He was a surfer boy!

This past weekend we took a trip down to the beach with some of our friends from our playgroup. We stayed down at Carolina Beach, NC. The house was a 3 bedroom, 1 bath with a yard, patio, and grill. It was all right, probably wouldn't stay there again, but it was CHEAP and walking distance to the Beach and Boardwalk. We got down on Friday and ate dinner and then put the kids to bed and stayed up playing cards and listening to music. Saturday Elysia’s kids woke us up at the crack of dawn yelling and playing and then proceeded to go back to bed until ten. (Yep, I am totally hating on her because her kids are such good sleepers). Mine would not go back to sleep so I cooked breakfast while Christopher and Stefan watched TV. After breakfast we got ready for the beach just in time for Lita to arrive with Malaya and we all headed down to the beach. It was a lot of fun. The kids played a lot and then we went back for lunch, nap, and dinner. After putting the kids to bed, we played cards again and went to bed too late. Sunday was much the same, got up, cooked breakfast, then beach time. The rain storms threatened our beach time, but thankfully passed in time for us to go. The kids loved being buried in the sand, playing on the shore, playing in the sand, and running around. Christopher loved all that, but loved being in the water the most. He had gotten a boogie board for being a good boy at camp all week. I wanted him to have it so bad that I was really hoping he would behave so he could get it. The water had been a little rough Saturday and Sunday, but we still had fun.
Then Monday came and we trekked down to the beach one last time before leaving. Chris and I took Elysia's kids with us while they slept in. We hit Britt’s Donut Shop on the Boardwalk for some of the best donuts I had ever had in my entire life. Christopher totally agreed, albeit in his shorter life. Then we headed to the beach. This was the earliest we had gotten out there all weekend, even after sleeping until 8:30 am, woohoo! The water was so calm. Christopher stayed out in the water probably two hours surfing on his boogie board and loving life. He kept saying stuff like: "I have been surfing my whole life", "I am such a good surfer", "I love surfing", "I am going to be a surfer when I grow up". It was adorable. I loved being at the beach. I am also so proud of myself for going to the beach for three days and not getting sunburned. Thank goodness.

Park Playdate

We got together with some friends at the park this weekend. The weather was great and the kids had a great time. My entrepreneur son and his friend Aiden started a rock business. They gathered a bunch of rocks from around the playground and were selling them for 79 cents. Not real money, but each kid that wanted a rock had to pretend to give him 79 cents. The kids rode the boat, carousel, and train and played for a long time. We then went and had Mexican Popsicles, Mexican Paletas. They are so yummy. I tried Jasmine Green Tea and Elderberry Lavender. Of course, I got to try other’s paletas, like Pomegranate Tangerine, Hibiscus Strawberry, and more. Christopher had two Chocolate Brownie ones and we even brought a puppy pop home for Calvin, it is frozen chicken stock wrapped around a raw hide.
Here are the kids riding the boat and the train:

Please ignore Christopher's juice stained face ;-)

Our First Family Camping Trip

We went camping at Jordan Lake this past weekend for our first ever family camping experience. Elysia organized the trip for our interracial families playgroup. We had 10 families camp Friday night, 2 families come and hang out on Saturday, then down to 7 families of campers on Saturday night. The area was great, they had tons of room for the tents to be set up, water at the site, we were right on the lake, and there was a playground right there, too. Having the playground was awesome, the kids loved going to the playground a LOT. The bathrooms weren't too far of a walk and had warm water even. There was a huge fire pit and we had a fire going most of the time we were there.
Friday night we set up the tents and then lets the kids play on the playground while dinner was being cooked. We had chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers and a big pot of chili. Saturday morning, we had coffee, cereal, yogurt, fruit, eggs, sausage, and more. The kids played on the playground more, we fished a little (the fishing area was not that great near our campsite, but some of the group walked to the pier where it was nicer). Lunch was leftovers.
Saturday afternoon we had a few more kids and parents come to hang out, we mostly let the kids ride bikes/trikes around the campsite, play on the playground, and fish some. Then we cooked out again, pretty much the same, burgers, dogs, chicken, had pasta, potato, and macaroni salad, and stuff. The kids drank way too many juice boxes. Then we roasted s'mores.

After all the s'mores (each had 3) and eating, the kids went to bed and the adults stayed up chatting and hanging out around the camp fire. Saturday night we totally got rained on (well at least we stayed dry inside the tent). It was so loud and it seemed like it poured all night. Our air mattress was a bit defective and by the end of the night we were all sleeping on the ground. So next trip we need to make sure we have a working air mattress.
We packed up Sunday and got home by 10:00 am. The tent is drying out in the garage and we all showered for a day of birthday parties (2) on Sunday. C said the best part of camping was playing with friends and eating s'mores. I think the best part was hanging out as a family with our friends, too.

Museum Fun!

We went to the museum today with some of his friends from the playgroup. He saw Malaya, Sammy, Kimberly, and a few other friends. Him and Malaya have been playing together for about 2 1/2 years. I have always joked that he is going to marry Malaya. But between Alina at school, Kimberly, Malaya, the neighbor Leyana, and more, who knows. But we really love Malaya, she is such a sweet, cute, energetic, happy girl. Here is the dude dressed as a fireman and me and then him and Malaya in the sandbox. He is wearing an eye patch he made at the craft table at the museum.

Friday Fun

Today was our monthly Interracial Families play date. We do more play dates than just once a month, but every second (changed this month to the first) Friday night we get together and play at a jump house. The other play dates always change, but this is an every month one that is always on the calendar. The kids love it and it is a small place so the adults get a chance to hang out and talk and the kids play. Some of these kids, we've been playing with for 2 1/2 years, wow such a long time. Some were just babies when we started, like Tera, the cutie with the pigtails!
Here are some pics from today's play date.

Tomorrow is Savannah's birthday. She is the dude's little baby cousin who is one tomorrow. She is the sweetest, cutest, most adorable little girl. He likes to love on her and make her laugh. The funny thing is when he is done, he kind of just plops her off his lap. He still needs to learn to be a little more careful with her. She is walking and babbling and loves to watch him. Here she was 1 year ago: