Summertime Fun

The month of July was CRAZY with trips and birthdays and as usual a little chaos. 

 Fourth of July weekend for us included a trip to Carowinds! 

We usually go to Busch Gardens but could not get a full hook up site there.  So, we decided to try someplace new.  It was no where near as nice as Busch Gardens, but still fun.  The park hosted a party the first night with a dj from the local radio station.  Jake and I went solo to this because Caroline was worn out from the day's activities.  Jake had a blast dancing with the kids!  They were giving out prizes and Jake was determined to get a t shirt!  Everytime the guy threw it into the audience poor Jake, unsuccessfully, went chasing after it.  Finally, I put him up on my shoulders to do the YMCA and the guy must have had a little mercy on me because he came over and handed Jake a t shirt.  Jake was thrilled!!  Did I mention the t shirt fit Jeremy???  But Jake did not care as long as he got it!  We rode lots of rides and took pics with the characters!

 

 

This picture of Jeremy and Jake is one of my favorites!!!

Caroline loves the roller coasters!!!! 

 Jeremy usually rides with her because

we have to hold onto her - especially on the ones that shake you up a lot.

Jake on the other hand - not so much. 

We had to bribe him with playing games in order to get him to ride!

This was his first hanging coaster. 

 I was shocked that he rode - even if he earned playing a game! 

He always ends up loving the ride once he is on it.

Here he is reaping the rewards!!  I cant tell you how much $ we have given

 to the amusement parks for Jake to play these games

 

But he loves it.  And Caroline does too! 

 We have a large collection of stuffed animals to show for it!

This one is for you Ma!

"You're a good boy Charlie Brown" 

This was one of Caroline's prizes!

The second day we headed for the water park inside of Carowinds.

The water park is always Caroline's favorite place. 

She is such a little fish!!

After 2 days of riding and swimming, we were exhausted as you can see!

We didn't waste any time hitting the road again headed to Emerald Isle

 for some more fun in the sun!

Both Jake and Caroline loved the pool more than the beach!

Caroline was happy to sit and relax with her chair in the water!

We always rent a golf cart when we go so we dont have to lug all of our crap back and forth to the pool and beach and we like to play on it too!

After trying for an hour to convince him he would not drown, Jake finally got the nerve to jump in!

Once he realized how fun it was he jumped and jumped and jumped......

The next weekend we celebrated Jakes 5th birthday!!

We rented a GIANT waterslide and had a blast!

There were a lot of kids there.  At one point I counted 25.

Uncle Roger and Aunt Missy brought Jake some chocolate milk for his birthday (and a remote control motorcycle).  The chocolate milk is an inside joke between them!

After playing a while we sang happy birthday and had pirate cake.  Michelle Burnette in Henderson made the cake and it was awesome!

Make a wish!

Towards the end, the kids put on their pirate gear and went to battle!

Aunt Kee, Uncle Jeff, Addison and Carson got there a little late. 

They came straight from New York to the party!

After the party was over for the kids - it began for the adults!!!

We had a BLAST!!!!

Some were a little more daring than others!

Look at that face!  Of course Caroline loved the waterslide!

I think Jake will remember his 5th birthday for a long time

The next weekend we were off to Busch Gardens and Water Country USA!

As soon as we get in the park Jake always must have a map! 

 He truly thinks he knows where we are and where we need to go!

We saw a few shows - not too exciting - but impressive!

Jake and Caroline rode all of their favorite rides

We played around and tried on some hats while taking a break from the rides

The next day we headed to Water Country

Poor Jeremy HATES the sun but he was a good sport  - most of the time :)

We watched an awesome dive show. 

 I could not resist having my picture taken with the hotties in speedos!!!

We rode one waterslide together called

BIG DADDY FALLS. 

Jake was terrified at first but ended up loving it!

No that is not us - just a pic of the water slide!

We went back to Busch Gardens later when it cooled off and rode a few more rides. 

It was really crowded by now and hard to get around.

Jakes FAVORITE part is playing games. 

 I think daddy likes it just as much!

