Nags Head - Parting Pics...

The end of our beach week has come.

It's been a fairly "wet" week...and, sadly, not just from swimming in the ocean and pool. But we still had a nice time with my parents and oldest sister.

Sometimes, it's just nice to get away...

I'll end our vacation week with some more photos (in a slightly random order) of our time down here.

We had a lovely dinner out at a restaurant called "Tail of a Whale" on Wednesday night and then went to Manteo to have some ice cream (thanks, Dad!!) and wander along the Sound.

Then, after my parents and sister left early this morning due to the fact that it was meant to rain yet again, we spent the late morning through the afternoon on the sunny (yay!) beach and in the pool. It was fun to build and dig in the sand and actually get a little bit of a sunburn.



























Sigh.

Another vacation is over.

This Is the Dawning of the Age of Aquarium...

Oops! I think I got the words a little wrong on that song... But it kinda works for our trip to the N.C. Aquarium at Roanoke? *wink-grin*

Before we came to the beach, we explained to the children that we wouldn't be able to do many extra things since money has been a bit tight this year. So they decided to do another lemonade stand to earn some extra money to take on our trip. (I swear these kids have "salespeople" in their blood or something.)

Anyways...

They decided after an hour or so of selling lemonade that they wanted to earn enough money to go to the aquarium in Roanoke. They've always enjoyed it and thought that Ethan would, too. Plus, it would count for science in school. (Always a "plus," right?)

It was perfect! They earned all but $2. And all of us enjoyed the reward of their hard work!

I'll let the photos tell the rest...

Foote School by the Sea...

Wouldn't that be a cool name for a school? There really is a Foote School, up in Connecticut. We think we should start a branch campus for them down here in Nags Head.

Just saying...

So school started this morning. (Well, we actually did a week's worth of lessons last week, but we couldn't officially start until today. That freed us to just bring the major subjects and not have to spend quite so much time on lessons whilst we're here.)



We had our usual "numbered" pancakes. And then the "bus" took the kids off to school, and we paused by the door to get a few "start of school" shots. (We like to joke that the kids' busdriver sleeps with their teacher...and this same teacher sleeps with their headmaster, too. Sheesh. Of course, anyone new to my blog should know that I am our kids' teacher and my hubby is their "bus driver/headmaster." Make sense? Okay. Okay. Moving right along.)



The kids did fairly well, all things considered...especially for the amount of distractions they had. The weather has been somewhat cloudy and rainy so we didn't really lose anything by being inside at our lessons. We'll have plenty of beach and pool time afterwards.

It's hard to imagine that we have a third-grader and a seventh-grader this year. Wow!! And our little guy will soon be 1.

One day I'll invent something to stop the clock...if only for a little while.

To (B)each His Own...

Coming to the beach has been an excitement and joy for each of us this year...but something of a curiosity for the baby.

Having never been to the beach (or anywhere further than an hour away), he's been quietly (and not-so-quietly) taking it all in. Since he's still taking two naps a day, he's had a slight crimp in his "beach time," but, overall, I think he's enjoying his time exploring the sand and feeling the ocean.


It's amazing to experience such a place with a child this young...it reminds us of how big and wide and mighty the ocean really is.

Oceanward Bound

"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo... How about you, you, you? You can come, too, too, too... We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo."

Okay. We aren't going to the zoo.

We're heading to the beach instead. Our first time in two years -- since last year we had to bypass it due to having a new smallish family member coming to live with us.

We're going to Nags Head, N.C., the beach I've been visiting since I was nearly 3 (and we won't pause to calculate how long ago that was, thank you very much).

So 9 hours or so from earlier (or later?!?) this morning...some 375-ish miles later...and we'll be listening to the ocean and smelling the sea-scented breezes.

Mmm...Nags Head, here we come!

Musings on Marriage, Mini Vacations, and Monday

Happy last Monday in July! New day, new week, new busyness. Back to the "grind," right?

I always see Monday as the first blank page on a new tablet of paper: fresh, clean, and ready for new adventures... Well, it sounds more positive than just sighing and whining about missing the weekend, right? *grin* It's actually one of my favorite days of the week.

We returned late last night from a wonderful weekend away in Long Island, New York, where we attended the wedding of a "childhood" (more like early "teenhood") friend and had dinner with another dear friend. It was glorious!

The wedding was wonderful to watch. It's always such fun to see people join together in love, and it was so nice to get away to a true "middle-of-nowhere" kind of place. It was SO peaceful and lovely!

We had a good time driving such a distance in our new mini van. (I know. I know. I'm a believer now. The roominess and comfort was unbeatable. We'd only just gone to New York City a few weekends ago in "Speedy"...and the difference was amazing!) We sure put our new car to the test, though, since we had to start our journey home in the middle of a long band of thunder-boomers. The rain was torrential, and there was flooding everywhere. But that was only a small part of the weekend, which was like a mini vacation for us, so we're not complaining.

The wedding was on Saturday and the weather was the polar opposite of yesterday -- bright and sunny with only a hint of humidity. It was held in the outdoor building of a club called the Swan Club. (You can view a slide show of the few photos I was able to take -- due to dying batteries -- down below.) The kids seemed to enjoy themselves and loved watching their adopted "Auntie Sue" get married. They certainly "scrub up nice," huh? *wink*

As does this couple:

We were able to stay in the 22-room summer house -- built in the 1800s -- where Sue rented an apartment. It was immense and old and summery. And the kids absolutely loved it! Especially when Sue told them they could explore it!! Think "Scooby Doo Mansion." It had that sort of charm...in a good way. There also was lots of grass to play in and paths to explore and veggies and flowers to pick. Needless to say, they shed a few tears on our way down the driveway.

The house was at the end of a peninsula overlooking the Sound. We took a short trip over to the one beach and enjoyed about 30 minutes or so there before a huge storm took over and chased us back to the house. But I have to say it was awesome to see the lightning over the water...in the faraway distance, of course.

We had some fun on our drive with Stuart's new GPS -- dubbed "Tom" from the name of the computer voice. Apparently, "Tom" has some sort of secret deal with the Turnpike Commission and oil companies. He had us going some very interesting routes, though Stuart ignored some parts and made him "recalculate." Until the drive home... He forgot to check the route "Tom" had in mind and began to follow it...only to discover it was the route we didn't want to take. Fortunately, Stuart caught on before we ended up going through Philadelphia to the PA Turnpike. We ignored "Tom" for the rest of the trip until he diverted us past a windy shortcut we've always used that isn't very much of a shortcut and is very, very windy. Stuart said he came through in the end. I think "Tom" sighed in relief after this since Stuart had threatened to box him up and return the GPS to the store. *wink*

Heard from the 7-year-old last night: He had to return to the bathroom for the third time during dinner. "You'd think I was the pregnant one."

Think it's time for that "birds-n-bees" talk yet? *wink*

Well, the busyness of finishing the unpacking after our small trip is calling to me. I'd best bid you adieu and get back to it.

A Long Island Wedding

Photos from our trip to Long Island to see Susan's and Sonny's wedding.