Beach Day

We didn't get to squeeze in as many beach days this summer as we would have liked (I am pretty sure we say that every year), but we did have a great time every time we went.  My favorite beach is Topsoil.  It is calm, peaceful, and mostly empty!

My perfect beach weather is that it is so hot outside of the water that you are forced to get in to cool off.  This day was perfect.

Phoenix's Birthday Party

I pulled a "I am too lazy to throw a party at our house this year", and convinced let Phoenix have his party at Monkey Joes.  It actually took a lot more convincing than I thought it would.  That said, I think Phoenix was very happy with how his party turned out.

Here he is with her best bud, Ace.  They are in the same class in kindergarten!

Phoenix wanted to have party hats,which were surprisingly hard to track down (unless you wanted Barbie or Spiderman).  He also designed the cupcakes himself, each one had a new (and washed) car on it. 

This picture of Monkey Joe lifting him up always makes me laugh...

 He got to go in the ticket booth and won over $20 worth of merchandise, he was thrilled.

He really wanted a Hennessy Venom theme (the car you see on his shirt), so we did our best to work that into his party.  I tried doing the transfer of a printed image onto his shirt, and he was SO excited to see the shirt!  I put a 5 on the back (I had a 3 on the back of his shirt for his Lighting McQueen party and he requested I do the same with a 5).  It was so nice, we just showed up, had fun, and then left.  I think I spoiled myself this year!  Phoenix had all of his best friends there, and everyone had a great time!

Camping at Jordan Lake

We decided to go camping on a short, overnight trip at a nearby campground.  After we set our campsite up, we went fishing at the lake off the shore.

At one point, Phoenix came running over to me, not quite crying, but almost.  He had gotten stung by a yellow jacket.  I told him to stop playing over where he had been.  He didn't listen.  After two more stings from yellow jackets, he stopped playing in that area.  Some people have to figure things out for themselves. 

Audrey crafted this horse out of the driftwood on the beach.  She is so creative, and she really does have an artist's eye.  She loved "riding" on it!

Check out the fish that I caught!  If I remember correctly, each one of us got to reel in a fish!  

As always, Travis got to do all of the dirty work.

We roasted hot dogs, ate s'mores, and started a fun family tradition of telling scary stories.  It was a fun, quick trip.  The next morning, just as we had finished packing up, it started raining.  It was a bit warm, a bit humid, and the bugs were so loud it was almost deafening...but all of that is to be expected in the NC summer.

Phoenix's School Birthday

Phoenix's birthday was the day after school started, so we brought in some Krispy Kreme donuts during lunch a few weeks after.  

Phoenix loves him some mandarin oranges...he always drinks the juice first.  

Audrey loves visiting the school...now that she doesn't go there.

Phoenix helped me pass the donuts out, and it was surprisingly much harder with his help than it would have been without it (I think it had something to do with keeping things sanitary if you catch my drift).