more beaching!

On Saturday it was more of the same at the beach… Matt goes surf fishing with the rising sun, I go for a quick run, we all pack up and Matt is a Sherpa on the way to the beach. And then we sit and read and watch the kids scream and jump and boogie board the day away…. 

Have you heard of the Scopes people? Relentless college students who take photos and then you go to the Scopes place and spend a ton of money on a telescope key chain? Well she sure had our number! I told her if she could get the kids out of the water for photos have at it. And well, she is a professional and got so many cute photos! Naturally we went to the store and ninety bucks later had ourselves some Scopes and some photos! 

This was the night we all celebrated the summer birthdays too! Cake and singing and presents! The night wrapped up with good sky and some sparklers!

a boat day!

Our second full day at the beach had us on the boat by ten am and off to Assateague! I first ran to get bagels because that is a tradition! We set up shop on the island and Matt grilled lunch and the kids played on this new mat Aunt Sue had gotten…. We floated a lot and then walked over to the ocean side where there was basically no one… we didn’t see horses this year but still had such a great day! They sure are long days but they are so worth it!

we went back to the beach!

Every year we return to Ocean City with Matt’s brother and his family for a long weekend. When we go varies year to year but we always make it happen. We left right before a storm on a Wednesday and got down there just in time for dinner. Where of course everyone around me (albeit the kids) got seafood and I got a burger... Par for the course. Then we just hung out on the deck and caught up while we waited for Steve and Holly to get there. The next morning after coffee and monkey bread we headed to the beach, as one does! And at the end of the day we were rewarded with some good sky!

and on david’s actual birthday…

We went back to an old favorite of ours, Dutch Wonderland. We had gotten free tickets at the Barnstormers game and David was chomping at the bit to get there and go on Merlin’s Mayhem, a ride that had not even existed when we used to have season passes there. We got right on that and then it started pouring! Matt and I hid under a tree while the kids did the turtle ride but we couldn't stay there forever.... We figured if we are wet might as well hit the water park which is when the rain stopped and the sun came out! My brother-in-law and his family have season passes and they met up with us for some water park fun at that point. I recreated a bunch of photos I had of the kids when they were toddlers and at DW because well, they are so big they don’t need me to go on slides anymore and I found myself just sitting around with naught to do. 

david’s family birthday party

And then on the second day of the trio of birthday celebrations we had our families over! It was a beautiful day perfect for swimming and bomb pops and snacks! Beer I mean water pong and cornhole...We swam the afternoon away before drying off and heading inside for the actual festivities... David chose spaghetti and meatballs as his dinner which was a hit with all! Matt had made an ice cream cake also upon request of the birthday boy which was quite delicious… We sang and then he opened up all the gifts! The generosity never ends!

david’s friend birthday party

Otherwise known as day one of three celebrating this kid turning nine... Because a birthday should last three days, correct?

I picked up David and two of his friends early from camp and brought them home to lots of snacks and treats and pool swims and quite a few other boys joined as well. Thankfully the weather held off and no one died. I’m not dramatic at all am I? They were actually a lot calmer than I had imagined so I figure my son knows how to pick good boys to be friends with. He wanted red icing on his cupcakes but we ran out of food coloring so they were pink… I threw some red sprinkles over them to make them less…. Girlie. I think he forgave me. None of them minded though so I consider myself lucky. The boys sang to him and then it was gift time! He got so spoiled by them as well! What a lucky dude!

and on the actual fourth...

And on the actual Fourth we celebrated with our family... a swim afternoon and good foods... lots of festive wear of course and then walking up the street to see the fireworks that our development puts on. It may not be the most exciting but I love these people and the traditions we have year to year!

a slip and slide fourth...

And on the Saturday of the Fourth of July weekend came upon us we headed to our friend's house for their annual party that as always includes, a slip and slide. It rained on the way over and was slightly chilly once we got there but that didn't stop the kids from going on down that slide and time and time again. There was a ton of food and ice cream and then well of course, fireworks! Thanks so much for having us Rohrers! Always a pleasure!

a neighborhood fourth party...

We have had the honor of being invited to our neighbor's (up the street) Fourth of July party for a few years now and we just love going! Walk up the street... the kids in swim suits...  and hang with friends before wandering back home after a great fireworks show... What is not to love? Thanks for having us Krells and as always a great show!

a few festive swims...

This past (or not so past) Fourth of July weekend we had a few evening parties to go to but our days were free.... So we had ourselves an Olsen swim day and a Trovato swim day! With a lot of festive swim suits and food in between!

summer moments...

