June,
it is finally (finally) June!!! The month I have been looking forward
to since last July!!! As soon as school is out, the kids, cat and I will
be hitting the road to NC!! Sorry Jim. He isn't really surprised.
Before I even got here last summer, he was telling me to plan on
spending the summer in NC. I think he regrets saying that!! But first
we have some last minute South Florida stuff to attend too.
We
have a mango tree in our backyard. Apparently the tree did not produce
much fruit last year and Jim expected a bumper crop this year. Of
course none of us have any experience with mangoes so who knows. Jim
didn't move into this house until first of July last summer and by the
time he got here - no mangoes. So we stumbled blindly into mango
season. Once we saw what appeared to be ripe mangoes, Jim borrowed a
tree saw from our friends and started the harvest. Originally the kids
were tasked with catching the falling mangoes with their bare hands. We
all know how that ended.
Next up, they employed a bait net. Similar results.
Well
at the end of the day, we got some mangoes. None of us know if they
are under ripe or if we should have let them turn red on the tree. All I
know is I am not taking any of them to NC. Not that I don't like
mangoes, just can't spare the room in the car!
I
have kept you in suspense long enough. Third Grade Awards Day!! Lilly
is super duper excited. We all are. I am not going to lie to you. I
just had to know if Lilly got an AR award. I mean, if she didn't I
would need the extra time over the weekend to soften the blow. I didn't
need the time however, because she got third!! One of the AR
coordinators was like "who is this Wellons family? They certainly are a
bunch of readers." Ha! We are also quite competitive, not always a
good combination.
One
thing I did not know was whether or not she would get honor roll. She
was convinced she would, but I was not. I shouldn't have doubted her!
 |
| AR Champions! |
So it is FINALLY the
last week of school!!! Only thing left to do is have the end of the
year parties and we are out of here! I came up with a few orange things
to go along with "Orange you glad it is summer" theme. I know, I know I
spend WAY too much time on Pinterest. I didn't want to leave out the
crossing guards. We have taken a liking to them and I just wanted to
show my appreciation for their dedication so I came up with the water
bottle and a "stay cool" towel.
One
of the last events for the girls' Brownie troop was to earn a badge for
community service for performing a flag ceremony at a pre-school
graduation. We picked up Nanny from the airport and before she could
even unpack we dragged her off to be a witness. Poor Nanny. Just the
beginning of her woes I have a feeling. Good thing she is such a
trooper!
At
last, at last it is the last day of school!! Normally I am not this
excited about having the kids home every day for 2 1/2 months, but this
year we are escaping the brutal South Florida summer so an exception can
be made.
Since
it was a half day, we decided to treat ourselves and head on over to
one of the city parks that just happens to have a giant water park
inside. Maybe I am just crazy, but I have never heard of paying
admission for a city park. Apparently it is pretty common around here,
because we have been to MANY parks that charge admission. This one you
basically have to pay twice, once to get in and then an additional fee
to use the water park. However, it did not disappoint. We met up with
some friends and splashed the afternoon away! In addition to the four
giant slides there was a lazy river and a huge water park/splash pad
area. We will be back!
A
few weeks ago, Ben came home with a sunflower seedling. I will admit, I
did not have high hopes that we would be able to keep it alive. It was
in pretty bad shape by the time we got out of the car. To my complete
surprise, not only did it live, it has thrived! For at least a week
before school got out it had a bud just waiting for the perfect time to
bloom. Of course the morning of our drive north it burst open. What a
perfect way to start the morning and our trip!
Thankfully
Mom did fly down so she could drive up with us. I feel pretty
confident we could have made it by ourselves, but it was nice to have
the backup. Jim wanted to get one last group photo before we loaded up
the car and headed north. I think he is beginning to regret telling me I
could do this. Last Photo opportunity at our home until end of July,
people!
The
car is packed to the gills, I even had to employ some bungee cords to
make sure the bags didn't avalanche over onto Ben. The Thule on top of
the car was full of items that will not be returning with us, so
hopefully it won't be as crowded on the return trip. Or at least that
is the "plan".
 |
| Oscar quickly got into his travel mode. |
We made it to
Jacksonville, FL in 5 1/2 hours. Not great, but not terrible either.
We had an uneventful evening in a hotel and pressed on to Cary, NC
arriving just about 4:00pm.
Jim's parents met us at his sister's house and we offloaded the
children and Mom and I headed east towards home. It was a LOOONNGGG day
in the car. But worth it to sleep in Swansboro that night. Oscar
wasn't particularly excited to be rooming with Mom's cats again. On the
plus side he had much better accommodations this year. In summers past
he has to stay in the garage for a few days but now the back porch has
been glassed in. He enjoyed his time in solitary confinement much
more. The next few days passed much too quickly for both me and the
kids. They were busy visiting Gaga and Mamama in Victoria and seeing
the local sites in South Side Virginia while I was spending my time down
at the marina trying to finish up some paperwork and backing up files.
The kids had a wonderful time with Gaga and Mamama, who always take
them on the best adventures. This year they took the kids on a day trip
to Jamestown and Williamsburg (they are crazy) and the kids are still
talking about their trip to the fort, Pocahontas, John Smith, etc. The
kids also had a great time with their Aunts Sallie and Lindley, who gave
them a fun tutoring session and taught them about journaling (which the
kids are still doing, kind of). Apparently they played a lot of golf
too because Ben won't stop telling us about that. His favorite part was
the golf cart we think. Thank you so much Gaga and Mamama, you are the
greatest! All too soon I was returning from Cary with the children.
