Mancathalon

Andrew really wanted to do a guys day (or morning or afternoon or anything really), but the guys either weren't feelin it or weren't into the same things.  Then he suggested a man challenge and all the guys were in and excited.

They all made some suggestions for challenges and voted on five to compete in.   It was fun for everyone--the participants and us, the audience and sometimes-judges.

First was a basketball game called knock-out.  No pictures of that, but I did get Drew's enthusiastic fans.

Next the guys had to throw a football through a pool floaty.

Then, they ate a donut whilst doing push-ups.  They were allowed one bite every time they lowered themselves.  From what I gather is was pretty hard to swallow because they were so parched from their first two challenges.

Next was the belly flop competition.  No pictures, probably because I was laughing too hard and then they finished it off with the sprint to the beach in their flip flops.  I asked Drew why flip flops because that seemed dangerous.  He reported that one guy only packed flip flops and they wanted to make it fair.  Dangerous, but fair.  Poor Drew lost his flip flops at the starting line and fell behind when he had to stop and put them back on.

The contestants:

The guys celebrated the completion of their "Mancathalon" with going out to lunch (and then relived the whole thing a month later with a video montage).  We ladies took a different route for our break--we opted for showers, makeup, and dinner out.

First Day on the Beach

I didn't take many pictures at beach, in part because I was nervous about damaging my nice camera, having already destroyed my point-and-shoot earlier in the summer (plus I destroyed a camera during a previous visit to OBX a few years earlier so I was a little weary).   When I commented on the lack of pictures, Liz said "that's probably because you were too busy having fun to take pictures."  That's certainly another possibility.

 

Week 11/a.k.a. BEACH WEEK!

We spent the last week of summer at the beach.  It kind of felt like summer's grand finale and it was over way too soon.  Now that I'm in the midst of PTA paperwork I'm feeling really nostalgic for the beach.  It was so fabulous:

We loved the actual beach house.  It wasn't directly on the beach, but beach adjacent and the short walk didn't require us to cross any roads so it was quite nice. 

My favorite aspects of the house were the pool table and the theater room.  Drew and I had fun playing pool together and while I never actually watched a show in the theater room, the kids did every morning which meant we got to sleep in a little bit (and it was nice when the guys watched football).  Now I always want to stay somewhere with a theater room.  Oh, and, that's Ellie on the pool table.  I had to remove her way too much.

Liz really liked the trip.  She spent a lot of time body boarding and playing in the waves with her friends (or her parents).  Also, one evening she and I enjoyed searching for crabs on the beach after dark.  So fun. The last day at the beach Liz seemed sulky to me and I getting annoyed because I thought she was acting like that because I made her swim out to the sandbar.  Turns out she was legitimately unwell.  Within an hour of returning to Virginia Liz and I were coolin our heals at the E.R. Bladder infection.  Awesome.

After our first beach visit Alaina never wanted to go back.  She'd cry and yell things like "No!  I hate the beach!"  But, once we'd drag her down to the beach she'd happily play in the sand for hours and ask to stay longer when we said it was time to go.  Lainey was terrified of the waves so she never went in the ocean, but she loved the pool.  Our last day at the beach, Alaina was excited to go diaper-free (a big moment for her apparently).  She also took a nap in the sand which showed me just how much we had worn her out that week.

Ellie also wasn't big on the ocean, but she loved, loved playing in the sand and on our last beach day she let Drew take her in the water.  Like Lainey, Elle preferred the pool where she especially liked riding on a giant blow-up whale another family brought.  Ellie was mischievous, as usual.  I often found her in the big girl's room rummaging around in their things, or I found things she'd stolen from them and put it in her crib.  Our first night there Lainey decided to make herself a little bed and sleep in the closet.  Fun idea, but Ellie kept climbing out of her pack 'n play and slamming the closet door shut.  We come down to the room to sort things out and find Ellie grinning near the closet and Lainey screaming.  Elle just would not stay in bed so we had to lay down with her each night until she feel asleep (about a 20 minute commitment).

Andrew spent a lot of time body boarding with the other dads (and older kids).  He also enjoyed kite flying, eating at Pigmans Barbecue, and participating in the Mancathalon.  For me, the best parts were relaxing on the beach (loved the awning because the little girls almost NEVER left it), playing the in the waves (tried body boarding, it wasn't for me), finally swimming out to the sandbar, and girls night out to Rundown Cafe (so good--loved the coconut shrimp and the Rundown soup).  And we both loved visiting with the other adults after the kids went to bed.