Do you see the Dispicable Me characters hanging from the top of the walls? 

 Jake was determined to get one!

He won one for him and Caroline

We ended the night with fireworks!  They were right over top of us! 

Caroline loved it - Jake was terrified!!!!  Poor kid!

2 hours and about $70 later.......

As usual we had a ball. 

 We headed home on Sunday to get a couple of days rest

 before heading back to the beach on Tuesday.

Jake and Caroline started school that Monday.  Caroline is in 2nd grade and Jake is in Kindergarten. 

Here is the first day of school.  Caroline seems glad to be back and Jake loves it!!!

We headed back down to Emerald Isle for some more fun in the sun on Tuesday.  We got down on Tuesday night so Wednessday was our first full day.  Jake learned to "surf" on his boogie board!  He was so excited.  Caroline got in on the action too.  Poor Jeremy had to tote them out past the waves so they could ride them in.  What a good dad!!  Check out the video of them surfing!!!!  FYI In order to hear the music on the video you will need to go down to the bottom of the blog page and pause the music player.  Otherwise you will have 2 songs playing at once.  But make sure to turn the music back on when you are done watching the video.  The second song is a really good song by Brother Iz. He is Hawiian and has a beautiful voice!

The next day Ma, Ammie, Aunt Kee, Addison, Carson, and Reese came down!  Notice who is missing from the picture!  I think daddy thought having them there meant break time for him - he chilled at the house most of the time we were on the beach.

 

 

This was Carson's first time seeing the ocean.  Look at that face!!!!!

 

Caroline was thrilled ot have Ammie there.  Water and Ammie - that was all she needed!

Miss Hollywood!!! 

Check out the shades!

We try so hard to get pictures of the four of them together!  They never want to cooperate!!!!  You would think they would sit still for 2 mins while we get a few shots and they would be done.  But NOOOOOOOO.  The crying and arguing and pouting go on until the adults (usually aunt Kee and I, Ammie stays pretty calm) are dripping with sweat and feeling like we could choke them all!!  So this is the best I got.  Ammie and Kee - maybe you guys had better luck than me.  If so I want a copy! 

We did manage to get a few decent ones of some of them

 

 Caroline never gets tired of the water!!!

Pookie of course was with us too. 

 I know she is glad we are done dragging her around for a while!!

We played at the camper and at the playground.

We also escaped the rain a couple of times in the gameroom at the campground!  Jake and Addison can go through some quarters like nobody's business!  But I guess that is what vacation is all about -

 take the kids on vacation and come back 

BROKE and EXHAUSTED!!!

For the first few days, Jake and Addison were constantly fighting over something!!!! 

 Here is one of the few moments I captured where they are actually getting along.

All of a sudden on the last day, we tell them Poppie is coming and they are now best friends!! 

 

What's up with that?????  Here is Addison doing Jake's nails!!

We hung out at the house where they were staying a lot too.  Jake and Addison decided their new favorite song was Apple Bottom Jeans.  Ammie had it on her phone and they put on a show for us.  They are so CUTE!!!

This is what Ma did much of the time.  She had a REAL vacation!  She RELAXED!! 

AHHHH.  Maybe one day!

Don't let those crops go bad Ma!!!!!

Ma was at one end of the table on one computer and Jeremy at the other on the other computer

We spent a lot of time at the pool.  I got Jake and Caroline this floatie thing that held them up in the water.  Caroline was in HEAVEN.  Nobody had to hold onto her at all times.

Jake made a friend to jump with every time we went to the pool

 The next day we headed back to the beach. 

I think I see another Miss Hollywood in the making!!!

 Jake amused himself for a long time digging for horseshoe crabs (at least thats what I think they are - the little crabs that wash up and then dig themselves back under.

 We actually did get Ma and Jeremy down to the beach for a little while.

 

 

 

 Poppie came down Saturday night and treated us all to dinner

 We all had a blast.  The kids are growing up way too fast!

  

It has been great to spend time with them doing fun stuff!!

I must say though, I am relieved to be back home and on a normal schedule.

 We will be staying put for a while!!!