Mama turns 40!

 It's true. I'm 40!  I had a nice birthday with my family.  I had to work which was kind of stinky, but we had a nice evening at home.  The kids decorated the house with black streamers and balloons with pictures on them.  They didn't make me feel any younger :0).

Sadie's turn at Softball

 We signed up all three girls for softball this fall!  Sadie is in the rookie division where they have machine pitch.  Her team is the Rockies.  We really enjoy watching her team play.  One parent said this age is like watching the Bad News Bears :0).  Sadie is having a blast & really enjoys playing catcher!  I think that's because there's lots of action there.  Out in the field...not so much.

 Go Rockies!

First Day of School

 Up at the crack of dawn for middle school.  Definitely an adjustment...yawn. 

 It all hits me as she's walking out the door.  "No wait!  How in the world could she already be old enough for middle school?  What happened to my baby???  I just want to hold on to her a little longer this morning."

 And she's off with her buddy. Mom & Dad weren't allowed at the bus stop this year.  Anabelle respectfully disinvited us :0(.

 Round two.  Elise is in 5th and Sadie is in 2nd.  Look...they match!

 Okay...this doesn't happen every morning...spare time before the bus comes that is. At least Danny got some quiet time to chat with one of his ladies.

 There they go.  Danny's ready to party, I'm in tears.  Why does this happen every year?  Danny took the day off, so we did party a little.  We went to breakfast and on a bike ride together.  It felt really weird to be alone!

Here's Anabelle & Danny after the first day.  Looks like they're ready to take on day two!

Oh Hatteras...How we love thee~

We just got back from our annual Hatteras trip.  It was SO hard to leave.  There's something magical about that place. 

Here's our house called Monkey Shine.  Sadie LOVED all of the monkey decor :0).

 

First day on the beach.  The girls were a little hesitant to catch waves in fear of being washed to sea or eaten (after reading 'Escaping the Giant Wave' and after our encounter with the shark a few years back), but after 20 minutes they were out there and loving it.  By the 3rd day they were out so far it made me nervous.  Danny reassured me that they were fine, but I couldn't take my eyes off them.  I truly think they're braver than me.  I ventured out twice and that was enough.  They got knocked down by some pretty big waves, but popped up giving us the 'hang loose' sign to let us know they were okay. 

 

 

We brought Calvin this year and despite being tangled in his lead a handful of times and dealing with beach diarrhea & beach vomiting, he was pretty good.  He loved the water and even wore his beach booties to protect his paws (until they got shredded by the sand & shells).

 One of my favorite things about our beach trip is enjoying the sunsets.  This year our house had an awesome observation tower.  You could see the ocean, the sound, and a pond right behind our house.  It was a gorgeous spot and I enjoyed it every day.  On the last morning, I got up at 6 and watched the sunrise.  I didn't take pictures of it because I forgot to grab my camera and didn't want to wake anyone by going back inside.  It was amazing to watch & I'm so glad I pulled myself out of bed to do it!

 

 This sunset pic was taken at the sound where we had a photo shoot or the girls.  You may see one of the pictures on our Christmas card this year!

 Another fun part of our trip was taking out our kayak.  Here are the girls going for a ride by themselves! 

Something new we tried this year was Bingo.  Sadly, we didn't win (although Danny was pretty close), but the girls had fun.  

 After our beach or sound time, we'd come back to the house to "wash off" and relax by the pool. 

 

Crab & shrimp night was delicious until our bellies began to pop. 

Here's the one and only storm that came through.  It looks fierce and the girls were scared, but all it ended up being was a shower.  The weather changes so quickly down there.

On our last day we ended up at Buxton point where apparently the fishing was really good.  After Calvin & the girls took a swim, we were approached by a lady that warned us about fishermen catching 4-5 ft sharks and not just sand sharks.  The girls quickly came in and ended up playing in a tidal pool instead.  After 30 minutes, a man next to us caught a 3 ft stingray and 45 minutes after that this man on our left caught this 4 ft sand shark. Creepy!!!!!  Here's Sadie petting it and the man who caught it showing us his/her teeth.

  So the only low point to our trip was Danny's foot injury.  He stepped on something sharp in the sound and cut open his foot pretty badly in two spots.  He had to go to the doctors where they cleaned it out (scalpel and no Lidocaine..talk about a macho man) and gave him some seriously strong antibiotics.  Apparently, the sound is filthy and full of bacteria.  Not the place you want to get bad slices on your foot.  On the last day, poor Danny was restricted from the water and had to have his foot wrapped in gauze and in a shoe.

Another new thing for us was visiting Orange Blossom Bakery.  Oh my goodness!!!!  They specialize in making Apple Uglies which you can see Sadie taking a nibble of below.  DELICIOUS!!  They also make donuts and some amazing cinnamon buns as big as your head.  I gained 5 pounds in one morning :0).

 Our last adventure was putting together message bottles and tossing them into the sea.  We went out on Avon pier to let them go.  Maybe they'll get a message back from someone far away!

Bye Hatteras!  It was a fantastic vacation and we can't wait to return next year!



Summertime~!

 Summer is going quickly!  Here are some things we've been up to. 

Bowling.

 The Goochland Drive in.

 Visited family...here are a few of the cousins!

 Concerts!  Danny & I went to Phish and we took the girls to see Dark Star Orchestra.

 Admired beautiful rainbows.

 Played dentist...after going to the dentist.  Poor Elise had an infection in her root canal :0(.  Not a fun summer activity.

 Dyed hair.

 Organized a book club!

 Played board games and even made our own!

And of course the pool & Barbie play...pictures to come :0).  I told the girls we had 3 weeks left of summer the other day and they all started crying.   It sure goes fast~