A Day at the Beach

We had the most perfect day trip yesterday to celebrate Issa's birthday. We headed out bright and early to Wrightsville Beach. The weather was our idea of perfect: overcast with a nice breeze. We love the beach when the sun isn't glaring. We had the place to ourselves, and we loved every moment.

Issa loved collecting shells in her new bag: We ended the day with 161 shells; we washed and counted them last night.

Evan loved digging in the sand:

I loved the whole day, but especially these moments:

Daddy and Issa loved walking in the waves and collecting shells, and I never get tired of capturing those father/daughter moments.

There were also kites to be flown:

And dump trucks to be driven:

And I really was there! I love this picture:

After a picnic lunch and plenty of beach fun, we headed twenty minutes down the road to the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher. It is amazing! We must be especially lucky; for the second time this year we looked into the eyes of an albino alligator:

The tidal pool was also a big hit!

I learned so much about horseshoe crabs. Did you know they have ten legs and ten eyes?

Meet Sugar the purple sting ray. Evan loves him:

And how can you resist "riding" a frog?

On the way home, we all sang along with Journey, even Merlia/Zuma/Dolphin (I really need Issa to settle on a name for her new friend):

And this one sums it up:

Evan made sunglasses from a water bottle label. We laughed all day. No whining. No fussing. Just fun.

We are so blessed that we live in a place where in a little over two hours we can stand beside the ocean. It was a wonderful day trip that felt like a week's vacation. Happy birthday, Issa!

Before Coffee

Before I had even had one sip of coffee this morning, Issa and I embarked on a crafting adventure: headbands. Our first attempt was very simple: Then we went a little flapper:

Then Issa lost her mind:

How many rhinestones are too many? The answer is more than this:

A glittery butterfly anyone?

And the final piece de resistance:

She was over the modelling, but she does love this headband. She said the bow will give her shade on sunny days; she may be on to something there.

Now it's time for cup of coffee two...followed by cups three through a bazillion.

Why?

Why do I vacuum? Not ten minutes after I finished, I saw this:
Those are little bits of popcorn under those guilty little feet. It's a good thing I really love those guilty looking feet.

What's He Got in His Pocketssss?

Ten points for anyone who gets the reference in the title.

Evan has a new hobby: rock collecting. It's not a totally new hobby, but he is really diligent about it this week. Each day, he comes home from school and his little pockets are so full he can barely keep his pants up. After dinner, he finally empties his little pockets:
He likes to show us each rock. He has humorous descriptions, and he thinks every rock is a "cool rock."

This was his haul for one day:

Yes...that is Brad's hand. I don't know how the little guy keeps his pants up! And...I don't know where we are going to put all these rocks!

Drinking in Fall

We are drinking in fall here. The air conditioner is off, and we're enjoying meals on the deck:
Last night's meal was accompanied by a conversation about our new fairy castles (also known as toad stools):

Even Tumbler is loving the fall:

We took our library books outside and read about lions while Daddy started the process of closing down the pool:

The pool will soon be replaced by the tent and roasting marshmallows:

This is easily my favorite time of year. I love the cooler weather and the crispness of the air. When Brad announced this weekend that we really needed to drink in the fall this year, I was more than happy to jump on board. We've enjoyed sweet potato soup and pumpkin stuffed shells this week, and I'm hoping cider appears at the grocery. I have a new scent warmer that is filling the house with the scent of warm cobbler, and it's supposed to be chilly enough Friday to break out a sweater. We have plans to play outside, sleep under the stars, and crunch in the leaves. I would say we are drinking it in, and I can't wait for the next sip.

A Day of Celebration

We are big believers in celebrating around here, so we took advantage of every moment of Issa's special day. Somehow, she sweet-talked Daddy into letting her open her gift before school.
We are headed to the beach this weekend! She really wanted to go get some more shells, so we gave her a shell collecting pouch and a big vase to put them all in when we get home. It's become a bit of a tradition that our gifts to the kids are activities, and we are really looking forward to the day trip!

