PEEC weekend

We made it to PEEC for the first time this past weekend and it was all that I hoped it would be. Lots of family activities and shared meals with friends. We needed this. More photos to come!

First Taste of Fall

The weekend before last was our final one without Nacho home. His training wrapped up the first week of October so we had a few more days to fill our schedule without Papa around. The weather looked nice and sunny but the winds were deceptively cool.  It was the first real sign of fall and I decided to proceed with our plan to head over to Socrates Sculpture Park on that beautiful Sunday morning. Nothing a few coats and scarves can't handle. And for the most part, the girls enjoyed the outing. They were feeling a little feisty with one another--nothing new--but with plenty of space to run I thought we would do okay. And the new installations were fun to check out. The giant iron bridge was beckoning from the moment we walked in, and before I knew it, the girls were half way up. I stayed behind to try to get a good photo, only realizing later that the platform was curved and kind of awkward to walk on. No wonder Carolina was squealing to get down. Another sign warned that children should not climb it unaccompanied. Oops. And in all seriousness, the guardrail was so low that if I had tumbled, I could have easily fallen right over it myself. Oh well. Nothing like art mixed with a little danger. 

The rest of the spaces were more inviting and we managed to spend a good 45 minutes roaming around. Elisa turned one of the walkways into a fashion show, hips swaying and arm bent on her hip. I swear this kid has a bigger life planned than I can possibly imagine. And later at the mirrors the girls were a study in sisterhood. Poking, prodding, intimidating. It was all there in their reflections to watch. I think I have my own exhibit to make. And then we were off to Rainey Park nearby for a little playground fun. Which quickly devolved into two hungry and tired kids tearing into each other. I was barking at them more than I like, but really? Can't we just go out once without tears? And then we were back home to rest. Pretty sure I took a nap that day too. With this cool weather, it's so nice to just curl up and let the day pass. Saving myself for more outdoor activities in October. So much to do this month and we're ready to have Nacho home to join in.

Long weekend

Let's Pretend

Let's pretend we're time travelers and can go back to mid-August right now....because let's face it, this rainy old Saturday is boring me to tears.  In fact, I have dozens of "real" photos to post from trips to Spain, NC and Washington DC, and it's taken me too long to edit them and get them up on the blog. If you haven't noticed already, I've been trying to post more timely photos from my cell phone and then follow up with a "real" post with my good camera photos.  It's probably just because I'm a little photo-obsessed that this matters to me at all. But I have really slacked off on the posts with the good photos. To the point that I'm wondering why I even take all these photos to begin with. This blog is, after all, my scrapbook of sorts and a creative outlet I value as much for the photos as the words I write. It follows that I would like it to have the best photos possible. So with that in mind, we're going to be playing catch up this month while trying to stay on top of all the fall foliage posts I'll inevitably make. So yeah, October in Blogland, I'm gunning for you. (Now who else is with me? Kate? Maggie? Let's bang these out!)  

But back to this summer...August...oh, yes, now what were we up to? Right, the beach house in Atlantic Beach, NC with a houseful of my favorite people. This year we moved things up from our usual late September timeframe, which meant we avoided having to pull the girls from school which was great. It also worked out that the week coincided with time off for Mark, Mia, Jordan and Nacho. Hallelujah! With that squared away, mom had the green light to get us a house and even the last minute switcheroo (the first one had fleas!) didn't ruin things. It actually ended up giving us a nicer house in a new part of the coastline.  And we made the most of our time together: playing on the beach, hanging out in the kitchen making great food and walking along the beach at night trying to find ghost crabs with our flashlights. After a little bit of rain, it turned out to be a great week weatherwise which made up for the shitty fishing--at least for me. Might want to ask Mom and Dad, Kent and Leroy, but I'm pretty sure they'd say the good company and excellent Yahtzee games were consolation for a lack of fish. Fortunately too there weren't any sharks bumping along the shore--at least none that we noticed. So for the first time in a couple of years, I actually swam and enjoyed it. Still I wasn't out there long, but just seeing the girls get in and love the boogie boarding was fun and a little nerve wracking. Elisa absolutely delighted in her time in the waves, even though she wiped out a couple of times. Carolina took some getting used to the deep water, but with Nacho by her side, she also loved it. Yeah, it was a good beach vacation.

I know they are family and therefore some of my best subjects, but I really love the photos from this year. I really tried to get in there, to take better pictures and to keep documenting everything--from the late night walk on the beach with glow sticks to our visit to Fort Macon to Elisa's prancing around doing cartwheels at sunset. I want each photo to tell a story that once assembled makes our week come to life. For me the goal is always storytelling. I want to relive these good times over and over, and I do every time I look at them. If I'm successful, so do my parents (who paid for this amazing week) and my sister and her family, and everyone who was there. I always wonder what the girls will remember of these times with our extended family as they grow up. Will they look back at these pictures and realize how much love went into making these vacations happen? Traveling with kids is never without effort and a little craziness. But each year, it's been improving. And I feel like we're at a point now that I can say this is the best it's been in a long time. Even seeing Mom up and fishing so much was a big deal. She still had her downtime and her aches and pains, but she was there and present. She had dinner with us most nights, and we were able to celebrate the girls' birthdays with a little party before we all disbanded. Having the photos to remember it all was my only goal for the week. I think I made it.