.  To help out with that, I bought four long-sleeve sun shirts for the boys so I wouldn't have to buy gallons of sunscreen for this trip.  We did insist on hats, and they mostly complied.


We've never stayed at a place where you could walk to the beach.  The boys were in heaven.  They were ready to go right after breakfast and head back again after nap time.  We even did an after-dinner trip (although we stayed a little closer to shore during shark-feeding time).


Brighton even found a live starfish.  The tidal pools on this stretch of beach were very large.  Jamison really enjoyed these pools that would sometimes come up to his chest.  He like that the waves were minimal because he's not a big fan of the waves.  We brought nets and attempted to catch fish....those things are fast.  


Chandler really loved swimming in the ocean this year.  He caught a few rides on the boogie board too.  


Sunday, June 7, 2015

Little Men




Look at these two cute little boys!

Aren't they just adorable?  Derek dressed Jamison and said the shirt was too tight for the bow-tie.  I guess we forgot the socks too.  Jamison was just a little doll today at church and soaking it up.  He knows he's a cutie!  He even wore the hat without bribery (unlike Maverick) who only had it on for pictures.  You can really see the height difference here too.  Wow!  Maverick is tall!

Thursday, June 4, 2015

The Big Red Rooster

Today, Brighton's class performed a play for all the parents.  Brighton had the lead role, and I'm so proud of how hard he worked.  The play was an adaptation of "The Little Red Hen" where Brighton as "The Big Red Rooster" plants the wheat, waters the wheat, harvests the wheat, makes bread, etc...and none of his animal friends want to help.


When it comes time to eat the bread, then of course all the friends want to help with that part, but Brighton reminds them that nobody had helped him with any of it, so he'll eat the bread himself!


Kindergarten has been such an awesome experience for Brighton.  He has learned so much and his reading has improved by leaps and bounds.  First grade....here we come!

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Blue & Gold Banquet

Tonight was the 2nd annual Blue & Gold banquet for our Cub Scout Pack.

I'm so proud of Chandler for all that he is doing with Cub Scouts.  He is working hard and having fun.  This is a really good group of "Wolves"

Derek, as the Cub Master, and also the Den leader for the Webelos has so much on his plate.  I try to help out behind the scenes as much as I can.  Without Derek, this pack would fall apart.  We started this group up two years ago and it's slowly gaining steam.  Hopefully there will be more leaders stepping up in the fall and the Boy Scout troop has also offered their assistance.


This little guy wanted to be on the stage the entire time.  He was mostly content to sit at the edge.  I just had to keep an eye that he didn't unplug any of the sound system.....I could tell he wanted to!


Here Chandler is awarded his Wolf rank....he's moving on to Bear!  Growing up all too fast....this fall we'll actually have two official scouts!