OBX: 6/05

Here we are at the end of beach week.  It was heartbreaking.  Grandma Z took the little kids out to collect seashells in the morning while the adults packed up.

Scott and Brenden went over to Duck Donuts to pick up fifty-one donuts for the whole crowd.  Have you ever been to Duck Donuts?  If you haven't, then you haven't tasted the most amazing donuts ever made.  I'm not even a huge fan of donuts, but Duck Donuts is amazing.

 

Sisters front porch sittin'.  Do you see how dark Mei Li got?  I don't ever get very dark, but I am enjoying my new sprinkling of freckles.

Z girls.  Someone has a picture of all the Z boys, but I don't have it.

 This is the best picture we could muster of our kids and their beloved grandparents.  These two made all of our dreams come true that week.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Z.

I forgot to include so many things:

Family mid week trip to Duck Donuts where we all just mmmmed and mmmmed and mmmmed over those amazing donuts.

The pick-up sticks puzzle.  I think we would have needed three weeks to finish that thing.

Phase 10 with Brenden and Ticket to Ride with Oliver.

 Mi Na's consistent 5 AM waking.

Christine's sneaking out to play with the other YSAs on the beach.

The older cousins love for Mi Na, especially George and Oliver.

Our unrealistic plans to live on the same cul-de-sac someday.  Maybe we'd get annoyed with each other, or maybe we'd just love it.

Judging by how this week went, I think we'd love it.

OBX: 6/04

We said goodbye to Zack, Ana, and Jack on Saturday morning, which was sad.  It's not quite the same when any of us are missing.  Jack brought his Wii for everyone to enjoy and was a fun cousin friend to all.

 

We were pretty slow in the mornings, which is one of the beauties of vacation, not having to be anywhere at a certain time.  There were always some cousins playing video games or watching TV in the theater room, some adults chose to tackle puzzles, some went on morning runs, and some got to sleep in.  But once we got to the beach, we beached and beached and beached.

The newlyweds turned Huck into a car, and we all got a good laugh out of that.  That Huck is some kid.

 Naturally, all the other kids wanted to be cars too.  Stephen and June pretended to race.  They were pretty hilarious together.

Steve and I turned Mei into a mermaid.

In the late afternoon, Steve, Dorothy, and I took our kids plus June to see the Currituck Lighthouse.

 

 It was interestingly not on the beach like I had expected, but a little inland.  We wondered if the land had changed that much since it was built, or if was purposefully built inland.






This is the dress I was sewing twenty minutes before we left for North Carolina.  It was previously an ill-fitting skirt of mine.


 
The grounds were beautiful and we enjoyed climbing to the top to enjoy the view.

I loved this view of the checkerboard floors at the bottom of the staircase. On our way out, one of the employees asked us if we were kid collectors.  He thought he was pretty hilarious.

And then we beached.

 


I just love this picture of Stephen and Mi Na.  He is a fantastic big brother, who loves to involve Mi Na in his play and teach her all sorts of things.

We all went to a BBQ place for dinner.  The restaurant owner threw in an extra plate of ribs just because we knew his Mormon friend who owns our local BBQ joint.  Stephen slept on a bench in the restaurant for all of dinner.  It was a long and full day for all.

Man oh man. That post took so long!  Just one more day of beach week blogging.

OBX: 6/03

We spent our morning playing on the beach and in the pool.

 Sisters at play (Annee and Christine)

Mi Na's morning at the pool with sunscreen running into her eyes.

During Mi Na and Stephen's nap, Steve and Mei Li went jet skiing with everyone else.  I sort of regret not waking up the kids to go, but considering Stephen and Mi Na's fragile state before their naps, I thought I was making the right decision.  Oh well.  Live and learn.  Here's the fun that we missed:

  

 

(photography by Ana)

After jet skiing, we met up at a seafood restaurant by the water for dinner.  I ate my first raw oyster.  I'm not sure why they're such a big deal.

 

Here are the girls playing "pie shop."

I can't see any reason why we shouldn't live at the beach all the time.  You know?

OBX: 6/02

Thursday was so fun.  I went boogie boarding for the first time.  You'd think that growing up in California and going attending Z beach week for years that I would have done some boogie boarding, but I am basically a beach beginner.

I'm a pro at sitting and walking on the sand, although I believe I am allergic to something on the Atlantic seashore.  I had an itchy red rash on my legs all week.

We put Stephen and Mi Na down for their naps and made sure that Mei Li was cared for and then we just played in the ocean for an hour or more.  Steve taught me how to body surf and then when the boogie board was free, Steve suggested that I give it a try.  Then when the wave came, Steve would push me perfectly into it and I would ride it in.  I was able to catch a few waves on my own and each time I couldn't stop myself from smiling.  I guess I missed out all those years.


 
Later, Steve and I went on a walk/ride with our kids.  It didn't last very long.  Mei Li and Stephen were tired and both wanted to sit in the stroller, which was an impossibility.

(photo by Scott Wiley)

Rachel and Ken grilled hamburgers, chicken, and hot dogs for dinner.  They also brought some crab, which was particularly enjoyable to John, Zack, and Steve.  Sarah and I joined in on the crab fest as well.  It's so much work for just a little bit of meat, but I think that's what makes it so much fun too.

At night, after the kids were in bed, we played Mormon Bridge.  It seems like we always play that during beach week.  I think we also always discuss owning a beach house someday during beach week.  It's just that wonderful.

 

OBX: Book Club

image from barnesandnoble.com

We made Annee's dream come true by having a beach week book club.  It was held on Wednesday night and pretty much every adult read or listened to all or part of the book.  We engaged in a stimulating debate and I marveled at how smart everyone was.  It's not intimidating at all. ;)  Hopefully this will become a tradition.

