Ok, so if you have just joined us, The Wellons' have left Rhode Island. We over-packed our U-Haul and pointed it south. Thankfully, Jim was on board with an extended visit in NC with my family and (plus a week in Nags Head with his family). YEAH!!!!
Can I just tell you how much I LOVE the 4th of July in Swansboro?! I do!! Not that it is anything grand, I mean last year in Boston was more spectacular in scope for sure. Nothing beats working at the marina and seeing friends and then to top it off with some small town fireworks. The kids share my enthusiasm for spending the day helping out at the marina. The girls decided they were going to have a lemonade stand in front of the gas docks. Pretty prime location let me tell you! Lucy was quick to be "bought out" by Lilly, who manned it for 5 STRAIGHT HOURS! She pocketed close to $25.00 selling $0.50 a cup. IMPRESSIVE!
Ben, on the other hand decided to do some "man's work" and helped drive the forklift for a little bit. After a hard day's work, we hurried to Nanny's house to have some dinner and change into some festive outfits to watch the fireworks.
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| 4th of July Slushies!! |
Not everyone in the family has been overjoyed by our extended visit, Oscar was the lone hold out. By the 4th, Oscar had been an inside cat for almost 2 weeks. He was starting to get a bit antsy. I don't trust him not to run off into the corn field or the woods behind Nanny's house, so I hooked him up in a torture device harness and took him for a little walk. As is evident by this picture, it didn't go well and he and I came to an agreement that we would not attempt this particular outing again.
The following week was filled with trips to the beach to visit friends, VBS, boat rides, shark tooth hunting expeditions and of course the Water Bogan!!
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| Beach time with the Monclovas!! |
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| They NEVER get tired of this place |
Suddenly it is July 12th!! Daddy flies in on our sweet sweet Lucy's 7th birthday and of course that means we are going to Mac Daddy's to celebrate!
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| A much better job on Lucy's REAL birthday cake. | | | | | | |
One of the most exciting things that happened at Mac Daddy's is Lilly won 1,000 tickets!!! She was pretty excited, especially since the last time someone won big it was Lucy. I really need them to help me pick out some Lottery numbers. They are both lucky ducks! Hopefully we are not encouraging a gambling habit...
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| The Birthday girl gets to have a special ride in GiGi's red VW Bug |
Of course it wasn't all fun and games in Swansboro. I WAS actually productive! I gave LOTS of clothes to friends and family (got to make some room in that U-Haul somehow), and I was also able to get Jim's bumper repaired! Yeah me!!
With our time in Swansboro winding down, we were able to squeeze in one final visit with some more cousins who were kind enough to let us crash their party in the corn field!
Beach weeks in Nags Head are always fun. The days are always the same, beach, beach and more beach! This year we had a glorious week full of sunshine, warm water, the annual beach olympics, and lots of good times! Below is just a sample of the memories made.
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| Help getting out to the waves |
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| guarding the sand pit |
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| Lilly at Jockey's Ridge |
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| Celebrating our 10th Anniversary |
One of the highlights was driving down to Hatteras and climbing to the top of the lighthouse. I had done it years and years ago, but no one else had. This year the children were finally old enough to attempt it. So worth it!!
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| We made it to the top of the Lighthouse. What a VIEW |
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| Cape Hatteras |
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| Gaga, Mamama, and the brood! |
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| Last night! |
Sadly, the week had to come to an end. We had one last fantastic night and then threw our stuff back into the car and headed back to Swansboro to collect (the rest of) our stuff and of course Oscar. We had left Oscar with my parents while we were beaching it up. He tolerated my mom's cats while I was there but with me absent he reverted into his alter ego, "white death." We came up with that name because the other cats fear him and shudder when they hear him coming (grousing, hissing, meowing, spitting with each step). Within minutes of us arriving, we were enthusiastically greeted by a much calmer and more loving version of Oscar.
No time to lose, Jim and I switched into tetris packing mode and, after a short delay (and a few tears of frustration) we were able to get it all back in there with a tad more room to spare!! I know it doesn't look like it from this shot, but there are a few cubic inches to play with.
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| See, in the upper right corner - that is SPACE! |
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| Bye Nanny and Popa! Thanks for another great visit |
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| Amazing how good they can be when they "try" |
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| No "white death" here. All is good |
We made it to Pembroke Pines without a single incident! Jim had done a wonderful job setting up the house and we got to work right away setting up the kid's rooms. Daddy had built me two long low bases for the girls platform beds. This is how they look after stage 1. I have another part to attach before they will be complete, but so far so good. I am the only one in the family that can visualize what I want to do with their room even though I have flashed a photo of my inspiration to anyone and EVERYONE! So stay tuned...
Ben got a much-needed upgrade in the closet department. He is so lucky! He ALWAYS gets the better\bigger closet. This time he needs it because his room is TINY!! So I took the four small IKEA dressers I have been lugging around for years and painted over the pastel fronts with bold big boy colors! Jim was making fun of me because within 24 hours of arriving home I was in the front yard painting. So I like to paint - sue me!
After a week of unpacking box after box and making several trips to the storage unit AND Goodwill, we finally decided to take a break. Jim took us down to South Beach for the morning. I know, it feels like all we have done in the month of July was hang out at the beach in between exhaustive bouts of dealing with cardboard (which by the way, I have developed an extreme allergic reaction to). But trust me, this beach is more like what we were accustomed to before we moved to Rhode Island.
