Last game of the season....

Sunday was our last Hoppers game of the season. How can it be? We saw a lot of spring games, but have been traveling so much lately we've missed a lot of opportunities to cheer on our Hoppers. Sunday was a perfect night to go and the kids were so excited! We stopped at the new statue out front on our way in. Julia is in love with Hopper. She spends most of the game tracking his whereabouts. This replica was perfect, but still a little intimidating...Miss Babe was much more her size....Carter loves baseball THIS much!
Hopper started the game in our section and Julia was quickly waving, though she still keeps her five foot distance. maybe next year she'll give him a hug.
Carter, baseball-dreamin' He is so in his element. Both the kids sit and watch the entire game cheering all the while. Though Julia's watching includes sufficient snacking. We went all out for the last game. They shared dippin dots, an icee, popcorn, peanuts, and a pretzel. That girl loves to eat!
It was a great night and the Hoppers played hard. They had several home runs and strong rallys. They were down by one when we left in the bottom of the eighth (it was 10:30), but big Mike Stanton came out with a home run in the bottom of the 9th and the Hoppers won! We followed it on the web once we got home. What a great family night!
See ya next year Hoppers! Thanks for the memories!

It must be a sign...

As many of you know I'm back in school this semester at good old GTCC. I can't complain- it's close, affordable, and counts for credit. In order to renew my VA teaching license I have to take two 3-hr courses every 5 years. I cannot believe 5 years has come and gone already. I was pregnant with Carter last time-I know he's turning 5 soon- my husband reminded me last night that that is in 4 months!! Are you crazy- can't be true! Though the nice part about homeschooling is you get to avoid the dreaded first day drop off at kindergarten. It makes the process seem much more gradual and I don't feel like my days with him are numbered :)

Anyway, my experiences at GTCC are always interesting. They are a great little school and growing every year. It has filled many niches in the community with job training, transfer credits, career switches, early college, and continuing ed. But it is still community college and the majority of students are half my age and not always very motivated. I must say I enjoy the relaxed learning environment without the intensity and competition I felt in HS and at W&M. I don't need added stress in my life- especially the kind you have to pay for. This year I am taking Developmental Psych and The New Testament. I have to say these are two courses I am interested in regardless of the "requirement". I am limited in what I can take because it can't be any courses I've had, my major, minor, concentration, or education. I'm left with astronomy, religion, and psychology. Fortunately that worked out again this time.

I always dread the initial registration. It requires getting up early and spending 4 hours in line to be "walked through" the process by an academic counselor. They don't let you register online unless you're regularly enrolled. Then they have to override the system because I don't need the prereqs the high school grads need. This year I got to do it twice because I had to come back for day 2 when a space opened in the online course I wanted. Then I get to do the whole student thing waiting in line to pay at financial aid, getting a picture id, paying for a parking pass, and the beloved bookstore. Now don't get me wrong, I love books and am a sucker for new school supplies, even at my age. But dropping $600 in one day for 2 classes and books hurts a little. I got my books and headed to the register. My Mastercard would not go through. The cashier kept saying, it's not being declined- just referred- you'll have to call when you get home, sorry. I started to worry about identity theft, unauthorized purchases, etc. Don't worry it was none of the above. We called when I got home.......................

........................."uncharacteristic transaction. According to your profile and spending habits, you're too old to be buying books in a community college bookstore." My sentiments exactly! Now tell that to the state of VA and they should let teachers keep their licenses or at least not make us pay out of pocket for the "privilege of being allowed to teach". (Tell that to anyone in the business world and they laugh at you. "You mean teachers don't have expense reports?" Sorry, I'll stop now.) It's a sign.

I digress. So, we are back in school mode for ALL of us. I was fortunate to get my religion class online which works well with my late night habits and kids' schedules. The other is on Tuesday nights. My husband and friends have filled in fabulously to make this possible (and I won't have to miss any of the kids sports or activities). It hasn't been too bad. So far we've watched 2 videos and gotten out early both times- I think I can handle that :) And I will suffer through all the professor's "lectures" about having goals in life, time management, not growing up to work at McDonalds, and waiting until you're married to have kids. I must say though, I'm not the oldest student in the class this time which is nice. Well, I have to go study for a quiz.......

