Ambassador Camp for Rachel!

 This past week, Rachel headed to Ambassador Camp in Lake Waccamaw, NC. She was invited to camp by her friends, Julianna and Edie. They has to been to camp here before, along with several of their family in years past and they invited her to join them this year.

 Here is Rachel on her bunk in their cabin.

Look at the water game fun on Sunday evening after they arrived.

 She was happy to see us when we arrived for the camp program Friday evening. All the campers did an awesome job sharing some of the praise and worship songs they had learned this past week!

 Here is Rachel getting her certificate for canoeing. Canoeing was the water sport she chose for this week and she says she really liked it!

 Here she is with her friends, Julianna, Mila, and Edie in the Lodge they were in this week

 This was one of her counselors, Hannah

 Glad to see my girl again and thrilled to hear that she loved her week of Ambassador Camp! Praying that Jesus continues to teach and grow her through the time she spent at Ambassador Camp this past week! Thank you, Ellis ' s for inviting Rachel to camp with you! She is already excited about new year!

Allie's One Year Checkup

This morning we had Allie's one year old checkup scheduled. Since we moved again we are now closer to a pediatric practice where one of my high school friends is now in practice. Allie was excited to ride on her Daddy's shoulders into the appointment 

We got her weight and height first.

Weight: 16 pounds, 8 ounces
Height: 28.5 inches long

She was not thrilled but they got a quick measurement of her head circumference too. She is in the 50th percentile for head size.
She is growing well, according to her growth charts.

After all the measurements, we saw Rhonda, our friend, for her checkup.

She is on track with all her developmental milestones and doing great! 

Allie enjoyed her checkup with Mrs. Rhonda today and it was great to see Rhonda and catch up too!

Cape Lookout Birthday Trip

Since my birthday was on a Wednesday this year and since Rachel was going to be at camp during this week also, my family decided to take me on a little birthday trip the weekend before my birthday this year! We headed to Harkers Island, NC on the NC coast.

The first afternoon we were there Brent found a grill on sale, put the entire grill together from pieces himself and grilled us chicken and corn on the cob for supper on that grill! Thankful he is so good at so many things!

These girls liked lounging in the beach chair together.

We got up early the next morning and headed to the ferry. Harkers Island is the ferry point to Shackleford Banks, a nearby barrier island with wild horses and awesome shells, and it is also one of the only ferry points to Cape Lookout National Seashore and Lighthouse. Brent and I had taken several day trips to this area while we were in college but had never been here with the girls.

We started off first by taking the ferry over to Shackleford Banks with plans to take a ferry over later in the day to the lighthouse.

 Right behind us along the land are the wild ponies. You get a picture while you can because the ponies may be on a completely different part of the island and not be seen again. I love their excitement when they spotted the horses for the first time!

 Usually when we find lots of conches and whelks on Shackleford Banks when we go earlier in the spring. We saw more scallop type shells this time but Rachel did manage to find a beautiful conch!

 We went walking to look for more shells. You can see the lighthouse from almost every point on Shackleford Banks.

 We found lots of tiny shells,and even saw a baby horseshoe crab!

 While we were walking, we also came across the wild ponies closer by. These ponies are descendants of horses used by the Spanish several hundred years ago.

We walked back down almost to the ferry dock and found another group of horses that had come out almost onto the beach and were grazing.

This girl was excited about her first view of the horses.

 I have a picture of Brent and I from college with the wild horses on Shackleford as well.

 Because they are wild, we did not get too close, but I did pull out my zoom and take a few pictures. Thus one was one of my favorites! They are beautiful horses.

 After lunch, the ferry picked us yet and transported out to the barrier island that contains Cape Lookout Lighthouse. This lighthouse is only accessible by boat. We didn't get to climb this one yet because Allie and Bethany aren't tall enough but it is a beautiful lighthouse to see!

 We took the ferry back to Harkers Island and headed back to our campground. The girls still wanted more water fun so they asked to stop by the pool (it did rinse the coating of sand off them...)

 One of my favorite action shots of these two! She knew her Daddy was going to catch her!

 After we got back to the camper, it was time for some coloring and rest while Brent and I got supper ready.

 He grilled us some gooood hamburgers that were a great ending to a great day!

 The next morning it was time to head back with some beautiful shells, a bit of extra sand and some beautiful memories!

 Thank you, Brent, Rachel, Bekah, Bethany and Allie for making my birthday trip such fun!

Summer is here!

June 20, 2018

We have finished the school year! Rachel and Rebekah both took their standardized end of the year tests this past week and did very well. With that, 3rd grade, 1st grade and 3 year preschool are in the books!

Here's to a fun and restful summer and on to 4th, 2nd and K4 coming this fall.

We finished the day before summer officially started so here is how they spent their 1st full day of summer, outside, enjoying the weather, without opening a school book! Thankful for a good school year and for the rest break that summer brings!!

Outer Banks Father's Day Trip

The past couple of years, the girls and I have planned a special couple of days for a Father's Day Trip for Brent. Last year we went to the NC mountains for a couple days, this year we took him to the Outer Banks. We arrived in time for a beautiful sunset and supper. It was new moon so we headed to Bodie Island Lighthouse, near Nags Head, for stargazing, watching the Milky Way and some night lighthouse photography. Here are the girls stargazing through the sunroof.

The next morning, they talked him into a quick trip to the pool before we headed out to explore.

We checked out the sound along the campground where we were staying.

After lunch we headed out to Pea Island, along the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.

This baby loves sand and shells.

She was just a tad bit excited here...and doing a good job standing without help on sand!

They loved playing in the edge of the sand and water.

This girl wrote her own Outer Banks sign in the sand this year! Bl

She is standing alot now, running will be here shortly!

Father's Day Trip 2018 with their Daddy

Love him lots!

On Father's Day, we headed north on the Outer Banks toward Corolla.

What a great sign for a great Dad! I found it beside the restaurant where we ate lunch.

After lunch we climbed a lighthouse! Yes, quite a unique and fun way to spend the day. Currituck Lighthouse is the northernmost NC Lighthouse. It is very special in that is has no height restrictions so Bethany could climb and we could carry Allie so we all 6 got to go and no one had to stay behind. There are at least 3 other NC lighthouses that can be climbed but all the others have height restrictions so we can't climb them...yet!

The beautiful view from the top, 214 steps later!!

All the girls and their Daddy at the top of the lighthouse on Father's Day

Here is the view from the base where you start the climb and above from the top!

After the lighthouse, we rode one of the Outer Banks ferries.

We saw sunset while on the ferry

It was a bit windy and a lot of fun!

We rode the ferry back after sunset and supper and, though we have ridden several NC ferries, this one we had all to ourselves. Yep, we were the only car and the only people on the ferry besides the crew. It was a really neat experience!

After helping him open his Father's Day gifts to finish out the trip it was time to head back. Brent, we are all so thankful for you and hope you enjoyed your couple of days of rest and photography for Father's Day!