Issa's school also believes in celebrating birthdays. The snack rules still apply, though, so no icing allowed. They have a list of special treats, and Issa chose fruit kabobs. We decided we should make them look like flowers:

They were really fun! The kids loved them. But...by the time we made 20 of them I was a bit tired of grapes and watermelon:

The school has a really neat ceremony. They lit a candle to represent the sun, and Issa held a globe and walked around the candle five times, one for each time the earth has gone around the sun since she was born. Her friends all sang, and then they ate their flowers. It was hysterical to listen to a room full of little people munch watermelon and giggle.

I came home from the ceremony to finish Issa's cake:

It's not my favorite cake but it was exactly what Issa wanted. She was thrilled!

After dinner out, we came home to sing and enjoy cake. Issa needed to dance:

For those counting, this is cake 4.

May all her wishes come true...

Happy birthday, Issa!

Our baby girl is officially five today! She clearly needed to dress for the occasion. Whole hand birthdays are a big deal, and we continued the celebration yesterday.

Issa really wanted to go bowling with her friend Shelby. This was hysterical since she had never been bowling! We started with pizza at the alley and a sweet gift from a sweet girl and her family:

Then we moved on to bowling. I don't have any great pictures, but we did have a great time!

Evan fell in love with bowling, and I have a feeling we will be returning:

Can you tell we told him to watch his fingers roughly twenty million times? Every other picture I have of him is a blur of activity.

We have some big celebrating to do today, which started early this morning, but those stories will have to wait for tomorrow.

Bliss

This is one of the few times when a picture isn't needed. I just want to capture some of the sounds of the past 24 hours.

We had a wine and cheese PTA meeting last night. (Yeah, this is my kind of PTA.) We arrived at another family's house, and Issa was off to play with her school friends before we were through the door. And then we played in a beautiful fall backyard evening. There was swinging and ball kicking and sliding and giggling. It was so nice to meet Issa's new friends and their families. Everyone played together--kids and parents. Whoever was closest pushed swings full of giggling children or caught sliding toddlers. Play dates were discussed, and I never tire of hearing, "You're Issa's mom! My daughter/son talks about her all the time. She's such a nice friend." Yeah...that's my kid.

This morning, we are enjoying listening to the birds through the open screen door and feeling the crisp morning air. Evan is singing "Down by the Station" to a row full of stuffed puppies, and I'm listening to Daddy and Issa build circuits in the kitchen. Lights are blinking, and Daddy is in his element.

I think I'll sit back with one more cup of coffee and just enjoy the sounds for a while and revel in the non-silence.

Falling for Fall

There is something not quite right about this picture. This little cardinal has taken up residence in our yard, but that is a lot of green behind him. I love having Red here (I never said we were really creative with names around here), but it makes me crave colder weather. I remember cardinal against snowy backdrops when I was growing, their red screaming against all the white. When I see Red I want to grab a sweater; when I open the door, I want to grab some ice water.

Fall is almost here--it's teasing us. The mornings are crisp and the leaves are starting to turn golden. By mid-afternoon, though, we're still pushing 90. I've been reading posts from friends about bonfires and sweaters, recipes for hot soups and pot roasts, and debates about whether or not it's too early to turn on the heat. I'm still a mid-west girl at heart, and I am so ready for all that fall brings. Bring on the fall! Our little Red needs some different foliage.

Three Rings is Not Enough

This morning started out so simply. The kids got ready in record time because I told them I had something super cool to show them outside once they were ready. Meet Squiggly Spider Friend Bower:
I spotted him on our front porch yesterday. How cool is he? He is a yellow and black garden spider, which is a type of orb spider. The females spin the circular web, and then the males add the stripe and guard the web. (I researched him yesterday; it's what I do.)

The kids and I had a blast watching him. It's amazing how still they can be--the kids and the spider! It was so quiet and peaceful.

Then...life turned into a circus, and I don't really know how. The boys left, and almost immediately Scott's showed up to aerate and over-seed, which wouldn't be a problem except they parked me in. Just as they started to move their truck, a rather dishevelled looking man came walking along our fence. The Scott's guys were on it! They were between him and me before I could ask a question. As it turns out, he was my new neighbor from over the fence. It seems he had just woken up and his dog had gotten out. So...we spent several unsuccessful moments looking for Mimi. I got Issa to school on time, and I came in and felt like my head was spinning.