And the book?  It was fascinating.  You should read it or listen to it on double speed like I did.

OBX: 6/01

Wednesday was eventful.  Stephen and Steve went outside in the morning so Stephen could ride his bike.  Stephen took a spill doing a fast turn and scraped his elbow.  He was really mad about it.

 We spent much of the morning by the pool.

After I put Mi Na down for her nap and Steve put Stephen down for his nap, I watched Mei Li swim in the pool while Steve went out to the beach.  The other adults were so far out and only waist deep.  So Steve joined the others and when Dorothy came to watch the kids in the pool I went out to join Steve.

To make a long story short, I just about drowned in the Atlantic Ocean.  Scott and Sarah had just made it back and Scott warned me about how hard it was swimming beyond the sandbar.  I took note, but thought I could do it anyway.  And just like Scott said, it got really hard.  For a little while, even with Steve right beside me, helping me, I thought I was going to drown.  We weren't making progress and the shore seemed so far away.  I actually fantasized about natural child birth, thinking anything seemed better than what I was feeling right then.

Steve convinced me in spite of the embarrassment I was sure to feel, it was better to go back to shore than drown in pursuit of those shallow waters.  So I floated on my back, letting the waves carry me to shore.  And then all I wanted to do was cry and fall asleep on the sand, but Steve made me drink some water and get up.  Whatever.  I hated that half hour of my life.


Thankfully, there were happier hours later in the day.

Stephen loved making the wings of his dragon flap up and down.

 A yellow and white polka dotted baby bum.  Doesn't it just make you love the whole world?

 Mei Li's favorite spot to fly her butterfly was in the ocean.

 It was a happy time for our little family.

Later that evening, Dorothy volunteered to comb Mei Li's hair.  I don't know why, but that simple act of service warmed my heart so much.

It was a good day, you know, for the most part.

OBX: 5/31

 Grandma Z. feared all of her grandchildren would burn to a crisp in the sun and suggested that we take a trip to the Wright Brothers National Memorial during the peak sun hours.

Annee acted as a tour guide for all the little ones by explaining all the signs to them.  They were enthralled.

We watched a movie about the Wright Brothers and during that movie, I spied an old friend from South Pasadena so we whispered to each other during much of the movie.

 Here's a cute couple!  Zack and Ana are expecting a baby boy in October.  We're so excited. (Photography by Stephen)

Stephen also took this one.  I'm digging maxi dresses this season.

 Here's where the Wright Brothers performed their test flights.

 Then it was back to the beach.  We beached until dinner.  Here's Mi Na on Annee's sand, sun, and water quilt.  Isn't it darling?  Isn't SHE darling?

Here's my Stephen walking around like he owns the place.  I love this little guy.

Here's Mei Li watching her dad body surf.  I love watching him in the ocean.  As I watched him, I marveled at how good he was at swimming and body surfing.  I felt a little like I was in high school again, cheering on #12.

 

Three generations enjoy the ocean.  Beach week became a tradition because Grandpa Z. loves the ocean.  And now so do his children and grandchildren.

OBX: 5/30

Monday was our first full day at the beach.  We split our time between the pool and the ocean.  It was heavenly.

  With a foggy camera, Steve documented Mi Na's first time in a pool.  She loved the water.  She smiled and splashed her arms.  What a happy memory.

Mei Li and Stephen demonstrated that they can indeed swim.  They stayed close to the shallow end because they lack stamina, but I'm so proud of the progress they have made in the last few months.

 Mi Na made her first appearance on the sand.  She didn't like her hat, which was too bad.  We applied sunscreen to each of our children about three times each day, and it got pretty old.  At least there were no bad burns.

 Sarah and Scott fed the army that night, and then we had Family Home Evening.  Stephen gave the opening prayer.  When he prays, he always expresses gratitude for each person present.  So he started with Jane, then Ruby, and then he opened his eyes. He realized that there were a whole lot of people to be grateful for and then said, "I don't want to do this anymore," but Grandpa helped him finish.

Mi Na played an important part in the lesson.  She was carried in on a towel by her older boy cousins.  Steve was there to spot, just in case.  At the end, we knelt in prayer as a family.  And, like every beach week Family Home Evening, I was near tears because of the love and unity felt in the room.  There are twenty-five of us now with one scheduled to arrive in October.  It's a beautiful thing.

That night, Steve and I went out for a walk on the beach.  We no doubt were stepping on or near ghost crabs, but it was pitch black.  It was so nice to just be alone for a little bit after putting kids to bed.  I'm still so in love with this man.

OBX: 5/29

It was nice to be able to drive to beach week this year.  It was a six hour drive and it was beautiful.  I loved seeing the farms and their cute farm stands on the side of the road.  We stopped at one such farm stand to use the bathroom.

  I just had to take a picture of this sign inside the bathroom. "Kindness is not always easy, but it sure makes your feel good!"  While it is a very true statement, I was struck more by its existence on the sign than its profundity.  I love it.  It's not something you'd see in Washinton DC.

  Our kids did well.  There was a bit of bickering, but there was some smiling too, which I'm always grateful for.  I checked out three audiobooks from the library for our car ride and the kids didn't like any of them.  I think I made a mistake by starting out with Charlotte's Web and Trumpet of the Swan.  You pretty much can't beat listening to E.B. White himself tell his own stories.

We arrived at the beach house around 4 PM.  Steve and I made hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwursts for dinner.  Steve bought the food on Saturday and packed it in a cooler so we'd be ready to make Sunday dinner for everyone.

It felt so good to be reunited with family again.  The cousins played well and went to bed obediently. The grownups stayed up late talking.  This was the case for the entire week.  We are wiped.