Every Car

Aiden took it upon himself to line all the cars in the playroom up; he had real purpose here. It was cute to watch him place each car in a specific place, and then I remembered how Owen used to do the same thing. Then Aiden carried each car over and smashed it into a pile.

**Disclaimer: Omer took the camera so while he is gone all pictures will be from my phone, so yes some quite blurry.

Lake Anne Fountain & Show

Lake Anne has free shows for kids all summer and a great fountain to play in. I always mean to go but just never have this summer, but finally we made it there on Thursday. The boys had a blast playing in the fountain, and luckily I was prepared and had a change of clothes as they got soaked. They enjoyed the show too which was a story-telling lady. She told Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Owen was very excited to be chosen to play the role of brother bear. Aiden loved watching his brother but kept asking when it was his turn. A very fun morning.

Herding Toads

Callie is definitely a herding dog and if she is not outside herding the clouds in the sky, (Yes I know it sounds silly.) she is inside herding the fish and now the toads. She has noticed them before but just recently is obsessed with our hopping little friends. She perches up on the couch and watches intently and occasionally will snap at them through the glass or look over the top. Today Owen joined her and kept telling her about his toads.

Little Kangaroo

The boys love to play dress up with old Halloween costumes. Today Aiden found Owen's kangaroo costume he wore when he was 5 months old. It was a little small but he got himself in and loved being a little kangaroo. He hoped around and kept petting the baby kangaroo in his pouch. ADORABLE!

Hop Kangaroo Hop

Big Kangaroo and His Baby

Adorable Kangaroo

Owen had to join in the fun and dressed up as a lizard, such a cutie

Myrtle Beach Vacation

Our good friends moved to Myrtle Beach months ago and invited us to come and stay with them and enjoy the beach. We of course took them up on the offer and so glad we did; we had a blast and it was so nice to get to the beach again before summer ended. The drive was really long but the boys did wonderful for such a long trip and so did the dogs. Omer and I were questionable (ha), very exhausting.

Our friends have a pass to the state park there so we got to go to that beach where it is less crowded. The beach was great because the water was very shallow and calm compared to our normal OBX. Aiden had a blast splashing, swinging and kicking in the water and loved swimming in the ocean and getting dunked into the waves. The little boy has no fear. Owen got in this ocean much easier than OBX and even though he could have stood he enjoyed hugging on me and splashing together. Both of course loved playing in the sand with trucks and digging holes.

Day 1: In the morning we headed to the beach for 3.5 hours. This was the hottest and sunniest day and after about an hour Aiden was too hot and wanted to leave but then we walked down the beach a little and found perfect play area in the shade; under the pier. The boys had a blast here and didn't want to leave. We splashed, swam, played trucks in the sand, dug in the sand, and ran around the beach getting splashed.

Then in the afternoon we took the boys to the boardwalk area. I have to say we had fun but we were not all that impressed, but we enjoyed some ice cream and the boys first real fishing experience off the pier. Both boys were excited to hold the fishing pole and reel it in. Sadly they didn't catch anything, but my little positive boy said, "It's okay maybe we will next time."

Day 2: We went to one of my favorite spots we went - the water park. It was the first time the boys had ever been to a water park and seriously it was a BLAST! Omer and I got to be kids with our kids. I think Owen could have stayed there all day; we were there for 3.5 hours and only left because poor Aiden really needed a nap. At first the boys were scared to try the slide with us but they did and LOVED it and kept wanting to go again and again. Then we moved from the big twisty slides to the kid zone (while the adults got to take turns doing the big slides). The kid zone was amazing and Owen even went down the slides there himself. The boys loved the wave pool and both had fun swimming through the waves. Back to more big slides and more water fun and had to call it a day.

There was a big storm in the afternoon but luckily it stopped in time for us to go back to the beach and take the dogs this time. The dogs are only allowed before 10 am and after 5 pm. I had planned to go for a quick trip before dinner and ended up spending almost 2 hours. Because of the storm there was a huge pond area that the boys really enjoyed playing in. Chester did what he always does, chase the birds and run around. But this is probably Callie's first time to the beach and she loved it. I wish I could have let her run off leash but she is not ready. But she could not watch and chase after the birds enough. She even got her feet wet in the ocean.

Day 3: It was rainy so we decided the boys would go a build cars and get ice cream and me and Michele stayed and hung out and then went out for lunch. It was a fun morning for all.

The afternoon cleared up and we went and spent more time at the beach. All the same fun beach stuff from before. Omer ran back once it was time and got the pups so they could have some fun too. Another wonderful afternoon at the beach.

