The Beginning of Our Beach Vacation

We had a wonderful time as a family in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.  Last time we went Charlotte was 6 months old and Trey was 2.  This year was definitely a change!  The kids both loved the sand and by the end of the week they loved the waves too. 


The car was packed to the brim by the time we left!  We left bright and early before breakfast on Sunday morning, so we stopped at Kroger for doughnuts.  

I am pretty sure Jay got the messiest doughnuts available, but the kids devoured them!  Luckily we had wipes at our fingertips and covered them with napkins before we started eating.  The mess was contained and it was a great way to start the trip. 

We made really good time and got to the beach around 2:30.  After unpacking and an early dinner in the condo we headed to the beach to explore.  Since it had been two years since we had been to the beach I was curious how the kids would respond.  Trey thought of it as one gigantic sandbox and Charlotte was soon to follow suit.  

 We had a fun first day and woke up bright and early the next morning for more playing in the sand!

Playdates

We have had one week between VBS craziness and our family vacation at the beach.  The kids didn't have any time to get bored because we had so many fun playdates week.

Tuesday we went to the pool.  This was the first time the kids went to the pool this summer.  We met some of my coworkers and their children.   They played in the water for 4 hours straight and then conked out!

 Wednesday we met up with some friends from church at Pump It Up.  It is a place full of bouncy houses and slides.  For and hour and a half that morning that had jump time for 6 and under.  I couldn't believe how few people were there considering it was an air conditioned play place on a 90 degree day!  Because there were so few kids and they were all little, Trey and Charlotte jumped right in and played.  All my pictures from Pump It Up are blurry because the kids were moving so fast. 

Trey climbing through the obstacle course.  This was his favorite part of the place. 

Charlotte climbing up the inflatable slide.  You can see the drop of the slide to the right.  She was so proud of herself for being able to climb up the stairs and go down all by herself. 

All the friends are wore out!

After two days of being stuck at home while we got ready for vacation, the kids were ready for Uncle Mark and Mrs. Peyton to come visit on Saturday.  We went for a short hike up the road at Roaring Run.

Ready to hike

The bridges required hand holding because the water underneath was rushing pretty fast!

Mommy and Charlotte

Another attempt at a family picture 

VBS 2013

Last week our whole family participated in Colossal Coastal World VBS at our church.  The kids had a blast! This was the first year Trey could go into a regular class instead of just the nursery class.  He loved all the songs, crafts, and rec.  I helped to direct VBS this year so Trey was my special helper in the morning.  He would go around with me to all the classes and ask if anyone needed anything.  He really loved the clown face we set up at the entrance!

Charlotte was in a nursery class with 17 other toddlers.  She had the best time.  She said music time was her favorite.  Her teachers had lots more help than Trey's teachers, so they took pictures each day and posted them on facebook.  I downloaded some of my favorites so you can see how much she enjoyed VBS.

Charlotte and her buddy Dean- They are probably being told to stop swinging and sit on their bottoms to slide!

In one of the Sunday School rooms upstairs they cleared out the chairs and put in a bunch of toddler riding toys.  Charlotte went to town everyday on that rocking horse. 

In the middle of music time with her class.  You can tell she is listening to the teacher and loves music class.

They took some of the older toddlers upstairs to do music time with the 3s.  Charlotte is dancing to one of the music songs. 

Charlotte and her friend Christian.  They have been in church together since they were both 6 weeks old!

On Sunday evening we had "family night" for our Sunday evening worship service.  All the parents got to come and watch the kids sing the songs they learned throughout the week.  Trey's class sang on a video and and it played at the beginning of the program.  We asked him if he wanted to go on stage and sing with the other kids and he said he would next year when he is 5. 

 Charlotte and her friend Rebecca on family night

Rebecca's mom was the lead director this year and I just learned from her.  These 3 kids were together a lot this past month to decorate, set up and attend VBS. 

Sweet and silly

Fourth of July Fun

 We woke up to an extremely wet Fourth of July.  Apparently all the rain from the night before (on top of the rain from the entire week) was too much for the creek by our home and it flooded into the road and the bottom of our driveway.  We made it to Jay's parents for a Fourth of July lunch early in the day.  After naptime we changed the kids into red, white and blue, loaded them into the car and tried to go to the kid's first parade.  We got less than a mile down the road when we saw the creek had flooded over the entire road and was too deep to drive through.   The kids did not get very upset and when we drove back home we decided to go for a walk instead. 

Charlotte wanted to ride in her stroller for the walk.  This girl absolutely loves her stroller!

Trey was pointing out all the water in woods. 

This was a small run off stream that had tons of rushing water in it coming down the mountain. 

Trey jumped in a puddle! Then his feet and legs were muddy and wet so he wanted to go back to the house to get clean, then come back and continue his walk!

The kids have been reading Courdoroy's Fourth of July from the library and they knew the Fourth of July meant fireworks.  We really wanted to take the kids to their first fireworks, but I was worried about how late they would be up.  Charlotte took a 3 hour nap so we decided she wouldn't fall apart staying up so late.  Jay checked the road after dinner and the creek had gone back down out of the road.  We changed the kids into their pajamas (because we were going to be getting home so late!) and went to see the fireworks. 

The kids were so excited to go see fireworks. 

We got there about an hour before the show started.  We had never been before so we weren't sure how parking/space would be so we wanted to have plenty of time.  Charlotte's favorite activity while we waited for the show was people watching!

Charlotte and her friend Dean were ready for the show to start!

Watching the fireworks!

 The kids did really great for their first time.  At first they loved the show, then the noise started to bother Trey.  He didn't cry, he just kept saying he wanted to go to back to the car.  Jay walked him back to the car and then Trey realized inside the car he couldn't see the fireworks.  Jay held him up in the parking lot and they watched the fireworks that way.   Charlotte and I stayed in the field, but then it started to rain really hard.  I did not want to get caught in a downpour with 2 lawn chairs and a toddler to take back to the car, so we headed back too.  By the time we got to the car the rain had slowed down to a sprinkle.  We set up the chairs in front of the car and watched the fireworks with the kids on our laps. The fireworks were very loud so I was impressed how much the kids liked them.  Trey kept saying, "Wow! Look at that one!"  and Charlotte kept saying, "That one is so pretty" every time a new firework appeared. 

A Charlotte Moment

We are big proponents of bribing around here, so Charlotte gets an M&M for going potty and Trey gets an M&M for going #2 in the big potty (as opposed to the elmo potty we have to clean out!).


Here is the conversation that took place this afternoon.

Trey comes out of the bathroom and comes up to me: "Mommy, can I have an M&M for pooping on the big potty downstairs?"

Me: "Sure!"

We got to the pantry, find the M&M bag and pick out a color for Trey to eat.

Trey runs out to keep playing and I am zipping the bag up while looking around the pantry so I can start dinner.

In comes Charlotte to the pantry and she notices I have the bag of M&Ms in my hand.

Charlotte: "Mommy, I need an M&M?"

My response: "Charlotte, what did you do to get an M&M?

With a sly smile on her face she replies, "I play."

At least she knew not to lie to my face and tell me she used the potty.  And yes, I gave her the M&M. 

Guys Time & Girls Time

Yesterday Jay took Trey to our local minor league baseball team game.  They went with some other guys and their sons from our Sunday School class.  Trey had a really great time.  He loved watching the game, drinking his water bottle, and taking pictures with Jay's phone.  He wasn't really into the concession stand food, but I am sure that will change as he gets older!

Charlotte and I stayed at home for girl time.  We baked cookies together (She loved getting to do all the scooping and stirring and not having to take turns with her brother!), played puzzles and did pedicures.  Charlotte loved having her toenails painted.  She kept saying, "Look Mommy our toenails match! They are purple!"