We had a week in Dallas on both ends of our Seattle trip this year. The front end was full of time with friends, mostly swimming because what else do you do when it's humid and 100 degrees?? Texas is hot, hot, hot in July and we are glad there are so many water activities to keep these kids entertained.
Hello baby big eyes
Making friends with crickets at our lunch stop
We sure love naps
The Jack Carter pool is always a must when we visit in the summer. The kids had a blast splashing and swimming for hours. Davey started out nervous, but then out of nowhere gained an extra dose of bravery to do all the things - waterslides, flo rider, high dive, and even swam to the bottom of the 12 ft pool to retrieve a friend's googles. Way to go little dude!
Grandpa always makes for a comfy spot to sit
Fun day at little elm beach with friends! The kids were slow to warm up to each other after a year of covid isolating but soon bonded over digging out a "hot tub" and turning Dave into a mud monster.
Poor Charlie got a good sunburn on his face even though we applied sunscreen multiple times
We love using our ASTC pass to visit the Perot downtown!
Mischievous little monkey
Legendary dinner at Pappadeaux's with friends: They gave our reservation away to other groups multiple times. After sitting out in the Dallas summer heat for two hours we got to scheming. Despite assurances we would not be bumped again, we were, to an online reservation made by someone from our own group. We stole our own spot just to prove to management what was happening 😂 After that our entire meal + dessert was comped. Worth it? Debatable. But it was delicious. And free.
Be prepared for another long post!! At the end of July we flew from Seattle to Raleigh to North Carolina to meet up with the Howe family for a beach bash reunion. Most of the family arrived the day we could check into our beach house, but coming from the west coast we needed more time and flew in a day early. That gave us some time in Raleigh on Saturday morning to go to a fun museum before driving to the Outer Banks! MARBLES CHILDREN'S MUSEUM - we are making great use of our ASTC passport card this year! We used it here in North Carolina to get free admission to this fun children's museum. There was so much to do and see here and the kids had such a fun time.
Sophie's favorite was this vet station where you had to follow a care plan to treat several different animals.
Davey has always loved farms and used this little wheelbarrow to harvest all the pretend food, and then carry it around so no one else could use it :)
Crab soccer! We thought these were fun to dress up in since we were beach bound in just a few hours.
AT THE BEACH - it's about a 3 hour drive from Raleigh to the coast, which always feel long coming right after a long flight, but it's always worth it once you arrive. The North Carolina beaches are so pretty!! And since it is such a trek to get there, it keeps the crowds away and makes for a very relaxing week.
The kids ran down our boardwalk to get a better view of the ocean when we arrived
Poor Charlie had a few run-ins with the ocean. The picture on the left is after he got hit in the face with a wave and it slicked his hair back and then it dried that way. Ha! On the right was after he did a face plant in the sand. Poor kid.
Sophie really must be part mermaid. She loves the ocean and sand and can spend hours playing in the water and building creations.
Best Beach Cousins
Cute baby footprints
Charlie found this little fish at high tide and carried it around in his shovel for a long time until another wave came and washed it back out to sea.
We had a few good wave riding days. Unfortunately there were only 2 boards for our whole crew, so you had to be an opportunist to get a chance on one, which is how I ended up boogie boarding during a storm once.
Dave with his boys
Davey was happiest on shore playing on the sand. He ventured into the ocean a few times, but it was still a little much for him and preferred to stay on dry land.
No big sand sculptre from our crew this time, but we did dig a big swimming hole that filled up when the tide came in and the kids had a blast rolling around in it and jumping in from the side.
Some cousin time
FISHING ON THE PIER - most of our time is just spent at the beach, but we did make a few outings during our week. The first was a fathers & sons fishing trip to the pier. Davey caught his first fish, and then caught 9 more! He was the leader for the day!
GRANDMA BETTY CATAMARAN MEMORIAL CRUISE - one of the main focuses for the week was the memorial for Dave's grandma, who passed last year. We went on a sunset catamaran cruise to spread her ashes and remember her wonderful life. It was a special evening to be together as a family.
On the way to the docks we stopped at a drive-in for some yummy food
In our matching reunion shirts getting ready to board the catamaran in Beaufort
Cousin Liam bought a pirate set in town before boarding and the kids had the best time taking turns with all the accessories, pretending to be pirates. Afterward we bought Davey his own set since he had so much fun dressing up.
Using his pirate hook to throw away everyone's empty cups
This night was also our 13th wedding anniversary - happy marriage to us!
SAND DOLLAR ISLAND EXPEDITION - Grandma, grandpa and Liz took all the cousins 6 and older on an adventure to look for sand dollars. They were gone all day. The took a ferry out to the island and then waded around in the warm, shallow water to search for sand dollars. Sophie brought home a few beautiful ones!
PINE KNOLL SHORES AQUARIUM - every other year we visit the little island aquarium. It's nice to take a break from the sun and sand for a few hours and the kids love seeing all the different creatures. Charlie was so amazed that we could hardly get him to move on from the very first tank to see the rest of the aquarium. He probably said "fish!" at least 100 times.
Recreating a picture of the not so little "littles" from 4 years ago. The original is here. We guessed on the order of the kids, but got it right!
Petting a stingray
Cute Charlie Crab
It was crazy to me to think there are otters out there the same size as Sophie!
And then it was suddenly time to head back home. I made Dave sit on a row with all the kids while I sat all by myself. It was payback for all the solo flights I had made with the boys and luggage, while he only had to handle Sophie. Of course it didn't last too long, because Charlie is a momma's boy and ended up back on my lap after just a short time. At least he decided to take a nap this time