Day 4: The morning we all went to WonderWorks which is a very interesting museum full of mind-blowing activities and interesting experiments. It had everything and we all had a blast! Look through all the pictures to see all we did.

Then we walked around the Broadway area and the boys enjoyed the bounce houses and kid's carnival rides.

Once again, we headed to the beach for our last time this summer and once again had a wonderful time. The boys love the beach and just enjoy everything about it, and so do we.

Day 5: We decided to drive through the day instead of half bedtime like the way down, so we took the boys in the morning to the Ripley's Aquarium before heading out for the 8 hours drive. The aquarium was small but very cool and fun. The shark exhibit was really interesting and lots for the boys to look through. Then we got to touch sting rays, touch horseshoe crabs and Owen even got to pick one up. To top it off there was a huge walk under aquarium with all sorts of sharks, fish and eels. It was very impressive and really cool to have sharks swimming over your head. Sadly, our camera's battery died at the aquarium so a majority of the pictures are taken by Omer's phone.

We had a wonderful vacation and so happy we got to go back to the beach before summer ended. The drive was long but so worth it; we had a blast!

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Carnival, Carnival

We have a crazy busy weekend ahead of us, but the very popular Frying Pan Farm Carnival is happening. So I decided to take the boys this afternoon with our friends Addie and Sylvie. The kids and Tiffany and I had a blast. Let me see if I can cover everything...the first ride was a transportation that went in a circle; kids loved it. Addie, who lives near the farm and has watched all the rides go up, was very excited to take Owen on the new Valentine ride. They rode alone as the little's were too short. They were so adorable, Tiffany and I could not get enough of it. I have to mention that once we finally returned home, Owen told Daddy how Addie took him on a valentine heart ride and it was his favorite.

Then the little's and yes me because Aiden was too little rode a train and got to pass the sheep and goats. Then they rode a dolphin ride, monster truck (aka jeep) bumping ride and finished off with all six of us riding in one teacup. That was the best! Owen and Addie had that teacup spinning fast, then Tiffany, Aiden, Sylvie and me enjoyed the ride and putting our arms in the air - Wheee!

The kids enjoyed a very messy but delicious soft serve ice cream with sprinkles. Then the boys did the fishing game. Owen did awesome and caught three sharks in one try and then two more. Aiden did awesome as well catching two sharks. The boys picked out there toys and we all went to look at more animals before heading home. I couldn't believe how late it was when we returned home; eating dinner at 7:00. We all had a blast at the carnival and wish we could go back and play some more.

Kids Looking at the Toys

Aiden driving Monster Truck

Owen and Addie Driving Bus

Having Fun

The Valentine Ride

Owen Heart Addie

Aiden Bouncing on Dolphin

Owen the Dolphin Rider

Addie and Sylvie, Dolphin Team

Aiden in Jeep

Owen was quick to get in the front jeep to be the leader.

Aiden Driving and Bumping

Owen had a blast bumping and leading the trucks

Chalk Snake

Aiden decided while we were coloring with chalk that he wanted to take every piece out of the box and create a snake. Very creative! He was quite proud of himself.

Water Slide

Aiden's camp had a pool set up with slide, the boys wanted to try this at home; mainly Owen as he didn't get to do it at the camp. So I pumped the pool up, no easy feat, took about 30 mins. Then put it under the slide and the boys were so excited. Owen was a huge fan of speedy slide into the pool and did it over and over. Aiden did not want to slide but had a blast playing in the pool and jumping off from the slide to the pool. As much fun as they were having it only lasted seriously maybe 20 minutes. Always a little bitter when set-up takes longer than play time.

Boys in Pool

Aiden Belly Sliding

Owen Sliding

Bouncing

Splashing

Aiden Belly Sliding

Wet Face

Aiden Preparing to Jump

Splash!

Aiden's First Camp

A friend mentioned to me that her daughter around Aiden's age was going to a preschool camp and there was spaces. I thought a couple days this week would be a nice test for when he goes to school in the Fall and Owen has camp this week. So yes, two free mornings for me. He was so excited to go to camp, after watching Owen going to camp a couple times this summer. He even wanted to put on his backpack. I was a little worried about leaving him as he's never been there and this is the first time I have left him with someone he doesn't know. He did fabulous!!! Gave me a kiss good-bye and went right to playing. When I came to pick him up he was playing in the pool having a great time. The teacher said he did amazing and had a blast on the nature hike and art. Aiden told me about circle time, and playing in rocks at the park, painting with orange and yellow, eating lunch, playing cars really fast, and playing with the water slide. So happy he had fun and he can't wait to go.