July

 Now that it's mid-August, I'll take a moment to look back on July!  The highlight of the month was our family beach vacation.  Here are some other tidbits. 

Jack works on our house on Saturdays.  On one of those days he had the boys help him throw these boxes together for our porch.  He used walnut flooring that was leftover from a job.  A little more stylish than the plastic tubs I had in mind.  Scroll down to see the final product.

 Before we get to the boxes, here are some cute Aidan pictures!

 Aidan dries off after his bath with his new towel from Aunt Lisa and Uncle Ed.  Look at that sweet smile!

 And back to the boxes....  the tall one is to hold bats and the like.  Most of the real estate is claimed by a vast arsenal of stick weapons.  The box can also serve as the drying rack for Jack's stinky running clothes.  hmmmmm

 This one holds balls

 Lauren dressing up in the mud room one morning

 When we were away on vacation, our chickens were naughty.  They got out of their coop all the time, giving our chicken sitter fits.  After our return, they calmed down a little, as if they suspected the game was up.  Even still, Jack and the kids had to spend some time each day rounding up chickens.  We have one chicken in particular, Fiester (appropriately named by Jakin), who gets out multiple times every. single. day.  I'm not sure what we're going to do about it.  Permanent coop with a fence over the top?  But at least we're getting eggs now, so that's compensates for the annoyance.  A little bit.

 The boys participated in our local soccer camp after the beach.  Corban was the MVP of his group!  yay!

 Another Aidan shot

 Sweet Lauren

 Visit from the Podszus family, Round 2.  I'm so so glad we were able to squeeze one more visit in with our friends on their way home to Kansas.  It's such a treat to see how much fun the kids have together. 

Lauren and Elsa

 Aidan and Asher

 Annie and Sophia - This relationship is special.  These girls don't just have fun together, they seem to really love each other.

 Lauren doesn't nap everyday anymore.  On this day, she just couldn't make it through without a little nap right on the couch.  And yes, she's dressed up like a pirate.  Maybe it was all of the looting and pillaging that wore her out.

Two more weeks of summer and I'm gearing up for school!

Atlantic Beach 2012

Vacations are always special.  But, there's something about a bi-annual vacation that makes me pause and savor each moment a little bit more.  We were back at Atlantic Beach this July after a two year break.  Perfect weather and great times with family.  My family has enjoyed many years of beach vacations.  The beach is always a good idea.

The dynamic duo.  Josiah (JoJo) and Aidan, both around one-year old, were so fun to be with for the week.  They are both learning to walk - such a fun age.  They usually sat next to each other for meals, and they liked to share food.

 Big walking boy!

 Jakin and Corban spent the first half of the week on the boogie boards that my parents bought for them at least six years ago.  Whatever they paid for those things was well worth it.

 More time with my cousins' kids.  They all have so much fun together.  There were many sand construction projects this week.

 Grandpa takes special delight in getting a grandchild on his lap and feeding him something like ice cream.

 With 35 people in our group this year (24 adults, 11 kids), there was always a lap to sit on!

 All 11 great-grandchildren of Joseph and Margaret Demko

 After a group dinner one night, my cousin pulled out the tattoos.  Who knew that a $2 purchase could make so much fun!  The kids (and some of the adults...) loved them!

Snacks on the beach

 Evening walks on the beach are the best.  Ed and Lisa swing JoJo - we have an identical picture of them doing this with Thomas two years ago.

 This was the favorite book of the week

 I was trying to take a picture of Corban, Andrew, and Jakin, but TJ wanted to be in it, too!

 Watching a helicopter go by

 Aidan is going to go get the helicopter

 Buddies!

 Aidan and his godparents.  All 15 of my immediate family were in one house - it was such a treat to be together for a whole week.  We're grateful, not only for our family, but that we really really like to be with our family!

 Another evening walk on the beach.  I think this was our last night

 The second half of the boys' week was spent on the skim boards.  They got to be pretty good!

 TJ and his daddy buried in the sand

 Another snack on the beach

Can't wait to go back!

Chincoteague Island

 We live in New England and we vacation bi-annually at a beach in North Carolina.  The particular house that my family stays in happens to have a Sunday check-in.  We've tried to take advantage of that "extra" day - Saturday before check-in - to do something fun on the way to NC.  Fortunately, there are lots of options.  We visited Williamsburg two years ago.  After being incredibly indecisive about where to go this year, we decided on Chincoteague Island.  And because sometimes our decisions don't involve very much planning or forethought, we made this decision after we already in the car driving south for a few hours.  But it worked out great!  We loved the area.  Since we only had one day, we felt like we could spend more time there some other time.   We didn't even see the wild ponies, after all. 

After breakfast Saturday morning, we rented bikes and rode the short distance over to Assateague National Wildlife Preserve (at least I think that's what it's called, but I don't have time to look it up because the troops are getting restless..).  It was a lovely time.  My shifting stages of life don't always allow for bike riding with my kids, but I'm so glad when I do have the opportunity to do it.  Aidan wasn't thrilled with the bike riding, but we've had to accept the fact that our kids, ranging in age from 1-11, won't always enjoy the same things.  You do what you can.

 The island light house.  We chose not to spend the $22 it would have cost for our family to walk up it, although we heard the views were very nice.

After riding for a while, we found the ocean.  My big kids hadn't been to the ocean for two years and Lauren didn't remember it at all.  It's always wonderful to return to the beach.

Aidan showed no fear of the water.  He was like a sea turtle, always turning back toward the water after we pulled him back.  All of the kids, of course, got soaked.  We went through an amazingly huge pile of clothes for one day.

Lauren's reaction was priceless.  She had one split second of fear of the waves coming in.  That fear was immediately replaced by utter joy when she realized that we were about to spend a week at the beach.  She squealed with delight.

Aidan was determined to catch the bird he saw down the beach.  He just kept crawling toward it.  I tried to turn him back toward the rest of the family, but he wouldn't have it.  He was going to catch the bird.  His tracks were so funny, with his little one leg-one knee crawling technique.

After fussing for a while, he finally zonked out in the bike trailer.  

Jack also took the kids crabbing and we had some great food and ice cream.  After our Saturday at CI, we were off to Atlantic Beach, NC on Sunday morning!  Pictures soon!