Fernandina, Baby! Monday.

Let's see...

I'm sure we were up early. :)  The kids were stoked to get moving, so, after breakfast, we suited up, packed up, and headed to the beach.

Thankfully, the garage at the condo we always rent is packed with bicycles, sand toys, beach chairs, and a rolling cart to tote things back and forth to the beach.  Between the cart and the double jogging stroller we brought, we were good to go!

Sweet Emmy wasn't a big fan of the beach at the beginning.  She's at a weird age...she likes to squirm and roll and move around, so we can't just lay her on a towel and leave her, but she's also not a super awesome independent sitter yet, so a wading pool isn't really an option for her.

She also has such fair skin that keeping her out of the sun as much as possible is high on my priority list.  It's a good thing she's cute and chunky in her swimsuits, cause she can be high maintenance!

The big kids had a BLAST.  Babe loves pretending like she's Ariel and has even convinced Granti to play the part of a "nice Ursula."

Both kids are also fans of heading out into the "soft softies" (out past where the waves break) and spend most of their beach time convincing some adult to take them out there.

I ended up bringing Emmy in a little early and when the rest of the family was all beached out, we met up and headed to the pool. 

We jumped, swam, and cannonballed for about an hour.  Emmy Doe got her first real taste of a pool and absolutely loved it.  She's a big fan of sticking her face in and lapping the water like a dog.  Ben thinks it's cute.  I think it's gross.  She just smiles.

When we were tired of swimming, we came in, ate lunch, and napped before getting ready for dinner.  Paige Cassady even hooked Hadley up with a "fish-tail braid."  Homegirl was beyond excited.

We headed over to Cedar River Seafood for dinner because, thanks to Ben's phone call last week, we knew that Monday nights were all you can eat shrimp.

The shrimp was good.  The service sucked.  I think it literally took us three hours to eat.  Thankfully, the company was excellent.

After dinner, we made another trip to Publix for dessert and then came back to the condo.  Daddy put Em Nut to bed while Granti, Tyler, Paige, the big kids, and myself headed out to the beach to hunt for ghost crabs. 

According to Harris, we found ten.

It was a great ending to our first full day at the beach. 

We love this place!!

Fernandina, Baby! Sunday.

We loaded up and headed out bright and early Sunday morning.

And yep, Ben totally strapped a couple of bikes and the double jogging stroller to the top of Big Red.  Quality. :)

Props to my hubby, though, because they stayed put.  And there certainly wasn't any room to pack them on the inside.

I think we pulled out around 8:30.  The big kids were stoked.

Everyone travelled so well, even little Emmy Doe.  We stopped around 9:30 or so to grab some breakfast at McDonald's and feed Emster her bananas and strawberries.

And then we stopped again a couple of hours later, but not because of Emmy.  We stopped because we'd reached the "Animal Exit" in Stillmore.  There's simply no way to pass up a chance to get gas, a snack, and feed a few animals on the side of the road.  It's become a tradition that nobody wants to miss.

We climbed back in the car, Nerds and drinks in hand (Harris has been SO excited about picking out some candy for the road at a gas station stop), and got back on I-16.  We hadn't been on the road for more than a minute when Harry said, "Finally, we're on our way to lunch!"

Which was our final stop before hitting the beach.  I don't think I've ever been in a more crowded Zaxby's in my life.  It was good, though, and provided Granti a "no-wheat" option, so we toughed it out.

And then finally, around 4:00, we rolled up on Tarpon Ave and our favorite "Florida house" ever:

We came in, unpacked, rested, and waited for Tyler and Paige Cassady to make their arrival.  To help the wait go a little faster, Granti, Hadley, Emmy, and me headed out to the beach.

And then...FINALLY...Ty Ty and "Teenage Cassady" showed up!  Smiles were all around...especially from me because I was ready for my crab platter at The Crab Trap!!!!

It didn't disappoint.  Babe even tried a little crab and LOVED it.  Harry was disappointed because they didn't serve popcorn shrimp, but he chowed down on Hush Puppies and got his hands on some crab claws, so all was right with the world. 

In addition to seeing the ocean for the first time, Big Nut also tried her first sips of water at dinner.  The girl digs some water.

It was late by the time we finished dinner, so we took some tired kiddos (well, mostly a tired baby and a tired mommy!) to Publix to pick up some groceries for the week before heading home.

After putting the kiddos to bed, the adults wrapped up the evening with a little "21 Jump Street."  Pretty funny movie.

