Back in the Panhandle

Before you could turn around, it seemed the second week in Swansboro was over; time to pile back in the car and head south.  Somehow I was able to talk Nanny and Gigi into riding back with us – boy are they gluttons for punishment.  On the morning of our departure we were able to squeeze in one last group photo.  Nephews Will and Ward were supposed to join us, but sleep is always a priority over family and so we weren’t offended.

We made it to the outskirts of Beaufort, SC before we stopped for the night.  Gigi was great at manning the DVD player and so for the most part the kids were plugged into movies and Leapsters.  Maybe that is why everything took a turn for the worse once the car finally stopped moving.  Lucy and Ben were like children possessed!  I had to leave the dinner table with them TWICE EACH before we left.  The night at the hotel wasn’t much better.  But we survived – barely!

First thing we had to do upon arrival was give Lucy her birthday presents.  I had forgotten to do that before we left.  I have to give Lilly credit, she picked them out and was actually able to keep it a secret, as far as I know.

Nanny and Gigi spent the rest of the week with us taking in the sights.  Jim tried to arrange a boat trip but they passed, I can’t imagine why!  All to soon I put them on a plane and they headed north.  And we still had 2 weeks before school.  I am not sure how I am going to handle that next year when the kids don’t start until after Labor Day!  That just feels wrong.

Lilly was able to move up to the next size bike.  I am so thankful because the bikes that come with training wheels do not come with kick stands.  I understand you don’t need a kick stand when you have training wheels, but eventually the goal is for the wheels to come off and then you just have a jumbled up mess in your garage.  Of course that might have something to do with the fact that we have 9 bikes in our garage along with WAY too many boxes, tables, scooters (which also need some type of stand) and play vehicles.  But I digress.  We are having a yard sale in a few weeks and I hope to off load several tons of pre-loved Wellons stuff.  Getting back to Lilly and her bike, she is of course excited about it and takes great pride (and immense pleasure) in rubbing the fact that Lucy and Ben are still riding “baby” bikes.  Yes, she is known for her kindness and empathy.

FINALLY school starts!!!  I am way more excited about it then they are, which is saying something!  Lilly is a morning person, Lucy is NOT.  In order to get them (read Lucy) ready for the whole “getting to school on time” regime I spent the whole week before school started getting them up and having them do their morning routine complete with getting to the bus stop.  The first day at 7:45 we arrived at the bus stop in our PAJAMAS!!  No hair brushed, no teeth brushed and no shoes.  Being the mean momma that I am, I made them get out of the car and stand where we would stand to wait for the bus.  They were not happy.  All the neighbors thought I was crazy. Ha ha but it paid off the very next day because both girls were ready for the bus alarm.  Same can be said for Wednesday and Thursday, but sadly Lucy backslid on Friday and arrived at the bus stop in her PJ's and an empty belly. 

Here we are heading into Orientation with backpacks full of new school supplies! 

 

Picture of Lilly in front of her classroom door.

Picture of Lucy in front of her classroom door.

Proud PlewPanthers



And finally we got to the first day of school!!!  I drove them in on the very first day because I wanted to walk Lucy to her door like I did for Lilly the year before.  I shouldn’t have bothered.  She gave me a quick kiss told me bye then turned and RAN into the classroom.  I barely got out the words “you are riding the bus home” before the door slammed in my face.  Lilly on the other hand wanted me to walk her into her classroom and probably put her in her seat.  We said our goodbyes at the door.  I reminded her to look for her sister on the bus and to not let the bus driver leave unless Lucy was there.  I had no worries that Lucy wouldn’t be on the bus, but you just never know with that girl.

After all the excitement of the first day, we FINALLY got to see if all our hard work getting to the bus stop was going to pay off.  IT DID!!!  Girls made it there fully clothed with shoes on and with their lunches and backpacks.  WHEW!

