Holden Beach 2008

We just returned from our second annual multi-family trip to Holden Beach (NC). Despite vacating the island a day earlier than planned thanks to Hurricane Hanna, we had gorgeous weather and a great time! This year we totalled 4 families- 8 adults and 8 kids under the age of 5. Insanity? Yes; but the kids did really well- save the occasional hair pull or nap-refusal- and the adults had a Wii and plenty of wine so all was well!
Here are a few favorite pictures. I'll add a link on the left to more pictures soon.
Makena in a hole dug by Daddy. If only I could contain her like this at home...
Reese swimming- our house had a private pool- the best beach invention yet.
All the girls (six of the eight kids- Bradley and Bennett- aka "the good nappers" were doing what they do best)
A preview of 10 years from now? Hannah, Reese, Makena and Leah lounging in the sun
Mommy and the girls on an evening beach walk

And God sent them, two by two...to Target.

It's raining here. Blog-worthy news? In most cities, no; but Charlotte has been in a drought for the last three years. We're somewhere at 50% of our annual rainfall for the most recent 36 months; we've been living under various water restrictions for ages; and everyone from the meteorologists to regular folks knows it's literally going to take a few hurricanes to get us back anywhere near normal.
Enter Fay. The remnants of Hurricane Fay got here last night and we've been soaked ever since. This is great, except for the fact that today was my day to go to Target in preparation for our beach trip. Oh, and for the fact that we don't have a garage. The rain let up just long enough for us to get teeth brushed, shoes on and lock the door...I'll spare you the details- just be satisfied that we were drenched by the time we got into the car. Fun times!

Once we got home and ate, we killed some more time and pent-up energy by "rocking out" in the kitchen. It's a little disconcerting when you're busy belting out your favorite music and dancing like a fool in the kitchen and you realize someone else is singing along with you. Since Makena now clearly knows many of the words to the songs on my current favorite playlist, maybe I should be letting them listen to more of their own music. I mean, it's not like we're listening to Ozzy Osbourne biting heads off chickens, but even the relatively innocent lyrics of the Counting Crows are likely to raise an eyebrow when taken out of context and sung by a three year old..."it's too laaaate, to get hiiiiiiigh". I redeem myself here by the fact that she also sings the jingle for the local Christian radio station "ninety one point niiiiine".

Here are a few pictures that have absolutely nothing to do with this post- thanks to our friend Jen Hunt whose photography talent is fantastic!

Ode to Andy Warhol

Do you think Andy Warhol started with sidewalk chalk?(in the odd case you're smoking something tasty, no, the kids didn't do that- it's my first successful attempt at artistry in 33 years)

Two quotes I need to share:
(at bedtime after praying for various friends)
Mommy: remember, God loves you and is with you all the time
Makena: No, you are with me all the time.

(as I questioned whether her jiggly-dancing was a sign she needed to go to the potty)
Mommy: are your panties still dry?
Makena: my panties are not wet, them are funny.
(translation: I'm good, I just have a wedgie.)

Our underutilized vacation spot

Brett's parents live on Badin Lake. Badin Lake is a mere 90 minutes from our door. Why, you may ask, have we not taken more advantage of this? I have no idea. For a while, at least one of the girls was in some developmental phase that presented challenges. Crawling on a weathered deck that needs some repair work...bad idea. An inability to maneuver down a challenging staircase...panic-attack inducing. A complete disregard for the sanity of Mamaw and Papaw's dog...well...we haven't progressed past that one yet, but we're working on it.
This past weekend, we took some friends with us. Makena, Reese and Cade ran themselves silly in the water, on the boat, in the house and in the yard. We kayaked, swam and, quite possibly the highlight of the entire weekend, caught our first fish!Makena and Aunt Holli on the boat
Reese loves boat ridesCheck this out! Makena should get used to riding Reese around on various vehicles...
And...for good measure...the catfish that cousin Ryan caught

Cloud Watching

It's hot. The high today was 99. I'm the first to admit my tolerance for heat would no longer lead anyone to believe I was raised in Texas. I've spent the better part of this week trying to come up with creative reasons why we can't play outside. Unfortunately, our kids are smarter than I. Double-unfortunately, they outsmarted me on the hottest day so far this year...at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Please pass the ice.
We went outside and splashed around in the pool for a while. Remarkably, the breeze and lack of humidity made it tolerable...until 5 minutes into our playtime when Makena declared that she was "done with outside" and wanted to "dry off inside". No way sister. We came out here to Africa and we're going to stay here.
Here comes the good part- we laid down on towels and looked up at the sky for thirty minutes! A three-year-old and an almost-two-year-old were mesmerized by the changing shapes in the (two) clouds in the sky, the passing airplanes, a few birds, the leaves on our big tree blowing in the wind and the moon (out for a mid-day adventure) for half an hour.
I can't explain why it was so special to me, but laying there doing absolutely nothing more than pointing out cloud shapes (most of which were so far from existing it was funny) and listening to the leaves rustle in the wind with two little people with open and excited minds was the highlight of my week so far. "A dragon!" was claimed by Reese when the wisp of leftover cloud was nothing more than two parallel lines. "A crocodile!" may have been discernable at one point, but not when Makena declared it. It didn't matter. A parade of horses, dragons, crocodiles and pigs went by- all with about this many clouds:

School, glorious School!!

We went to school today. Ahhhh. Even though we were only there to drop off the first month's tuition (insert sound effect of Jennifer and Brett getting punched in the gut), it was a much-needed reminder that I only have a month left before I gain two whole mornings to myself each week! I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it.
We really haven't been up to anything too terribly exciting. We're currently battling a combination of summer colds and 95 degree heat which translates to grumpy children begging to go outside and a mommy who would rather do anything than play in the oven that is the back yard. I'm going to have to get creative soon because their grumpiness plus my unwillingness to go outside results in our version of the WWF. I guess that matchup would be "The Terrible Three Year-Old versus The Redheaded Drama Queen". They're actually pretty equally matched. The unfairness comes when they involve the dogs. Poor dogs.
I noticed my age again this week. Some girlfriends and I went to the Counting Crows concert thinking that we'd be surrounded by people our own age. I mean, they busted onto the music scene 15-ish years ago, right? Somehow we were still surrounded by high-schoolers and oh my! aren't these young girls dressing like hussies these days?!? What are we in for in 15 years?
Thus concludes my random thoughts for Thursday's naptime.

Vive le Tour!

Let me begin by admitting that I am well aware of the fact that I embody the stereotype of the stupid American once-a-year cycling fan. I don't follow the sport throughout the year and I don't keep up with the riders (I've had to pick a rider at random to cheer for for the last two years)...but still...every July I get excited about the Tour de France. Maybe it's a carryover from my maternity leave with Makena (she was 2 weeks old- she didn't care that I watched the live broadcast from 8:30-11 every morning and its repeat airing at 2 and again at 8 each day- what else did either of us have to do during hour-long nursing sessions anyway??). Maybe it's the fact that I still desperately want to hold up a sports personality as a hero and I love Lance Armstrong. I don't know. What I do know is that Makena and Reese both ask if we're going to watch the "bicycle men" every morning lately. I truly wish I had the freedom to pay attention to the broadcast, but I don't. C'est la vie. (yes, that is all the French I know)