And pretty funny company.

Beach Week is pretty much the highlight of Summer of Fun.  I think it's easy to see why.

SOF 2012, Week Six.

Only three more weeks until I'm forced to join the working world again.  I love my job.  I also love the Summer of Fun.  I'll do my best to enjoy each.

Here's a recap of this week's adventures:

Monday:  Library.  Story time was packed out this week, but the kids still had a blast.  I think the theme was "Bedtime Stories."  And, of course, we came home with more "Jack and Annie" books.  Harry and Babe have even started to pretend like they are Jack and Annie.  Hadley has also announced that she would like to dress up like the Annie in "Vacation Under the Volcano, when she wears a toga" for Halloween.  I could swing a toga.

Tuesday:  Let's see...Tuesday.  Oh!  We took the van for an oil change.  And got to ride through the car wash.  We also went up to my office for about an hour so I could pretend to get a little work done and then took McDonald's over to Auntie's house for lunch while we let the dogs out.  Harris also had his six-year well-check, where he weighed in at 44 lbs. and was 45.5 inches tall.  And then Tuesday night at CFA we got to celebrate Cody's 25th birthday!

And, instead of a cake, he picked these no-wheat-flour muffins Mom's been making lately.  They're good, but they're no ice cream pie.  Oh, well.

Wednesday:  The Fourth of July!  We had a blast at the First Annual "Sparkle in the Park" in Lilburn.  The Captain looked great on patrol, and the kids, Granti, and me took advantage of all the awesome (FREE!) kids' activities before the show began...

We even had a chance to snap a few pictures with The Captain himself!  We sure do love that man.

Had has decided she LOVES "America."  Because "America has fireworks and cotton candy at her birthday party."  I can live with that logic!

We had great seats (with room to goof off for a little bit) for the actual fireworks.

Once the show began, we were all mesmerized.  Even Emmy kept her eyes glued on the sky.  I wasn't too sure what to expect, but it was honestly one of the best shows I've ever been to.  Props to you, Lilburn.  After the finale, Harris declared, "That was tremendous!"  And it really was.

Thursday:  Let's see.  We slept in a little on Thursday morning.  Just a little.  The big kids were excited about "pottery painting."  We've never done this before and I'd started talking it up, so hopes were high.  Unfortunately, the first two places we attempted to go were both out of business. :(  So, after stopping for lunch, we headed to the mall, where I knew a pottery place existed.

I'm pretty sure I looked like a walking advertisement for birth control.

The van was getting a tune up, so we were in the truck.  I didn't have Emmy's stroller, so I carried her all around the mall.  I wasn't planning on actually going to the mall (just sticking closer to the house), so I looked like a hot mess.  Minus the hot.  Stellar.

But the kids were GREAT!  And we ended up having an awesome time. :)

Harris chose a penguin to paint and Hadley, of course, picked an elephant.  She's named it "Elephant Lane."

Good stuff.

Friday:  Today, we met my BWF, Jennifer, and her kids up at Frances Meadows Aquatic Center (aka "the crazy pool").  It was so much fun!!!

The kids played so well together today...nobody even so much thought the word "annoring," which is a miracle!

There were firsts for everyone today, too.  Harris went down the enclosed (scary) slide and LOVED it, Babe went down the little kid slide and LOVED it, and Emmy played with the little fountains, splashed around, and tried to drink the water and LOVED it.  I'd call that a good day.

And then this:

Oh, summer. 

Don't leave.

The First of July.

Because Barrow County marches to beat of its own drum, the annual Auburn fireworks show was held on Sunday night.  And because it was "crazy hot" outside, we opted out of the Auburn Festival.  The kids were slightly disappointed (they asked about pony rides and tractor/train rides) but more than enjoyed themselves at the Boozers.  In the air condition.

And I made Nutella cookies.  That were awesome.

We waited as long as possible to leave for the fireworks (we'd parked a couple of trucks earlier in the day) and, wouldn't you know it, the bottom fell out of the sky just as we pulled into the city.

We hung out in Big Red as long as we possibly could and decided to call it a night around 9:20.  The show started at 9:25.  Go figure.

We'll still have a chance to see fireworks in Lilburn on the Fourth, so I'm not too disappointed. 

My favorite part of the day, anyway, was hanging with my friends, stuffing my face, and enjoying the cool indoor air, so I fell alseep with a smile on my face.

Happy Independence Day!

Sleeping In.