THE BEACH, August

The kids joined us at the beach for the rest of the weekend. This was their first visit there this trip. It was short and sweet.

 I love this contemplative look of dear Bella.

 Tobin tries to steal Ryan's milk.

 But they are still friends on the beach.

 He had a blast.

 Then he literally ate dirt. You can't quite see that his nose was running down to his mouth so the slob of snot was now gooped up his face with sand all over it. GROSS.

 Sophia loves all things beachy. It took Bella  a little bit to warm up to the water.

 The pit was a big hit.

Sweet, awesome family, they joined us for the weekend.

 Such sweetness.

 On her little throne.

 A video was on, obviously by the enthralled stares.

 Tobin loved laughing at himself in the mirror at the end of the hall.

 Ready for the beach!

 There is a nice grassy area between the sand dunes and the condo, great for running and playing.

 I love this pic.

 There are also picnic tables and lots of grills to grill on. We played in this area too.

Ryan busted his lip, but the ice helped.

 

While mommy and daddy were away

 August 22-24, 2012

While we were at the beach, Poppy and CC watched the kids and did all manner of fun things, parks, museums, picnics, etc.

Poppy braved to take them all in the pool. 

 They went to a REALLY COOL children's museum. The kids really talked about this a lot.

 Their own store, kitchen, restaurant, airplane, this place had it all.

 

Inside the Jet

Tobin was content to hold onto this ball or any other he found.

Making pizza and serving people

This time around at the park Tobin drove the helicopter.

 We really aren't missing daddy and mommy!

Defense over! August 22nd

 David was nervous the morning he was going to defend his thesis (for another Masters, not PhD.), but he knew his stuff, I was not worried. He did awesome!

 These are the folks he defended his Thesis to. David said once he got in there and the questions started rolling he relaxed.
They were very glad it was not a boring topic and they said so. I was glad too because I read it many times. I actually really liked it.

But what I loved the most was that we left from the meeting and went straight to the beach for a few days without the kiddos! This was MUCH needed rest and relaxation. The weather was perfect. I even went swimming! Thanks so much P and C for watching the kids for us, what a blessing.

 We slept late (hadn't done that in years), and then went on a double date with Lee and Laura. This was so much fun! We started watching videos of David and Laura when they were kids, it was hilarious.

Family play, August

Near Poppy and CC's is a church with a playground. We would take bikes up there and try to ride, and run and play. We were trying to teach Soph how to ride without training wheels. We did not stick with this.

 Bella boo and all her curls

David thinking: 'hmm...how to teach this, harder than it looks'

 Tobin gives good hugs.

At another nearby park:

by the end of our time she was doing this solo.

This slide is very long and steep, David braved it. It is less forgiving for big people.

Anniversary and more, August

 We helped Poppy and CC celebrate their 44 years of marriage with these cool beachy/ Christmassy hand made towels made by women trying to get away from/out of/off of the streets of Cambodia.

 We also gave them a Shutterfly book of pics from their trip to see us last Feb.

 The girls loved playing in the music room and finding every nook and cranny to hide in.

We visited TCC in Raleigh and met up with one of my dear friends and her family. This was Soph's first time having full access to an ipod (not ours) while we were in the restaurant. Mexican, of course.

 With friends Nikki and Josh. We only got to connect with them once, sadly, but it was still great to see her kids so big and hear all that had happened in two years. She just started working as a nurse asst, so proud of you nik nik!