This circus-like feel could all be connected to the fact that I was up way past my bedtime last night. Pumpkin Express tickets went on sale at midnight, and I was up stalking the website to be sure we got tickets for the first trip to the pumpkin patch. Success! This is a ritual that until last night had been saved for Santa Train. Both events are at our museum, and it's part of the complicated, compulsive relationship I have with our museum. I must get tickets for these special events as soon as possible lest we miss the train. I have issues. We all knew that.

Growing Up

I spent yesterday unpacking, doing laundry, and finding new homes for all of Issa's birthday treasures. There were a few things Issa had strong feelings about. Before she left for school, she game me very clear instructions about her room. These princesses:
And these princesses and Fancy Nancy could disappear:

They have been replaced by Taylor Swift:

No more little girl:

Well...maybe a little bit of the little girl is there. Sebastian needed to stay on the door. There are still stuffed animals and seashells and other little treasures everywhere, but her first posters have appeared. She's growing up.

Celebration Weekend

The past weekend was truly one of the most perfect of my life. This morning, I've been trying to think of how to summarize it, and as I've been looking through the photos, I realized the smiles do it for me. I suppose the best way is to just begin at the beginning.

First, I was (finally) excused from jury duty Friday! When Brad got home from work, we headed North with the first stop being Grandma Pat's and Grandpa Kevin's:
There was a polka dot party to be had!

I would say her wishes came true. Look at these three girls:

Issa loves her big cousins, and she also loves jamming out:

In case you were wondering, we were singing along with her new Journey cd on the way to Papa Don and Grandma Nancy's. We arrived to find the basement decorated for a princess party:

Yes...Issa is trying to catch the ribbon in her mouth. The kids had a great time playing basketball, too, before there was more cake and more wishing:

And then ribbons became Rapunzel hair:

And cousins tried to create a secret handshake:

Evan wanted to be as big as his cousin, and my heart melts when I see this big boy (who I remember being Evan's age) play so patiently with my little boy. And then Papa Don taught all of the kids to play marbles:

It was proclaimed better than video games and now everyone wants their own sets of marbles.

We then headed further north to Nana and Papa Rich's, where Evan got a lawn mower ride:

It was almost too much excitement. And Granddaddy and Grandma Judy came for a visit:

I will probably be in trouble for posting these pictures, but it was one of the highlights of my weekend. He brought gifts for each child that I remember from when I was little (although I wasn't allowed to touch them):

I never get tired of listening to his stories, and I am so grateful that he shares them with my children. There is a book there, and it may be my next project.

A pink poodle in Paris party was next, and Issa was in all her glory. Aunt Shannon made sure she was extra sparkly for the occassion, and we brought our stuffed poodles to help decorate:

This one doesn't need explanation:

Love it--love them. Nana and Papa Rich also gave our little rock star her first guitar:

It was the first thing she reached for this morning, and she has a very natural strum. She made me promise I would start teaching her chords tonight. And of course, there was one more cake and a wardrobe change into poodle pajamas:

That smile says it all: perfection.

It was the simple joys this weekend: snuggling Grandma Pat, playing marbles, singing and playing guitar with Nana, laughing and telling stories, crowding the whole extended family into the kitchen and barely fitting while we prayed, family traveling hours to celebrate with us. Issa proclaimed it the best birthday ever, and I have to agree. She is so loved, and we are so blessed.

Civic Duty and What Not

So...I'm in a jury pool. It is a large civil trial, and if I'm selected the case is expected to run seven weeks. Today will be day two of my service.

I am so conflicted about this whole situation. I believe in our justice system. I truly don't mind serving on a jury; I feel it's my responsibility.

But seven weeks. From 9:30 to 5 every day. That's a lot. A whole lot. I can't help but run through the things I might miss. There is the obvious work time, and my course will have to become hybrid, with Wednesdays being a true marathon for me. But I also won't be able to pick Issa up from school, and I missed that one on one time yesterday. I am going on record now that if I miss her birthday party school I am going to be one very unhappy mommy. And it feels a bit worse because it's a civil trial. I want to put both parties in a room and tell them to play nice and do right. I don't suppose that's going to happen though.

Brad and I spent a portion of last night putting contingencies in place, and with any luck I won't need them. But if you don't hear from me much, you'll know why. I'm up extra early to get a jump on "things," and I was up extra late trying to make up for the lost day. We'll see how this plays out!