Adventures in Wellonsland: Still technically homeless

It is July, in Swansboro. That means a visit with the Monclovas!! We missed them last year so this year was highly anticipated, by me at least! Shouldn't have worried, the kids fell into each other's arms like they had just seen each other the day before. Ahhhh, I love it when it is easy! Now that we are back on the east coast, hopefully there will be more visits with these guys.

Our fourth of July is pretty typical. Kids have a lemonade stand. We work at the marina. Walk downtown after dark to watch the fireworks. It was nice. Until the fire on the island where they were shooting off the fireworks. Apparently one of the canons caught on fire and suddenly everything stopped. We could see the island burning. One of the technicians was injured but it wasn't life threatening.

Wesley wasn't a fan of the fireworks, but earlier in the day he was relaxed enough to get a pedicure from the girls.

Meanwhile, Jim is still hanging in DC. Don't feel sorry for him that he isn't with us for the 4th. He got to go to a picnic for military families on the grounds of the White House!

Although we are sad we didn't get to spend the 4th with Jim at the White House, we did get to spend it with extended family! I am so thankful all the cousins (on both sides) get along so well!

It is finally time for Camp!! We made a deal with the kids last year that they could go to camp for 2 weeks this year, but we have had to push that to next year because we have the opportunity to go to Cape Cod again at the end of the month and we just don't have time to do both. Jim was able to join Gigi and I for drop off this year, for the first time ever. He SWEARS he has done drop off before, but it must have been with his other family, because no one else remembers that.

This year Lucy and Ben each have a friend joining them at camp this year and Lilly will have her cousin George in her group. Gigi and I were super excited to FINALLY get to see a childhood friend who is a Captain for the Cherry Branch/Minnesott Beach leg. We have been doing this for several years now and have never been lucky enough to catch him. We even got to ride in the wheelhouse on the way back!

It looks like the kids had a blast! I picked up a few of the pictures from their week long stay.

Jim came back down to treat me to an early anniversary dinner and a night out on the town before we picked up the kids early the next morning. Really the reason he came into town was to try to find me a new car. Our 2009 Traverse made it across the country earlier in May with flying colors. It must have been pure luck, because as soon as it made it to Swansboro it died. The dealership tried to resuscitate it but to no avail. We got to check out a few potential models before picking up the kids. The search continues...

Lucy celebrated her 12th birthday while at camp. I was hesitant to do that at first, but she insisted she did not mind at all. Of course she knew we would celebrate upon her return. As usual we headed over to Mac Daddy's for some excellent dinner and games. This year we added bowling to the mix but weren't able to fit in go-karts, much to Ben's chagrin. Lucy is fully embracing her pre-teen angst. Pray for everyone but especially me.

Last full week in Swansboro! We crammed it full baby! We hit the Water Boggan or the Salty Pirate or whatever they renamed it. It will forever be the Water Bogan for me! We were joined by Stephanie, Fa, and Mary Hardy AND two friends from our time in Yuma - Teal and her mother Stacy! Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and had to leave early - no worries, got a rain check for next summer! We also got some more tubing in. As well as a visit to the NC Aquarium and Beaufort.

Jim drove down for a third time. This time it was to buy a car mainly and to take sure we actually moved to VA. We ended up with another Traverse. Mainly because that was the closest dealership he could drive our old one under it's own power. We really really looked at the new Subaru Ascent and the Volkswagen Atlas. But we were under the gun so the Traverse it is. Truthfully, the new model is pretty cool. Unfortunately there was a glitch and we ended up with a demo for the drive up. The plan is to bring our car up later on in the week once a sensor is replaced.

These two aren't excited at all to be back in the car. I promise guys, it won't be a marathon run this time. Just a few hours. We had planned on boarding the pets at a local PetSmart boarding facility, but once we got there they weren't allowed because of some missing shots. Even though we had furnished the shot record earlier and were given the all clear. GRRRR. Oh well. We will be fine. Not only did my mother come up to help us get settled, but also Jim's parents! I am not sure they have recovered yet. It is crazy when the movers are coming in so fast with boxes that need to be placed in the proper room. Couple that with a partial unload and that makes for a LLLOOONNNGGG day. Ugh. But one smart thing we did do was to rent a POD for a month. That was GENIUS!! Not sure how the neighbors feel about it, but it was a life saver for us.

In typical Wellons fashion, we over booked. What seems like forever ago we accepted an invitation from Jim's sister's in-laws to join the family for a week in Chatham. We have done this a couple of times and it is always fantastic!! However, when we accepted we thought we were moving into the house earlier in July. That didn't happen. So only after 4 days of living among mountains of cardboard boxes, we jumped ship for a week and head to Cape Cod! I know, I know, that sounds crazy. It was totally crazy and it was totally WORTH IT!! Oh it wasn't without a few hiccups, one being my car wasn't going to be delivered and we were going to use the demo for at least another week. Are we sure this car purchase was a good idea? Oh well, too late now!! Off we go to Chatham!

As is evident in the preceding pictures, everyone had a blast and all the kids got along famously. They are all so big now!! When did that happen? We barely had to do anything except feed them! Every night they would walk down to the beach or the candy manor. One night they even went out for pizza. I could get used to this!

Of course you can't go to Chatham without having the family Olympics. The families were split up into two teams, complete with team shirts! I was somehow able to manage to get out of competing this time around - my shoulder is thankful. The culmination of the Olympics is always the greased watermelon game. I am pretty sure I95ers beat the Chatham Chompers or rather CRUSHED them (can you tell which team I was on)? Of course Jim (a Chomper) reminded me that his team took the overall victory. Lucy was in beast mode!