I vowed not to wait too long to do one of these catch all posts like the last time... way too many photos Laur! We have had lots of time swimming of course.... a kind thank you from her teacher... pool side slushies with friends... expander twins and fires by the pool... hair dyeing.... a giant slip and slide for a friend's birthday...field hockey camp and cousin swims.... David's mug appearing in a brochure.... the start of all the camps, hockey and sports of all sorts and church camp... swim times with friends... playdates and day dates galore... it is the stuff summer of made of!

who david is at nine.

matt’s one and only hersheypark visit

Matt really put his foot down when I decided to get season passes for Hersheypark in the fall. The foot was down hard. He was not going to there. Ever. Buuuuut when I got a free ticket from school I figured he could handle one evening... just one! It expired at the end of last month though so we had to get him there fast. Anddddd it was on a day where feels like temps were in the 100s. I make him the most happy don't I? Some friends joined us which was fun and I mean it was only a few hours... you can do anything for only a few hours right?

take this team out to the ballgame

A bunch of the boys on David's baseball team were kindly offered tickets to see The Barnstormers on one very hot Sunday afternoon... The families were also offered tickets if they wanted so we all got to tag along! And sweat together!

a half birthday

Poor poor Dominic. Oh the horror of having a birthday in December... only two short weeks prior to Christmas. I mean really. Now that he is in school all the time he has all these little friends and I knew he would be wanting a birthday party.... but again, December? So we decided he would have himself a little "half" birthday celebration instead. Four of his buddies came over and swam and had cupcakes and of course some gifts! Thanks so much to all for coming and spreading his birthday love out through the year! He was a naughty naughty little boy and it may very well be his last but still. Thank you just the same!

the descendants

When Lindsey asked if we wanted to join in on our first live theater production in over a year and a half I jumped on it! And especially as it was a favorite of Letty’s, The Descendants! I had never been to Dutch Apple Dinner Theater before so it was a whole new experience for us. The eight of us got our seats and went through the buffet, mainly kid-friendly food which makes sense since it was a kid’s theater production.  These kids had eleven days to rehearse and we got to see their first show! It was amazing to see that talent because girlfriend here would need months of practice. And the girls just had the best time!!!

cherries on a rainy morn

It’s what I do. I go and pick cherries for my dad for Father’s Day. He loves his cherries. After returning from the beach I really didn’t have a ton of time before our Father’s Day make-up dinner to squeeze picking in so I just went on a rainy day! As one does. We all picked extremely quickly and then rewarded ourselves with free apple cider donuts! 

one last beach day in ocmd

I hadn't ran in a few days which is so unlike me so on this Father's Day I made myself get out there and do it and it felt so good! Sorry to Matt though! I brought home breakfast bagel sandwiches though... so.... Forgiven? We got to the beach and set up although in vastly different circumstances from the week prior... As in, lots and lots of people. At this point the kids were so shot and tired and I think beached out. Which is a thing I never thought I would say... but they were. We took them to the pool for a little before having our Father's Day dinner and then a final sunset on the bay!

and then the beaching continued…

We always spend Father’s Day weekend in Ocean City, Maryland with Matt’s aunt and uncle. And seeing as we were already leaving the Outerbanks that weekend anyways we just went straight there while the rest of my family headed back to PA... Just shy of five hours and one terrifyingly long bridge (I see you Chesapeake Bay Bridge. I see you and I hate you.) later we arrived at 11:34 pm. Just ask David. 

The next day we headed right out on the boat to watch the annual air show. The weather wasn’t amazing but at least the rain stayed away... Matt grilled and the kids swam and jumped on the tube, etc. And of course when we headed back to their house David took a turn at the wheel as he loves to do. And the day ended with a beautiful sky!

obx, we out!

This wasn't supposed to be our final day, we were supposed to leave Saturday morning but we saw that traffic so we all made the executive decision to leave after dinner on Friday night and just drive through the night. But before all that we had to have one final day at the beach! We discovered a sand bar which meant the kids could go so far out into the ocean and of course, not drown. Leave it to us to find that fun feature on the final day. My dad got take out for lunch once more.... And then we also got to see our chef one final time for a crab boil! Way to go out with a bang!!

obx

Our final full day at the beach! Matt got up again early to surf fish... living the dream that man! It was another gorgeous day full of beaching, digging, jumping in the waves, pool time... this time we even let the kids get into the hot tub for a hot second and they felt like such grown ups! We went and got ice cream one last time and then rounded out the day with a last bonfire on the beach! What a life!

beach photos by ash

All of these were taken by my sister-in-law… super quick little shoot before the kids got back into their comfy clothes. Which of course she got photos of that too and of our bonfire night. I love them so! As always thank you Ash! I shall print them all!