Family Portrait

Avery style....

I like how Matt is picking my nose......

4th Fun!

We really had a fun 4th of July this year.  The kids were lucky enough to be at the beach all week and I was lucky enough to not have a job in corporate finance this year which meant I got to take the 4th off too!!  In fact, with it falling on a Thursday this year, Matt and I also took Friday off and had a super long weekend.

On the actual 4th, we went with NaNa, Pops, Uncle Matt and Cecily to a shoal behind Bird Shoal. It was perfect and not crowded and the kids could run and run and run.  We grilled burgers, both beef and venison, and hot dogs.

Little Sand Fiddlers

Will skim boarding

Uncle Matt skim boarding

Swimming boy

 

Avery and Uncle Matt….these 2 love each other so much.

What a fun day!

The next day Pops had to work so we headed to my childhood beach haunt, Oceanana. Mom had taken the kids here all week so they were old pros. There was this nice little sandbar and it gave the kids plenty of space to play and not have the big waves crash on them the whole time.

Building sand castles and water slides and a water elevator, which is an interesting thing to build out of sand.

 

My little surfer dude. He had SOO much fun doing this all week.

Sissy spent a good portion of the day perfecting her hole.

Some cool shots of the pier and down the beach.

A beach weekend isn’t complete with out some General Store ice cream.

When we got back to Raleigh, it was time to celebrate Uncle Gray’s birthday!!!

First of First

A wrap-up of the first week of first grade!

A few shots of the kids that morning before school.

In case you are wondering, that is a GIANT pumpkin plant in our front flower bed. GIANT.

Matt walked Will into school that morning because Will’s book bag and bag of supplies were actually very heavy. Mr. Big First Grader wasn’t thrilled for the company.

So far Will has had a really great week at school. He seems to really like his teacher and I think she is going to be a good fit for him this year.  His favorite part of the days has been “specials” which are a little more involved this year than last. He really enjoys actually going to the gym for PE with the coach and using the real art room and computer lab.

Can’t believe he is growing up so fast. It wouldn’t surprise me if next time this year he isn’t up to my shoulders!!

Kindergarten Musical

The last week of school was a busy one for Will! The festivities started off that week with a kindergarten musical. The “kindergarten chorus” has done a couple of performances throughout the year, but it has only been a song or two as part of a bigger performance/show/etc….  So I wasn’t really sure what to expect.  Avery begged to go see Bubba so I kept out of school that morning and we got front row seats.
Avery and Sunshine

The program for “Dream Big".

The show started and up walks Will to the microphone and starts introducing the first act. I thought “oh how nice, they are going to take turns introducing the different acts.”  Um, no. Will was the musical’s narrator, much to my surprise! Evidently to his surprise as well because his teacher told me afterwards that they had just picked him that morning and he didn’t have any time to practice his lines or anything.

For someone reading a script for the first time, he did EXCELLENT. He pronounced all sorts of what I would call “hard” words (the one that comes to mind is “stupendous”) and he managed to use correct inflection and humor throughout the whole thing! I was super impressed! In fact I pretty much stayed teary-eyed the whole time.

Will’s part of the show was being a chef, which was fun since Uncle Gray spent some time as a fancy chef. He even managed to hold on to a wooden spoon for the entire show and not poke anyone’s eye out.

Some cute pics of the other performers.

Not sure why he is the only one standing up…
 
Some shots after the show.

Will with his teacher and teacher’s assistant. And Avery.  We love them all. Sissy included!

Hard to believe he is going to be a 1st grader tomorrow!!!

Go Pack!

I love baseball. I grew up in a baseball house.  So many of my childhood memories are playing baseball in my front yard. Which is exactly what Will and I spend a lot of time doing now.

A few weeks ago, the NCAA baseball tourney started and NC State was hosting the first round regional games. It coincided with a dr’s trip Dad was up here for so I got 3 tickets so Will, Dad and I could go. Matt was out of town for a guys fishing trip and couldn’t join us.

We had great seats right on the 3^rd base line. I had to pay a lot of attention to keep everyone safe from foul balls!

Three generations of Wolfpack fans!

Will got to visit with the #1 Wolfpack fan!!

Mom and Dad went home on Saturday morning and Matt was still on his guys trip. But there was still a weekend full of baseball to watch, so Will, Avery and I headed to the game on Saturday night. And Sunshine, of course!

We couldn’t stay for the whole game. We left during the 7^th inning, actually the 7^th inning stretch, meaning the restroom lines were loooong. I didn’t even ask if Avery needed to go because she is so good about that kind of stuff. Well of course as soon as we get to the parking deck, in the dark, she announces how badly she has to go. So she goes, in a cup, in the dark, in the parking deck. Obviously I left the cup there. ‘Cause no one’s got time to drink out of that ever again!

The Pack had a very successful baseball season, even making it to the College World Series. Of course I got Will a shirt!

Go Pack!!