Fishing in Culpepper

On Saturday we drove down to Culpepper for a party. Our friends, Carol and Dale have a beautiful place there where they plan to retire. Carol used to be the office manager where I work. It was fun to see her and Dale again and to explore their property.

Wesley isn’t allowed to watch a lot of television but he does have one favorite show. Recently after one of the episodes, he started talking about wanting to go fishing with Daddy. Well, Daddy doesn’t fish and probably isn’t going to start fishing anytime soon. I knew the party would be a good opportunity for Wesley to experience fishing.

What is funny is Jane’s daughter Alana loves to fish but Jane (my boss) and her husband don’t fish at all. Alana went to fishing camp this summer and really enjoyed it. She came to the party yesterday with her pole and tackle box. Dale supplied the night crawlers and Alana baited her hook and started fishing after receiving a little help from a fellow fisherman. Here is a photo of Wesley watching Alana.
Wesley quickly lost interest in the actual fishing (and catching of fish) that was happening at the pond. He was very interested in playing in the canoe (on dry ground) and “fishing” for magnetic fish.
Lydia was also interested in the canoe and magnetic fish.
Here is a picture of Chris and the kids. The man-made pond was so beautiful as was the entire area. It was nice to get out in the country and enjoy God's creation. The weather was perfect also – sunny, cooler than a normal August day, and low humidity.
Here is a photo of me and the kids.

We put the kids in this swing to take a picture of them, but Wesley just wanted to see how hard he could swing it.

Cool Times at the Beach

Michelle made a list of the comedy of errors that happened during our stay with them. We were having so much fun that I didn't really think about the fact that things weren't going according to plan. Here's a photo of Michelle and Lang, our excellent hosts.

On Sunday morning we were treated to "Beach Eggs" – omelets with Velveeta cheese. Yummy!! We all had seconds. The Best boys call them "Beach Eggs" because they usually don't have these special omelets at home. I think we will be making "Beach Eggs" as a new tradition at our house and we will forever call them "Beach Eggs."

After breakfast we went to the pool.

Michelle was nice to me and left off her Comedy of Errors list the fact that Lydia fell in the pool on Sunday. Lydia had been in the water with Chris and Wesley but she wanted out to come see me (the pool was very cool and I was trying to avoid getting in). When I tried to take a picture of her she quickly turned around and headed back to the pool. I put down my camera and started after her because I knew she would jump in. She fell in before she had a chance to jump in. I was only a couple of steps behind her and I was able to just reach in and pull her back out. At this point Chris insisted that I get in the pool. It was cold but I stayed in with Lydia for a little bit. She was a little more cautious after falling in.

It took Wesley a little while to get in the pool and start swimming. Here he is on the steps while James tries to coax him into the pool. Once Wesley got going, he really enjoyed the pool.
After we all had showered and warmed up from the pool, Lang cooked a delicous lunch while we watched the thunderstorm. Only the oldest child escaped having a nap while the adults played a board game. We woke the kids up from their naps and went to Rehoboth Beach. The kids had fun riding the few rides that weren't closed because of a power outage that resulted from the storm. Here is Lang and Joseph on the helicopter ride.

Wesley and Lydia enjoyed the helicopter ride. In the background are James and John.

Lydia was too short to ride the Gravitron. Wesley was also too short but he asked several times to ride it. When we were waiting for the teacups, I told Wesley that we were going to go fast and he asked, "Fast that like?" and pointed to the Gravitron. Umm, no.

Here are John, Lang, and James at the end of the Haunted House ride.

We had dinner at Grotto's. The kids (and their dads) enjoyed playing games before dinner. Lang helped James drive the race car.

Wesley was barely tall enough to play air hockey.

Look how serious James was about the game.

Wesley and Lydia liked playing in this little boat. They were very happy even before we put money in the game.
We had such a wonderful weekend. It was fun getting to know the Best family better and we loved all the activities.

Digging the Beach

On Saturday we went to the beach with the Best Family. Be sure and check out their blog. The beach day was a real treat for us. James and John taught Wesley and Lydia how to dig a huge hole in the sand. I think Lydia mostly just pushed sand back into the hole but John was very patient with her.
Joseph, who had a fever, napped on the beach almost the entire time we were there. Don't worry he wasn't too hot; the day was a little cool and breezy and he was in the shade.

Lydia snacked on puffs and also sampled some sand.

James is very into burying and finding treasure on the beach. Unfortunately, he sometimes looses his toys this way.

Wesley loved standing with his legs buried in the sand.

After I managed to fall into this hole, we put Lydia into it for a photo-op.

James and John were happy when the tide came in and filled their ditch with water.

Lydia decided to help with the digging again.

Now that is one happy girl. Our kids briefly got in the water but it was a cool 70 degrees so all the kids prefered the sand.

Joseph and Lydia could be twins with their red hair and blue eyes. After sleeping most of the day, Joseph felt a lot better. Lydia kept taking toys away from him. I feel like she sizes up the competition, and if she thinks she can win, she tries to take the toys. When the older boys laid toys down, she sometimes ran away with them but she often tried to take the toys right out of Joseph's hands and then tried to hold onto them when he tried to get them back.

Saturday night we went to the boardwalk to get ice cream. I am sure Chris got Wesley's ice cream in a cup because he thought it would be less messy but Wesley wanted to eat it like a cone. See how happy he is to have ice cream with sprinkles?

Things weren't as crazy as you might expect with five kids ages seven and under. Here is a picture of all five kids. At first they were relatively happy to have their photo taken.
Soon the youngest ones started to cry. It was well past bedtime.

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!