Outer Banks

So besides my strong aversion to bridges and sharks, we had a great time at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. I will skip the part about the incredibly gross hotels that seem to plague Pokamoke, Maryland that we were forced to choose from on the way down. You will be thankful I am sparing you the details. I will however, share the details of Sean getting pulled over by the police. HA! I wanted to tell the officer to give him a ticket, just so I could gloat because Sean is always saying he is a better driver than I am, which is false because I've never been in a car accident, never gotten a speeding ticket, and never been pulled over. So, Sean was for sure speeding, we were so close to the house we were staying at, and BAM! Sean gets pulled over. I was fighting not to laugh as the officer is asking for his info. The kids are yelling, "DAD! Are you getting a ticket!" It was so funny...for us. The nice officer let him go, much to my chagrin and Sean claims that doesn't count for how many tickets he's received. I think it counts. We stayed with two other families that Sean and I grew up with in New York. It was fun to just relax on the beach everyday and hang out with everyone. Here's a video of Marcus trying to skinboard or whatever they call it.



Yup. We aren't as young as we used to be. I tried to boogie board, or whatever, I'm not up to date on the terms, and had fun but I constantly had the Jaws theme playing in the back of my mind. It was a good time though. Here is Wes running from the waves. And yelling at me not to tape him.



Here is a little slideshow.



Our friends brought their Wii and we got hooked on Guitar Hero. So the day we got home we went and got a Wii. Here's some video of Quinn and Wesley playing boxing. The room is a mess because we just ripped open the boxes and went to town.



We got back and the kids had school. Here is some video of Wesley's first time on a school bus. I was bawling, he...didn't care. Actually, I am so proud of him, of all my kids. They are just so big.



Quinn and Wesley have started soccer. Collin, Quinn and I are sitting on the sidelines watching Wesley play and you know how they play when they are small. All the kids are like a moth to a flame. Well all of a sudden, I say to Collin, "I think Wesley just scored a goal!" Mind you, in the many years I've sat on that sideline, my kids have never scored a goal. And that's okay. I just never expected Wesley to be my first. So we all jump up and scream! GO WESLEY!!! He looks over, smiles, winks and gives us a thumbs up. So funny. Not a minute later, he scores again. OMG! YAY WESLEY. Feeling a little guilty for our over-exuberance, but hey, I was honka excited. One minute later, he scores again. Slight clapping from us. We didn't want to push it. I was so proud!!! He actually scored again but it was after the whistle. SHOCK! Then I felt bad because it was Quinn's time to play. If you remember last year, she decided she didn't like soccer. That was okay. I thought it was my fault for encouraging her too much but this year I promised not to say a word, and I didn't, and she was great, until they started playing the other team and they stuck her in as goalie. Poor thing. Once the other team scored on her it was all over. She was very upset and came over to me on the sidelines. We talked and I told her she couldn't give up on her team, she needed to go back in and finish the game, but that after this game, if she didn't want to play anymore, she didn't have to. I didn't think she would go back in, but she did. I was so proud of her. She left the end in tears and we talked about how hard it is to lose sometimes. I told her half the teams that were playing that day won, but half also lost and that's okay, that's part of playing a sport, it's very disappointing and hard to learn, but that it's okay as long as you tried. I told her everyone is good at something different. I told her she can read well and ride a bike. Wesley can't do those things. He just happens to be good at soccer. She understood and decided she wanted to try to play again next week. So, we'll see how that goes.

Sean's brothers' family came up to visit for a week. We had a nice time catching up and hanging out. We finally got to meet their newest addition, Audrey. Here is Quinn and Audrey.



Here is Sean and Brian's mom with the grandkids.



It was nice to all be together. I hope everyone is doing well. Please keep our family in your prayers. Thanks for checking in.

Hugs,
Kristin

I have so much to update but some unexpected things have been happening so I will try to get to it all.

I did promise pics of my high wire act though. I know it doesn't look it, but I am really high off the ground. And yes people, I did go swimming in the ocean. I still have all my limbs, no sharks. BUT THAT FREEGIN' CHESAPEAKE BAY BRIDGE!!!! Like 14 miles of pure H*** for me. Can you believe a bridge THAT long. OH, and then the FREEGIN' tunnels just to make SURE I'm sent into a full blown panic attack. I swear I could see sharks circling the bridge waiting for our car to plummet over the side ;0) I'm sweating just writing about it.





I will update more later. My blood pressure is rising with all this bridge and shark talk ;0)

Hugs and please keep our family in your prayers.
Kristin