Back At It

Yesterday was Back to School!  Mason is now an 11th grader, Ella in 3rd and Silas started Kindergarten.  I knew that Silas starting K would be sad but I cried all the way home from school.  I told Justin he'd better get snipped soon, before I start on a baby kick again!

Mason has some interesting classes this year.  He's taking German, a Marine biology class, personal finance, psychology, pre-calc...he started an Engineering course but wants to drop that (can't say that I blame him...).
His friend Kyle is supposed to drive him to school, giving him an extra 20 minutes of sleep in the morning.  Kyle picked him up yesterday but at the end of the day, his car wouldn't start, so it was back on the bus today!

Justin and I walked Ella and Si to school - Silas was very excited.  He met his teacher at an ice cream social last week and then also at open house on Monday evening.  It's the same teacher Ella had for K and we LOVE her!!  Justin has been teasing Silas about how mean she is and how she likes to pinch the kids.  Silas came home yesterday and told Justin that she only pinched him once :)

I'm used to having Silas walk home with me after dropping Ella off - now I drop them both off.  But a mere 2.5 hours later, I pick him up and take him to Kelly's so at least I get a mid-day hug and to see his rotten little smile :)

El looks like such a little grown-up here!

Holding Dad's hand on the walk :)

Silas posed with Mrs. Sherwood before getting into line with his class.  Such a big boy!  He was SO excited when I picked him up yesterday and said what an "awesome!" day he had :)

Monday, the last day of summer break, was absolutely beautiful out.  I decided to take Ella and Si to the zoo for a last outing.  It was perfect!!  And not very crowded as some of the schools had already started back.

Silas looks a little concerned about the polar bear coming up behind him!

Hard to believe another summer has flown by already!!

That Went WAY Too Fast!

Our last full day at the beach (Friday) was our attempt at an "everything" day. This included the beach, the pool, hot tub, shopping, seafood, ice cream, some kite flying, slushy drinks and family pictures.

Silas got really good in the pool - he was swimming across the length of the pool with the snorkel and then without.  He swam for hours on end!

I loved being back in a place where I could just walk out to the beach and catch the sunrise over the ocean. I didn't make it over to the sound side for any sunsets though this year. 

Mom and Dad, walking down to the beach to watch the kids play.

Friday was pretty windy and Silas wanted a kite. We went to Kitty Hawk kites and picked up a little kite for him.  They ran up and down the beach with it and had no problems keeping it in the air.

Family pictures are always a cranky time.  I'll have to Photoshop some happy faces on I guess :)

(Notice that Margie, Justin and I are all wearing out Life is Good t-shirts.  There was a LIG store in Nags Head and I stocked up on my favorites - that made me very happy!)

 

Sad that another trip has come and gone - and now it's time to get back into school mode.  I could have used another week at the beach and another couple weeks of summer.  The bright side is that Fall is my favorite and there is still September and October to look forward to!

Last Call!

For slushy drinks by the pool and walks on the beach! Say it ain't so :(

We've been to the beach this morning and the kids are swimming in the pool right now. Silas has been swimming in the deep end by himself!

We still have to hit the ice cream shop, the gift store to find a kite and possibly have a beach fire tonight if it's not too windy.
Why does the time have to go so fast here?!?

- Posted on the go from my iPhone

Almost Relaxed...

We're 4 days into the trip and I have just finally started to relax and feel like it's vacation. Today was a great day - the temperature and humidity dropped some, there was a great breeze, the ocean felt warmer, the sun less scorching. My tolerance for heat this vacation has been slim. I hope our last 2 full days here are just as nice!

Tonight was seafood night - we got scallops and shrimp, grilled them and made pasta, Beth's dad's corn recipe, salad, wine...yum!

As I've mentioned, the pool has been a great thing...when the adults are tired and wanting to come back from the beach, we can all jump into the pool for a few more hours. There are several decks that overlook the pool, so an adult can always be watching them without being out in the sun with them.

Ella and Silas cracked me up today. Within 2 minutes of being at the beach, they both (separately) came up and told me how much they hate the sand! Honestly, I'm not a fan either but I'm learning to live with it :)

The crabbing this year is so much better than last year, but not as good as the years before. The crabs are smaller than they have been in the past. It's hard to catch the baby crabs - but still fun!

I think I need to make this picture into a postcard. That's Ella, Silas and Justin to the left of the beach chair. I love the nostalgic photo options.

Uncle Tim bought Silas (and Margie :) some snorkel gear today. Si LOVED it and spent hours in the pool playing with it. He sounds like Darth Vader when he swims with it but had a blast.

  

Now to bed...in the hopes to make it up for another sunrise!!

Beach, Pool, Ice Cream...Repeat!

We've been perfectly content so far this trip to play at the beach, swim in the pool and we've found our favorite ice cream shop for this trip.

This year our house isn't right on the beach, but it's about 200 feet from the house - the trade off we made to have a pool at the house.

Having the pool has been great - mom and Tim especially enjoy it since they aren't ocean swimmers (well, neither am I...I don't really go in above my ankles). 

My kids are fish - they will swim and swim and swim all day.  And then turn into cranky little heathens because they are so exhausted!  They fall asleep before their heads hit the pillow at night though.

There are lots of big sand dredgers out in the water. This whole beach renovation is very fascinating to me.  What a project!

Last year in Emerald Isle, we discovered Hershey's Ice cream. My first task once we got here was to find a shop that served it here in Nags Head. Less than 2 miles from the house, making it possibly TOO convenient!

We took a walk on Jennette's Pier, which is also newly renovated after hurricanes wiped out the old one.  It's really nice.  We saw fishermen catch a hammerhead shark and a huge stingray. 

The weather has been SOOO hot - mid to upper 90s.  We stopped to get ice for the cooler and Ella and Silas were fighting over who got to hold it on the way home!

OBX Sunrise

I finally made it out for a sunrise this morning - after only about 5 hours of sleep. It was worth it! I also went for a run at 7:30am thinking it would still be less deathly hot - NOT! 4.5 miles and I was about to die. If I had gone prior to sunrise, it might have been okay...and that's probably not going to happen!

Having the pool at the house is great. We can get our ocean/beach in a few times a day and then spend the rest of the day lounging at the pool. I'm liking it!