Ben was ready for his 1^st day of preschool as well.  He had not particularly enjoyed his last day with Momma like I had hoped.  All day he moped around wondering aloud why it was he wasn’t in school.  So after the girls got on the bus we headed home to get him dressed and packed up.  Here he is getting ready to walk into the school.  He was pretty excited until we got to his room door and then he put on the brakes.  Not because he didn’t want to go in, but he wanted his classroom to be upstairs with the big boys and girls.  I had to walk into the classroom with him wrapped around my legs like an octopus wrapped around a rock.  I peeled him off and basically bolted towards the door with a backward “Have a great day!” to his teachers.  I knew he would be fine as soon as I got out of earshot so I didn’t stick around just in case he wasn’t!!!  I WAS FREE!!!!  The first time in almost 6.5 years that I did not have a small child with me for the bulk of the day!!!  What to do, what to do; nap, go to the beach, clean the house (boo), read a book, nap (did I already say that).  Well I did not go to the beach, but I did go to the gym and clean 2 rooms in the house before picking up Ben at 2:30.  All in all I feel that I have adjusted nicely to school starting.

We're Back!!

So we survived the week at Nags Head, or rather the rest of the family survived us!!  So we dropped Daddy off at the airport in New Bern so he could get back to work and we made a bee line back to Swansboro.

Originally we were only going to spend the week prior to the beach week at home due to an early school start.  However a change to a later start date and a few days of dropping some well placed hints not to mention bribing my mom and sister into agreeing to drive back to Florida with us and we got to extend our visit!! 

This time around the visit had a more leisurely feel to it.  I had signed them up for some swim lessons.  I could be the typical mom here, but I really do think they have some talent in the pool.  If not, at least they look good!

Of course we went BACK to the Water Boggan.  This time with Will and Ward in tow.  They were good sports about it.  We were able to get all three to go down the big slides.  Ben made it around the corner OFF his mat and hit the water sideways.  He got to the steps and said, through the tears, that he wasn’t going to do that again!  Lucy fared much better, but didn’t seem to too excited about doing it for the entire hour.

Lilly, as expected, LOVED it!!  She even agreed to go down the tubes but she wasn’t tall enough. 

No trip to the Crystal Coast would be complete without going to the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.  Granted we had just visited the one in Roanoke Island, but I am partial to this one.

One of the nice things about not having a schedule to keep is just being able to hang out and enjoy what Swansboro has to offer.

All too quickly the week ended and we were faced with the LOOOONNNGGG drive home.

Off to Nags Head

After a week in Swansboro, we headed up to Nags Head to spend a week at the beach with all the cousins!! The kids were super excited to see everyone and they could not WAIT to get there and do some seriously playing on the beach. No wait, that was Jim.

The house we were staying at was HUGE which is good because there were a lot of us!

We quickly fell into a routine of beach during the morning, beach all afternoon and a movie for the kids at night.

For the past several beach trips Jim had wanted to try body surfing with the kids. While I was able to talk him out of it (again) he was not to be totally deterred. He bought a raft. The water was cold! I mean take your breath cold! I was shocked at the difference in water temperature from Swansboro to Nags Head. Since the water was so chilly, Jim had quite an obstacle to get the kids on the raft to ride the waves.

hang on Lucy!

when does the fun start

As is evident, Lucy was not a big fan and surprise surprise neither was Ben. After the initial shock Lilly and the older cousins really seemed to enjoy it. And by enjoy it, I mean they tolerated Jim’s repeated attempts to force them into the frigid waters by throwing them over his shoulders to get them past the breakers and then kicking like a mad man to catch the waves back to the beach. Yes, they LOVED it.

Jim claims another victim

Lilly learned how to hula hoop while on this trip. I know, she is almost 7 but the girl could not do it. It is surprisingly hard to try to teach kids to do several kid activities. The ones that have stumped me thus far are: hula hoop, jump rope, operating a walkie talkie and pumping their legs when they swing. The list grows daily. I was expecting problems with tying shoe laces and braiding, but the jump rope and walkie talkie were new ones for me. It is stand up comedy worthy; at least from our kids.

mid hula

It isn’t all fun and games at the beach, sometimes you just have to sit back and enjoy the view while you hydrate.

We also left the house a few times. There were excursions to the Aquarium, Wright Brother’s Memorial and a little restaurant up the street that served their version of the Shirley Temple in a tall glass and a plastic shark. When you squeeze the shark, the grenadine oozes out of its mouth. A BIG hit with the kids!

Ben after one too many shark bites

We had aspirations of getting a family picture taken, but that didn’t happen. This is as close as we got.

The week ended without sunburns or too many mishaps. We put daddy on a plane back to Florida and the kids and I headed back to Swansboro for summer visit 2.0