Soccer begins!

Patrick had his team pictures the other day. This is him all dressed up and ready to play. His first game is August 28th. Look out! Here come the Junior Cyclones!

Practice. It is pretty amazing to see the coaches get all 8 players on Patrick's team to work on drills and scrimmages in an organized way.

Joslin is ready to run!

Lately...

Here are some pics from lately-

Joslin and Big Orange. Feel the love.

Lovin' the swing!

Patrick tries to watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory- with help from Joslin.

Picking blackberries out back. I don't think we ever brought any home- except in our tummies!

Patrick gets ready for his first trip off the diving board. He was so excited! This was taken the day after his trip to the ER so he had to wear a swim cap.

Not chickens...

Who is that coming down the road?

It's Joslin! She really enjoyed her ride down the road to see the new baby foal. She rode with me on the way there and with Jason on the way home. She was pointing to everything and wanting to hold the reigns. Nugget is such a good boy!

I may have to change our website to something about chickens! They are taking over!

For Jan

Chickens in the garden shoo, shoo, shoo!
(I have that little song stuck in my head now)

Fenp

First Egg!

New pet?

Turtle Nest

Back and still recovering from a week on Oak Island. We celebrated my parents wedding anniversary...40 years!

The porch and walkway to the beach from the house. Meredith, Patrick, Madeline, Jason and Joslin head out.

Jason and Joslin head over the dune to the beach.

Patrick and Meredith enjoy the waves.

Papa reads a book to the kids before their first night in NC.

A trip on the ferry over to Kure Beach to visit the aquarium.

After the aquarium we went to eat in Wilmington. Joslin says arms up everyone!
(I love little baby arms!)

One of the coolest things- One night a turtle had come ashore to make her nest! There are nest watchers that patrol the beach and they had already been out to mark the nest but we could still see her tracks up and down the beach. We saw a total of 3 marked nests but only one was actually laid while we were there. So amazing.

Mama turtle tracks in the sand.

Patrick in his little race car! Who needs a castle?

Joslin says there are very important things to look at down there!

One night we let the kids stay up way too late and we went crab hunting (or screaming)! There are ghost crabs all over the beach. We would spot them with a flashlight and the kids would go running after them. Occasionally we were able to catch one before it scurried into the ocean. Lots of squeals and excitement each time one was spotted. The crabs were lucky- none of the kids wanted to touch them and they were all returned to the beach.

Chasing after a crab!

Papa brought a big squirt gun down thinking he would surprise the kids one day as they returned from the beach. Patrick got a hold of it though. He hid behind the towels hanging on the railing and waited for Papa to come up to rinse off his feet. Fortunately, Papa does not hear really well so he could not hear Patrick giggling. Patrick popped out from behind the towels and started squirting Papa! Papa had the advantage of the hose but Patrick was persistent and got Papa at close range until the squirt gun was empty. Lots of laughing and giggles!

We also did some shopping, ate out, took a kayaking trip and relaxed... I actually read 4 books while were there! (Thanks Kami!) A wonderful vacation with excellent company.