County Fair

It's that time of year again. . . it's fair time! Both of the boys participated in 4-H this year and did craft projects. Curtis got a Blue Star, which means that it was in the running for champion, but fell a little short. Still, pretty good for his first attempt at a project. He cut out his profile and then drew things that he liked or that represented him in some way. Then he colored the background yellow because that is his favorite color.


Graydon's project also got a blue ribbon. Graydon did a sketch of Durburger who is one of his favorite skins on Fortnite.


After spending some time looking around at all of the projects, we went to watch the sheep showmanship show. It's fun to watch because we know a lot of the kids competing. After a while, however, Graydon was getting antsy. At this stage in his life, the fair means carnival rides.

This was the first ride they went on. I remember Curtis riding this very ride four years ago. He was hesitant at first, but decided to ride because Bella and Graydon did. When he got off, however, he burst into tears because the whole experience was really scary for him. This time however, he was nothing but smiles.


He knows his limitations a little better now. This ride, the Alibaba, goes really high in the air and then down pretty quickly. Bella and Graydon love this one, but Curtis is a hard pass on it.


Bella also tried fried oreos for the first time (and she gave me one - it was my first time too)!


On our way out, we walked through the livestock barn and looked at all of the ribbons that all of the 4-Hers and their animals earned. The county fair has definitely become a part of our summer.

Our Week at the Shore!

It's a week that we look forward to all year. And for good reason. It's always such an incredible week!

We loaded up and left after church on June 30th and made it all the way to eastern Pennsylvania before stopping for the night. Graydon got comfortable in the hotel room right away.


MONDAY

We pulled into Mimi Jane's driveway around 11:30am.

We didn't waste much time before heading to the beach. I forgot to take my phone with me, so I couldn't take any pictures from those first dips in the ocean. But that was not necessarily a bad thing because I didn't feel like I needed to take a picture of every little thing (because just about everything they do at the beach feels photo-worthy). I just sat there and relaxed - which was perfect. I love the rhythm of life at the shore where we don't shower until after the beach. Those evening showers always feel better than morning showers. Here is Graydon all cleaned up and comfy after spending a couple of hours in the ocean.


Andy got some oysters that night. Whenever we go to the shore, he loves to eat raw seafood, since it's the only time he can get it. Me? I'll pass.


The kids all gave it a try though.




It's in his mouth and he's trying to convince himself to swallow.




Curtis tried some too and somehow I missed getting a photo of it.

TUESDAY

Back to the beach!


We were there for several hours and Graydon was out of the water for maybe about five minutes. He just loved playing in those waves on the boogie board. And he got really good at catching the wave at just the right time to ride it all the way to the sand. I also got in the water a little bit this day, but I think the proof of that is on Bella's phone.


Curtis played in the water some, did some digging, attempted to build a sand castle, and looked for shells.


Bella was probably in the water about as much as Graydon, but she also did some skim boarding.










Curtis really wanted to get into the hot tub after coming back from the beach, so we all got in. It's a beautiful view from there.


I think this is my new favorite picture of the three of them from that evening.


A couple of hours after leaving the beach, we went back. Bella brought her kite and the boys brought the metal detector.






They got some beeping! What's it going to be? The anticipation is mounting. They dug up a . . .


PENNY!


I discovered with metal detecting that anything feels like a treasure when you dig it up. They ended up finding this penny, three quarters, six tent stakes, and multiple bottle caps.

Ocean wind is perfect for flying a kite.




Eventually, Bella joined in the metal detecting.






They didn't go with the intention of getting wet, but the water seems to have a way of drawing them in.


A new favorite of Curtis!


WEDNESDAY

Mornings at the shore are my favorite. Slow start to the day. Hot coffee. Sitting in pajamas until changing for the beach. It's perfect.

This photo of Curtis is special. He started to experience more worry and anxiety surrounding school this year and one of the coping skills we talked through is imagining a peaceful place that he can travel to in his mind that will help him to feel calm and less worried. The place that Curtis picked is exactly this spot: Mimi Jane's couch at the shore. When we were talking about it, he described the couch, the window, and the things outside the window. His peaceful place wasn't the beach or ocean, it was Mimi Jane's couch, a very special place that he's been to many times in his mind.