Weekends

Last weekend we went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival.  It was awesome.  The last time we went I was very pregnant with Liz so it's been nine years and we missed it.  Yes, you see some weirdos--adults in Renaissance costumes that they actually own--and way too much cleavage, but still it's lots of fun.  Some highlights: watching glass blowers, free pony rides for the kiddos (Liz was a little scared when her pony "shivered," Ellie smiled the whole time), countless stage shows, and yummy festival food.  The shot below is of us heading into the festival.  I wish I got one on the way out.  Ellie was on Drew's back and Liz was on his shoulders--he's quite a dad.

Barely Balanced was the kid's favorite act (comedy and acrobatics), and Drew and I enjoyed it so much that we bought their DVD after the show.

The show I most wanted to see was Shakespeare's Skum because I remembered enjoying their performance during our last visit.  This time we saw them do Macbeth which I'm pretty sure is what we saw 9 years ago.

Top on Andrew's list was the joust.  It was really interesting, but really hot because the stands were completely unshaded.  Only Andrew lasted through the whole thing.  I got shade breaks by taking various kids to cool off or use the bathroom.  I really felt for those poor knights though.

Lizzie wanted to wear a costume so, so badly and they were available to rent for $10, so we indulged her.  I think if we go again next year I'll try to make my own beforehand, or at least make my own flower garland (they were going for about $20 each--crazy!).

We got to the festival about 11:30 a.m. and we left earlier than we intended at 5:30 p.m., but only because of a massive rainstorm.  The festival didn't shut down, but we were pretty sure the acrobats wouldn't be performing again on a slick stage so we bailed.  Of course, because we were not together when the storm started, and because it was so intense, we spent a chunk of time waiting it out in various shelters.  The little girls and I raced to the costume shop when the wind started up and thank goodness because the rain came quickly and it was torrential. Elle loved it (kept running to the edge of the porch and sticking her hands or head in the rain before she ran back laughing).  Lainey, on the other hand, kept asking to go home.

We were in the shop for at least half an hour before the winds and rained died down and became just a regular rain storm.  Andrew, Lizzie, and the car keys were still hunkered down in a game shop on the other side of the festival so I let the little ones play in the rain a bit.  It was pretty tame compared to the spectacle of grown men pawing the ground like bulls and impromptu mud wrestling during the height of the storm, but it was pretty cute nonetheless.  And the storm was such a blessing to us because the temperature dropped like 20 degrees.  Our AC is out of commission so we were loving that dip.

On the way home I told Andrew that I thought the day was pretty fun, that we all seemed to enjoyed ourselves, and that I'd do it again next year and he said, Next year?!  I'd do it again this year!  Okay, so he is up for a day trip.  It just has to be the right day trip.

This weekend was a bit more sedate.  Lainey had her first soccer class on Saturday (the kids visited "soccer island" and had adventures/played silly soccer games).  It was adorable--best thing ever.  We only arrived five minutes early so all the extra small t-shirts were taken and Lainey had to wear size small which went almost to her knees.  She looked like she had on a soccer dress.  Later in the day Liz had her first soccer game.  I stayed home with the wee-ones, but Assistant Coach Drew said he was quite pleased with her efforts in the game. 

At church today I got roped into singing with the choir because not many people showed up (last time I go early with choir-boy Andrew), Ellie spent most of Sacrament meeting begging to go to her class (as usual), and we took an evening stroll around Huntley Meadows and saw muskrats and a beaver (and heard another one chomping away within their den).  In all, a good weekend.

Lainey's First Day of School

Alaina started her second year of "mommy school." It's a different group of moms than last year and we're using a different curriculum (mother goose), but the same Tuesday/Thursday schedule.  I won't have to teach until the end of October and then not again until January so I'm happy with it so far.

Lainey was really excited to start school and all that it entailed: father's blessing, school supplies, and an experience that was unique to her.  She kept saying, "I'm going to school and Ellie can't come."

Alaina's 4th Birthday Party

Alaina turned four on Labor Day.  We celebrated by filling her room with balloons while she slept.  She was pretty excited to see them when she woke up.

We had Lainey's party at the soft playroom of the local rec center.  She wanted to have it at the bounce house and even though I had spent the preceding two weeks explaining to her that it would absolutely not be at the bounce house, when we rolled into the parking lot of the rec center she still said, "This is not where my party is.  My party is at the bounce house."  We said, nope, it's here, and happily her immediate response was, "I'm okay with that."

 

Liz wanted me to get a shot of her jumping over Ellie.

We had used the soft playroom for a couple of Lizzie's parties, but never used the party room as well.  It was kind of fun to watch her blow out her candle and open her presents.

We also used the party room for dancing.  As with Lizzie's soft playroom parties we gave mixed CD's as party favors (including Lainey's favorite songs such as "You don't know you're beautiful" and "Bad Baby").  In the party room we passed out ribbon sticks and danced to the CD (just like at home).