An evening on the boardwalk...

After spending the day on the beach with Ava and Reid we all went back to their beach house for outdoor showers (there's truly no better way to shower) and a little air conditioning.  We worked on a puzzle, played with toys (Reid has some seriously cool action figures!) and enjoyed a little happy hour. 

Then we loaded their "Sit 'n Stand" stroller with all three kiddos and Andy took on the grueling task of pushing a 100+ lb stroller to the boardwalk.  :) 

Our first destination was Funland where Adam and Ava rode every ride they were tall enough for.  There were firetrucks, boats, swings, helicopters and trains.  I couldn't get over how cheap it was (roughly 30 cents a ride) and Adam couldn't stop smiling.  It was one thing to ride the rides in Hershey, it was another to have his girlfriend riding along side him at the beach!  In the meantime, Reid was off playing every game he could and winning, oh about a gagillion tickets!  Fun for all!

Afterwards we headed to Nicola Pizza for dinner and stuffed ourselves with pizza, pasta, and Nicabolis.  And because nothing caps off a day at the beach quite like a scoop of ice cream...

Thanks Kristine, Kathleen, Reid and Ava for sharing a great day at the beach with us! 

When darkness comes...

Adam, one day you’ll read through this journal of your childhood, of your life really, and it would be easy to imagine that the world you grew up in was nothing but love, laughter, beach trips, and Hokie tailgate parties, but one of the hardest things I’ll ever teach you is that in fact there is tragedy in this world. 

There will be tough times and things will happen that you won’t understand, and that’s ok, because none of us can truly understand why these things happen. 

All you really need to know is that at the end of the day, there will always be light that comes from dark.  Some of the greatest moments you’ll witness will shine right through the darkness.  A dear friend of mine who is dealing with an indescribable darkness calls these dark moments the “hard things.”  You’ll face a lot of hard things in your life Adam, and I hate that I can’t keep that from happening, but it’s the hard things that make us stronger and that make the love, laughter, beach trips and Hokie tailgate parties that much sweeter. 

Your favorite song of the moment is “Shake it Out” by Florence and the Machine.  I love that you love this song, and I hope you’ll look to the lyrics when the hard things and the darkness come…

“Shake it out , Shake it Out… Shake it out, Shake it out…and it’s hard to dance with the Devil on your back, so shake him off….Shake it out, Shake it out…it’s always darkest before the dawn…”

Beachin' it...again!

I've yet to maintain a decent pedicure this summer, but I can't complain, it's just a side effect of constantly having your toes in the sand!  And boy have our toys been in the sand a lot this year! 

After stalking the Delaware State Park website after our visit in May, Andy stumbled upon a cancellation!  We are learning quickly that campgrounds fill up super fast so cancellations are cause for celebration...it's the little things. 

So, we packed up the camper for another fun weekend (and week for Andy and Adam) on the Delaware shoreline.  Now, I'm not going to lie.  It was H.O.T. The Dave Mathew's Band lyrics, "and it was so hot outside that you could fry an egg," came to mind...a few times.  It's also been confirmed that there is absolutely no graceful way to run on hot sand to the water, especially when you are faced with an obstacle course of beach chairs, umbrellas, sand castles and holes! I like to think that what I lacked in grace on the beach I more than made up for in my wave jumping abilities. 

Anywho...heat aside, we still managed to find ways to keep cool.  The ocean was a nice and chilly temperature, our camper side pool was always full, and the juice boxes, iced tea and beer kept our insides cool. 

We even got hang in the heat on the beach with Adam's friends, Reid and Ava.  It was great watching the three of them play together in the sand.  Reid just turned 5 and was so patient with the (almost) 3 year olds, agreeing to dig holes, fill buckets with water, and even shared his boogie board.  Reid's "babysitting" also meant we got to spend time catching up with Kathleen and Kristine.  (Note to the Grandparents---relax, we did oversee the boogie boarding.) ;)

Celebrating Freedom...

With the 4th falling on Wednesday we didn't make our typical trip to Wintergreen, but instead we spent the day hanging out as a family taking advantage of all the fun that comes with summer. 

We went to the pool for a bit and splashed around with Grandma and Grandpa...

We had a great BBQ dinner and hung out on the deck...

We lit fireworks and waved our flags...

What a great country we live in where even a simple Wednesday in the middle of the summer can be made special by spending it doing what you want with the people you love. 

God blessed America...that's for sure!

Hershey Park

A couple weekends ago we headed up to "The Sweetest Place on Earth" for a camping trip in Erica's hometown of Hershey, PA.  It was probably the hottest weekend of the whole year, but that didn't stop us, we were happy to swap hot chocolate for chocolate milkshakes!

We camped at Hershey's campground and what our site lacked in shade it more than made up for it with a gigantic playground in the front yard.  Aside from rosey checks the heat didn't seem to bother Adam, he just ran around playing while Andy and I sat with our faces pushed up against the fans we brought. 

On Saturday, we met up with Greg, Erica, Blake and GG (Erica's mom) at Hershey Park.  Adam was in heaven.  He loved all of the rides and I enjoyed accompanying him on some of them (if I close my eyes I still feel I'm going in circles!)  I even got to go on a few coasters and Andy, well Andy enjoyed the walk! :)

At the end of the day, no ride, milkshake, or game of skee ball could compete with this:

Water Party!

A few weekends ago we had a water party for Adam and his friend Blake and cousin Olivia.  Adam's friend Ryan was supposed to come too, but sadly his dad had a stomach bug, so they had to stay in Richmond. 

The kids had a great time splashing around in the pool and with the water table.  They snacked on fresh strawberries and blueberries and sipped on juice boxes.  Meanwhile the adults snacked on veggies and hummus and sipped on sangria and cold beer.  

We all had a lot of fun and it even turned into a slumber party for Adam and Olivia.  They stayed up talking until after 9:00, but slept until almost 8:00, so they made up for it!  They got to watch morning cartoons together and they even put each other in "time out" at one point--a guess a good excuse to sit and talk some more! 

I love watching Adam play with his friends and love even more that it's a good excuse for us to play with ours! :)