My friend, Jen, and two of her kids came out to spend the day with us. Back to the beach!


I spent that whole time talking with Jen and catching up on everything that that was my only beach photo that day. Afterwards, we went back to Mimi's house.


We played a lot of card games this week. All of the kids recently learned how to shuffle, a skill they had fun practicing - which meant that a deck of cards was always nearby.




We fit in a little bit of shopping that evening.


The end of the day always has a way of sneaking up on us. I'm thankful that we're able to get this time to see each other every year.


THURSDAY: The Fourth of July

We changed things up this day. Instead of going to the beach right away, we went up to the north point of the island to see the lighthouse in Barnegat, "Old Barney." This is the area of the island where the bay meets the ocean.




We visited this same place back in 2015. We came in early June that year, so the weather was a little cooler. We thought it would be fun to recreate a couple of photos from that year.

2015


2019. They've all grown just a little bit since then. Bella was sure to shut her eyes and stick out her foot again.


2015


2019


This time around, we climbed inside the lighthouse - all 217 steps of it. I would have been find with taking a break or two on the way up; but Bella was the leader and she just kept going.


View from the top! The bay is on the right and the ocean is on the left.












Afterwards, we did a little bit of shopping.


You never know what you might find.


Our beach time began in the later afternoon that day. I just went down in my clothes and listened to an audiobook while Andy and the kids played in the water.




I tried to get a photo of the four of them but wave after wave kept crashing into them before I could get a good one.




There we go!


That night was our seafood dinner. The boys had crab legs. I got a crab cake and split some flounder with Bella. I can't remember what Andy and Jane got. Everyone enjoyed their food.


Then we went next door to the roof of Jane's neighbor to watch the fireworks. We could literally turn in any direction and see them being launched from somewhere. There were probably at least ten different spots to look at. We were turning in circles to try and catch them all!




All decked out in their holiday best.



FRIDAY

We went mini-golfing in the morning. I won this year! It was my first time!


We met with the Conyers' for lunch at the Holiday Snack Bar. Andy needs to visit this place each year. The lunch was great and the company even better - I just didn't take any pictures during that time.

When we got back that afternoon, we took some family pictures.








Jane always sends Andy and I off for a special and watches the kids for us so that the two of us can spend some time together. This was the first year that we were here through July 4th and we've never seen such crowds. It took us about 30 minutes just to find a parking spot. Earlier in the week, Andy got his raw oysters, so on this night, our last night, he wanted to be sure to get his raw clams.



SATURDAY

The saddest day of the summer - leaving Mimi Jane. We never like that part. We left around 11am and made our way to Cinnaminson to visit with some more friends.

Curtis was thoughtful enough to take a picture of everyone. He just randomly grabbed my phone and told everyone to look at the camera.


Then he realized that he wasn't in the photo, so he had Graydon take a picture of him.


These girls are growing up so much. Brooke (on the left) is entering her senior year of college and Maddie (the middle) is beginning her freshman year. They are both pursuing nursing. We loved seeing each of them again!


We went on from there to visit another pastor that Andy was really close with and then stopped by Rita's for a water ice treat. They don't sell this stuff out by us and it was a fun walk down memory lane.


Curtis's mouth was just a little blue after his blue raspberry water ice.


And our last stop of the night was to see the Krott family. It works out so well that each of the kids have a friend to play with - which makes it easier for Andy and I to hang out with Jen and Karl.








We stayed with them that night and by 9:45am on Sunday morning, we left their house and started making our trek to Indiana. But first, we stopped at a gas station near our old church. We were still there at 10am, right when church was getting started. We heard the bells and knew that BJ was the one ringing them. It felt a little weird to be in the gas station parking lot instead of in the church, but also felt kind of neat to be there and hear the bells.

A few hours into the trip and Bella is passed out.


I think we made it home around 8:30pm that evening.

It was a week filled with many happy moments that are already wonderful memories.