We made it back in time to enjoy the free Sunday night concerts downtown.
|
| Kids are really looking forward to starting their Swansboro adventures. |
We
had a week to play and get ready for everyone's first summer camp
experience. Papa Dub took us for a high speed boat ride. We got up to
58 mph! The kids loved it, but it was super loud!
A
few of the guys who work at and around the marina had offered to take
the kids surfing. So we started our week off with an early morning surf
session. Let's just say the Atlantic Ocean in NC is a FAR cry from the
Atlantic Ocean at South Beach. Lucy said "No Way!" and Ben after a few
less then stellar attempts joined her in just playing in the tide pool.
Lilly however, was a trooper. The waves, in the end, proved to be too
rough for her, but she was able to stand up a few times and ride some
waves in after a well timed push. She is our little adventurer.
Something to build on!
Finally
it is the day the girls have been waiting for, well maybe me more than
them. The first day of camp at Camp Don-Lee! I attended this camp as a
child and really (really) wanted them to enjoy it as much as I did and
want to return year after year. My sister wanted to go with me and we
honored a camp tradition of feeding the gulls on the Cherry Branch
Ferry. It was nice to have Gregg along because I could take one girl
and she could take the other and get them each set up for the week. I
definitely picked up some ideas for next year as far as clothes storage
and added a few items to my must-haves for camp in the future.
I
shouldn't have wasted a second worrying. The girls took to camp like
ducks to water! They had a BALL! See if you can pick them out in the
photo below. I will give you a hint. They are both in the first two
rows.
Ben
had his first camp experience the following day. He too was equally
excited and a little scared, but he had the added security of having
some built-in buddies to pal around with. My good friends were also
sending their boys. For some reason he likes this hat, which is really
for a toddler.
Momma got another kid-free week! Well technically that isn't true, but from 8:00 to 4:00 I was kid-free and that is two hours longer than the school day so I will take it! Of course after 4:00 it was just Ben so that almost felt like kid-free too!
Meanwhile,
Oscar has expanded his confinement to taking supervised walks around
the grounds in addition to spending his days upstairs on my bed. He
really seemed to resent the fact that he could not go outside whenever
he wanted but considering he spends the bulk of his time in Florida
either on my bed or inside my closet, it is hard to feel that sorry for
him. Also I didn't put the harness on him like I did last year, so he
should be thanking me for that as well! He is spoiled rotten.
Jim rolled into town on Wednesday night for a good friend's change of command at Cherry Point. He was able to come with me to pick up Ben from Camp Albemarle on Friday
afternoon. Originally the camp was going to host a big family style get
together complete with S'mores and songs around the camp fire, however a
huge storm moved in about an hour before that was slated to occur. Jim
and I arrived early and were just waiting in the car for when a HUGE
bolt of lightening hit the ground about 50 yards in front of the car. I
have never been that close to a lightning strike before. We could feel
the waves of energy pulsing out from the strike. We both looked at
each other and said, well I can't repeat exactly what we said, but it
was time to go! A few days later someone posted this picture of the
same bolt but from a different angle then the one we had. It looks like
it hit the tree, but it didn't.
All too quickly it is Saturday
and we are picking up the girls from camp. Thankfully, I had Jim with
me so one parent could pack up one child. He got the better end of the
deal because he chose Lilly. When he arrived at her cabin, Lilly was
sitting by the door with all her bags packed and ready to go. That was
not at all the reception I received when I stopped at Lucy's cabin.
That was more like a yard sale gone horribly wrong! Her stuff was
strung all over that room. I made them check the clothes lines and the
bathhouse and still we managed to come home missing a few items. Most
of the clothes I sent were items that if I never saw again would be no
great loss with the exception of one article, the rain jacket. Care to
guess which item Lucy lost? I am still trying to "let that go." It is
surprisingly hard. Especially since it was pink and not going to be
passed down to Ben. Sigh.
On
a lighter note, Lucy made a new friend at camp and we happened to be on
the same returning ferry so we got a bit more time to play. Come to
find out, they spend quite a bit of time in Beaufort over the summer so
there is a chance for some play dates while we are in NC - BONUS!!
As we typically do, we doubled booked on Saturday
- shock! A group of friends (the Austins) who we haven't seen in years
were over in Emerald Isle for the week and so we threw all the camp
stuff in the garage and high-tailed it over there to hang out with them
for the rest of the day into the evening. The rain finally broke and we
were able to take a walk on the beach before heading back to Swansboro.
Daddy had to fly back to Miami the next day, but he would be back for
the 4th!
On our way back from dropping Daddy off at the airport, I met Mom to transfer the children to her car because Sunday
was the first day of NANNY CAMP! We were unable to participate last
year except for one day, so thankfully this year we were better able to
time our visit. Nanny camp is when my mom and her two sisters have all
the grandchildren (except my sister's two who have aged out at 23 and 19 -
ha ha ha) over at the farm house for a few days. My crowd did not
spend the night at the farm house but we did try to eat meals and
participate in all the activities. Sunday's was a bounce house extravaganza. I took mom's shift at the marina and the kids bounced to their heart's content.
The
last item on our agenda for June was to hit the Water Boggan. Every
DAY Ben had been asking if today was the day we would be able to go and I
was finally able to say YES! Nanny Camp did not include the Water
Boggan, instead they went to an indoor arcade/bowling alley called Mac
Daddy's. We always do that for Lucy's birthday and so I was not too
broken up about skipping that. We met up with my friend Jill and her
children and we bogganed until we couldn't boggan any more. As soon as
we finished, Ben asked when we were going back! Ha sooner than you
think Ben, sooner than you think.
