Bethany Beach

We spent the weekend with the Best family. Yes, they really are the Best family. They were excellents hosts, providing us with yummy meals and fun activities, and we had a wonderful time. On Friday night, we had a seafood fry that was cooked in the turkey fryer. It was delicious. While dinner was being prepared the kids played outside. Here is a picture of their little guy, Joseph, playing t-ball. He is a great hitter and he is only 20 months old!

Here is Wesley with John. Wesley needs some practice playing t-ball.
After we ate dinner, we went hunting for ghost crabs but we didn't see any. It did remind me a little of snipe hunting at camp. The kids loved carrying their flashlights and walking on the beach at night.

Here are Wesley and James. Walking in the sand made everyone tired and ready for bed. Well, except for the mommies, we stayed up talking, taking advantage of some kid-free time to chat.

Before nap time today, Wesley kept asking, "Where is Joseph? Where is John? Where is James?" We left their house at 5:00am this morning and drove home. Maybe he thought we were going back. I think he had a really good time with the boys.

I will post more photos once I decide which ones I like the most from our fun day at the beach on Saturday. I will try not too post too many.

His Two Front Teeth

Wesley went to see the dentist for the first time on Friday. He was very cooperative and seemed to like everything except for the tartar scraping that the dentist did on his bottom front teeth. He wore sunglasses because the chair faces the window and all the morning sunshine. The dentist gave him these cool sunglasses to wear during the exam and cleaning. I probably would have forgotten that I had my camera but Lydia got it out of my purse.

The dentist x-rayed his front teeth because she thought they were damaged secondary to falling and hitting his mouth. Two years ago, he went very quickly from not walking to walking to running. He did fall and bust his lips several times that summer. He fell in May and chipped a little piece off of his left front tooth. Thankfully the x-ray showed that his permenant teeth are fine. The left front baby tooth is loose but she said it looked good; however, the right one is damaged. She said to call her if he falls again and hurts his mouth.

The dentist (above) was awesome so let me know if you are looking for a pediatric dentist.

A Fun Day at the Water Park

On Monday we went to a great water park for little kids. For us it was well worth the drive down 95 and the $6.50 admission charge. We went with friends and had a great time. I missed getting a photo of the mom who first told me about this place, but here is a photo of the other mom and her girls.
We started out in the little kid area. Here is Lydia going down the whale slide. There are two "bigger slides" (like the one above) in addition to his little slide. There are stairs to walk up or you can climb a rope ladder to get to the top of the slides. If you go up the stairs, you have to walk through some sprayers that shoot water down on you like a giant shower.

I have to say the lifeguards were great! They were so nice and attentive. They also helped the kids down the slides if they needed it. Here is a picture of Wesley in one of the sprayers at the bottom of the slide area.

We ate lunch during pool break and then played in the big pool. It has a beach entry and the dark blue area only goes up to about 18 inches. Wesley did a good job "swimming" with a life jacket in the deeper water. He even tried swimming with his face in the water a few times. To the left of this picture are a couple of water slides that you have to be a certain height to do.

Clearly, being there for over two and a half hours was long enough.

Bouncing the Night Away

Our neighborhood celebrated tonight with the local fire department, rescue squad, and police department. There was an ice cream truck that supplied free ice cream, a cupcake decorating contest, and a moonbounce.

Wesley loved the moonbounce. Since I had to help with the event we arrived early and Wesley got to bounce for almost 30 minutes before the other kids arrived. He continued to bounce until he wanted ice cream, but once the ice cream was finished he was back in there. We had to make him get out.
Lydia was tired tonight and a little unsure about the moonbounce. Since no one else was there yet, I got in there with her. She did practice her jumping some with me holding her hands.
Here is Wesley in the ambulance. The rescue squad handed out fire hats to all the kids. Chris had already left with the kids when the fire department arrived. It was the same shift that came out for our MOPS event last November. The lieutenant said they would be happy to come out anytime for the kids.

Wesley chose this ice cream. He has never seen the show but he likes the character. It turned out to be more like a popsicle instead of ice cream but he liked it. Notice how sweaty Wesley is because of the bouncing.
Lydia didn't get her own ice cream. I am sure Chris thought she would be too messy so he shared his with her.

Chris was in charge of our kids because I got stuck being in charge of the moon bounce. Fortunately all the kids were very polite and followed my requests for taking breaks so other kids could have turns. I am exhausted but I am sure I will have trouble sleeping and that I will dream about the moonbounce tonight.

The evening was a huge success. It is the first community event we have had in our neighborhood in the five years we have lived here. So I am thrilled that about 300 people came out tonight!

My Biggest Prayer

On Saturday during the praise and worship at the simulcast I was very moved when I noticed one particular woman praising God. This woman's husband is suffering from an incurable, dehabilitating, genetic disease. Despite this, she lifted her hands in praise and joyfully sang, "God you are good all the time."

I was also reminded of this when Beth Moore said that if we want to see a one hundred fold spiritual harvest in our lives, we have to dig deep roots by being rooted and estabilished in love (Ephesians 3:17). We have to be convinced how deeply God loves us. Knowing "Jesus loves me" will carry us through the tough times.

This is my heart's desire for my children, that they will know, really know, that God loves them. And that they will grow up knowing and loving God. Sometimes when I pray for Wesley he says, "Don't say 'knowing and knowing'. " My response is always, "I will never stop praying that you grow up knowing and loving God."

Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown

This afternoon we went to a topiary garden. Mr. Fryar started his three acre garden in 1984 in an effort to win "yard of the month." He is a self-taught gardener/artist who has received national attention for his work. His yard has become such a tourist attraction that a bus turn around had to be built at the end of his street. We parked in his driveway and enjoyed walking around his beautiful garden.
This light pole was installed to enable Mr. Fryar to work on his garden at night after work. He is now retired.

I wish the holly in our backyard looked like this. I don't know if our holly had ever been trimmed before I trimmed it when I was nine months pregnant with Wesley. It is amazing that trimming trees and bushes makes them grow so much better. Since we have starting trimming our holly once a year (thanks for doing it last year Dad), it has grown taller and fuller.

Chris' parents live less than 30 minutes from the topiary garden but this was their first visit.

My father-in-law says this is the reason Chris married me.

Do you see the elephant?

It is amazing that one man does all of this by himself.

Road Trip

We left Alexandria at 6:45 this morning to drive to SC so I could attend this simulcast with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I was motivated to get up at 5:00 so we would have time to go outlet shopping in NC. The shopping spree was a success and Chris and I both found some great deals. The problem with getting up at 5:00 is that my brain doesn't always work and I absent mindly told Chris a single stroller was fine for our trip. This made shopping with Wesley a little challenging.

After shopping we ate at Cracker Barrel, our favorite road trip restaurant. As Lydia was frantically shoving her food in her mouth I noticed that it was almost 2:00. No wonder she was starving.


Here is a picture of a happy well rested girl. Her lovey blanket (her sleep sack) is behind her head.

Lydia put her blanket behind her head because Wesley had his bear behind his head.
The simulcast was awesome tonight and I am looking forward to tomorrow's session. The praise and worship was wonderful and Beth Moore was inspiring as always. She talked about Luke 8, the parable of the sower, and how God wants to work a 100 fold spiritual harvest in our lives.