Playgroup Beach Trip

We went to Kure Beach with our playgroup on Saturday. There were 30 of us that went to the beach and it was so much fun. We ended up renting a place with our friends and then two other couples also spent the weekend. Most people just went down for the day. It is nice living close to the beach; we used to do 3-4 day trips a year when money was tight when the dude was a baby. We would get up, start driving around 8 be at the beach by ten a.m. and stay a few hours before heading back home. The Fort Fisher recreation area is nice because there is free parking, easy beach access, bathrooms, a snack bar (seasonal), picnic tables, and showers. We did this trip as a playgroup last year and had a lot of fun. Everyone wants to make it an annual trip.

It was communal parenting at its best. Everyone shared snacks, umbrellas, kept an eye on everyone’s kids and just had a great time.

The weather was beautiful and we spent 6 hours out on the beach Saturday. The waves were a little rough with Katia (the hurricane) being off shore, but the sun was shining and it wasn’t even too windy.

Of course, Miss M ate a lot of sand after seeing baby D eating it. They loved playing in the sand and getting tons of attention from the other adults and lots of the older kids, too.

One couple brought this huge tube and the kids had a blast jumping on the tube and riding the waves. They bounced off it and kept getting back on for more. The dud loved it, he was out in the water most of the day. The kids slept like champs that night.

Tubing in the Ocean (next to the boy in the blue rash top you can see the back of dude's head):

More Tubing:

Today we got up and got Britt’s Donuts. (I posted about a trip there before). They were so yummy, I can see why they are so famous. Here are my kids with two other families’ kids, one of them is Christie, a fellow blogger, new friend, and playgroup member who I also stole the pictures from since my camera cord is MIA. She also adopted from foster care.

Donuts (the best shot we could get with my friend Kim's three ages 7, 3, 7 months, Christie's two ages 5 and 7, and my three):

Wordless Wednesday Dude's Dream House

Third Grade

The dude started third grade this week. We had meet the teacher on Thursday and his teacher seems really nice. She engaged him in conversation and he shook her hand, so I got a good feeling. I then got good reports from the other three teachers I know at the school really well. I think it will be a good school year. He is not very eager to be back in school, told her he'd rather be at home. I see all these parents posting how excited their kids are and he's just not. But, he does excitedly tell me about his new friends and a little about his day, so I think it will be alright.
He looks so much older this year.

Third Grade:




Second Grade




First Grade




Kindergarten

More Hilton Head

Sister Hugs in the ocean:

Attacking the ocean with her shovel:

Catch in the pool:

Nose Dives/Swimming in the pool:

Petting Zoo/Horse Stables:

Family Vacation Hilton Head

Family Picture:

We spent the week in Hilton Head Island, SC for our family vacation. We rented a house in Sea Pines Resort. I love Sea Pines, it has beaches, pools, tennis, bike trails galore, petting zoo, shops, restaurants and of course the Salty Dog.

Trying to pack the car with a week’s worth of stuff, four kids*, two dogs, beach toys, stroller, pack and plays (2), etc proved to be a bit challenging for hubby. He had to get a canvas roof top carrier. He said he would upgrade to one of the plastic ones next time. He was sweaty and exhausted before we even left home at 8:15 am.

It is about a 4 hour car ride that we managed to turn into around 5 due to eating and bathroom stops. The kids did really well. Miss D decided that when we were all stopped to eat would not be the ideal time to drink her bottle so instead as soon as we got back on the road I had to wrangle my arm back to hold her bottle for her. The girls, dogs, sitter and I slept. The dude stayed awake playing PSP and DSi.

We got there before check-in and had some time to kill so we hit up Wally World for some wine/beer last minute necessities like sunscreen and snacks. Really to get hubby some flip flops cause he forgot his. They only cost a mere $95 by the time the six of us walked out of there.

We rented the house through a website called Homeaway which lets you search for vacation rentals by owners. They used a rental company to manage the house. The house was nice, clean, and spacious. Had some nice TVs, a wonderful sun room (that hubby spent a lot of time on), and the best part was our own pool. We rented some bikes and got them Saturday afternoon. Sea pines has so many bike trails that we probably rode at least 40 miles during our trip.

We spent the vacation riding bikes, visiting the petting zoo, going to the beach, eating, swimming in the pool, going to watch live music at salty Dog and a lot of relaxing. The kids enjoyed the trip and it was a nice break from work and daily stress.

Miss M's favorite parts were attacking the ocean, dancing, swimming, and getting her first ice cream cone. She also developed a love of Dora because we brought our PS3 set-up with Netflix.

Baby D's favorite parts were eating playing in the sand, dunking her head under water in the pool, and trying a bunch of new foods.

Dude's favorite parts were playing in the ocean (after the jellyfish trauma** wore off), playing catch in the pool, and riding bikes. He also loved the Cookie Monster ice cream at Salty Dog.

Miss M guarding her toys, sibling rivalry already. D wanted every toy she had:

Cooling off after the Jellyfish sting**:

Thumbs up, he is okay and ready to go in the ocean again:

Ice Cream Cone:

Jake the Salty Dog:

*We brought our wonderful babysitter to help wrangle entertain the kids.

**Dude and the babysitter got stung our first day out in the ocean. It was a bad day for jellyfish and they stung a bunch of people. Luckily, the life guards were prepared with tons of vinegar spray called Jellyfish Ash.

Wordless Wednesday More Bike

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday Bike Blur