Savoring Summer

Happy Birthday Daddy!! We 've had a great day celebrating daddy's birthday. It started with a yummy breakfast and then the kids spent the day getting things ready. They both made him cards and Carter actually wrote the card himself this year- so sweet. He wrapped Daddy's presents all by himself and then hid them all to make a treasure hunt for him. It's so exciting to see him get into it himself this year. He couldn't wait for Daddy to get home and must have opened the door 12 times to see if he was here yet :) We enjoyed a great date night, while Carter was at Awana, at wonderful steak house. Afterward we all devoured our Carvel ice cream cake!It's been a great week of family time for us as we savor the last days of summer. I truly cannot believe it's almost September. It seems like we just started July! We went to WetNWild last week with some friends. I had mentioned earlier how closely Carter watched the Olympics. As soon as we got there, he put on his goggles and started jumping in backwards. Then he'd run out and stand on the side- pretending to shower!- just like the Olympic divers. He soon had Lily in on the act. It was hysterical to watch....
He turned out to be quite a gutsy driver. I was impressed with his spins and twists........


Saturday night we got a chance to go back with Daddy- just the 4 of us. We all had a blast. The weather was cool, the water was warm, and we had time to kick back and just have fun together...
And any good Saturday night in our house includes pizza. Julia was looking like quite the starlet...

Sunday, we all went to church in the morning. the kids moved up to their new classes. i cannot believe we have 2 kids in the preschool wing AND this is Carter's last year! When did they grow up?! They both love their new classes and teachers and had a great morning. We're excited about the new marriage series Pastor Don started today. It looks to be a real blessing.

Sunday afternoon we headed to a local park for a small Christian music festival. It was a perfect family event. The kids were excited to be at a new park....
Julia dove right in to the free snocones......
Carter really got into the free building set (thanks Lowes!)
Remember these from our childhood playgrounds! Carter and Julia both loved it. I must say, it's not as much fun to spin around as an adult :)

Now for the actual "beach".....

We love everything about the beach- the sun, the sand, the ocean, the waves, the crabs and birds, the shells, the sounds, the smells, the sunsets. The kids are growing to love it all now, too. We had beautiful weather, only one day of rain. The waves were great- a mix of calm days and good surf days. Both the kids love sand and this is the best sandbox ever!
here's one of our many sand creations.....

Julia was eager to go in this year and by the end of the week was learning to ride the waves. She kept telling us, "My love the ocean. Mommy love the ocean? My love the beach."
Digging for sand crabs. We used to do this for hours as kids. It's fun to teach our kids to do it now.Julia loved to sit and watch the waves.....

Carter loved going in the ocean when he was young. The summer he was 2 he got knocked over a few too many times and swore off the beach all together. He refused to leave the security of the dry sand. When asked he always said he get closer when he was 5- recently he changed that to 6. We just watched him play in the hot sand and let him be. He has a true appreciation for the power of the waves and being the thinker that he is, he's explored all the possible mishaps in his mind. This year, was much the same until the last day (of course) when he ventured down to the edge on his own. before anyone even realized he was wet. It was sweet to see the sense of accomplishment on his face. He was so proud of himself! Note he wasn't even wearing a bathing suit at the time.Soon he was playing in the surf- we were so impressed- and happy to see him enjoy it, like we knew he would. Of course we had to leave the next day, so hopefully next year he'll be willing to pick up where he left off.

The kids had fun playing in the oceanfront "pool"........

One of Julia's favorite features at the house was the hose to rinse our feet. There's just something magical about kids and water- especially when they get to hold the hose. It was always a challenge to drag her away and inside for her nap. Here she is after a particularly messy swim diaper incident (I'll spare you the details).

Our sweet bare-bottom-bathing-beauty!

And on that note, we'll say.......................THE END.

Quick Break

Now for a quick break in our vacation coverage for the sports highlights of the trip...

With Carter in tow, you can count on daily sports and some healthy competition. This year was no different. He had definite plans to play golf. He started when he was 2 and has several courses there he likes. He went with Grandpa, Daddy, and Mimi on Tuesday. Daddy won and Carter actually beat Grandpa by one stroke! He told him, "next time he should probably use the plastic club they give out instead of bringing his own." Don't worry, there was a rematch later in the week and Grandpa brought his A game this time and won by 15.
We were thrilled to have the Olympics on this year. Our whole family loves to watch as much as we can. Its something we look forward to every 4 years. I actually watched my first Olympics in 1976 as a newborn laying on my Dad's chest and we have watched them together ever since. The 2004 games were actually during his R&R from Iraq and our family was at the beach together again. This is the first time Carter has actually been old enough to understand. He has loved watching all the events and cheering for the US. At his age, he is all about competing, racing, being the fastest, and medals- so this is right up his alley. It's the first time he has seen some events and has taken a liking to water polo (that sport exhausts me to even watch!) So within minutes he was directing matches in the pool. Mimi was the Chinese team's goalie and Carter was the US goalie. It was funny to watch how much he observed in such a short time- he's a sponge! he was commentating while everyone played. Our favorite, "And folks, this has been an emotional game." He's a nut!
Awww, he let one get by..........And then, there was baseball. He and Grandpa had fun following the MLB games on ESPN and in the newspaper. And he had numerous games going every day. At the pool......
Here he is as the catcher- his new favorite position. He was thrilled to find out that when he plays "coach pitch" next spring, there is a catcher! He already put a mask and mitt on his Christmas list. Big Mike had fun pretending with him. He made a great pitcher- very entertaining. They made up all kinds of pitches- high stinky cheese, blue angel, radio pitch.
And on the beach......going, going......................GONE.
And Grandpa's big hit, led to a .......
....close plat at the plate.
Carter putting the squeeze on Grandpa.......and some races with Mimi.

Sweet memories

The nice part about posting like this is that I'm reliving it all and making it last longer :)
But oh, if we could still be there, hmmmmm. That's okay, right now we're just happy to have daddy home from a week in FL and we're heading to the water park tonight- fun!

But now back to the beach....here are some of the sweet moments from the week....

Anderson, unfortunately was teething and had a really rough week- short on sleep and smiles. We all felt so bad for the little guy. Here he is passed out at breakfast after being up all night......

The kids loved watching the dolphins at breakfast. Every morning the pod travels east up the beach, and every evening, back down.We spent two mornings at the aquarium in Pine Knoll Shores. It's an amazing place since their renovations. Carter was very into it and carried around his notepad to take notes and teach. He loved the divers in the ocean exhibit, the giant toads, the sharks, and the river otters, and the map of all the NC shipwrecks.
We had a great time with Mammy and Pappy. it's such a treat for the kids to be able to spend time with their great-grandparents.....

JuJu playing "my stuff". She just started doing this with her bags, baby, and toys. I think it's so funny the way little girls pack and carry around bags, but take one look at their mothers and you can probably see why. I have yet to meet a mom who doesn't own, and use, at least a dozen bags. I've told people before I feel like the equipment manager in our life.
Carter soothing Anderson on the swing. I must say this is one of our favorite spots at the beach house. We clocked some serious hours on this swing- all of us.
Julia dancing with her Grandpa- so sweet (and know I'm not letting myself visualize her wedding yet!) Anyone who knows my dad knows he's a music nut and has millions of lyrics in his head. He is essentially a walking jukebox and can even give you the artist, title, year, and world events for every song. Carter is always telling Mimi to "turn off his key" when he starts singing. Julia on the other hand thinks it's great!
This is what 3 consecutive all-nighters does to a person.....
JuJu and her Mimi. They share the same curls, brown eyes , and spunk......
(Coming next: actual pictures from the beach :)