Beach Life

Sometime in the winter Bethany texted me asking which beach we had taken her to several years ago when she was living with us for the summer. She and Bryan were thinking about it for an anniversary trip that summer. Fast forward a few group chats later, and suddenly their little anniversary trip had turned into a massive Blood/Mikesell/Johnson/Knox family beach trip. It was going to be AMAZING. Sadly, the Weirichs couldn't be there due to newborn Lexi. They were sorely missed. 

Who's ready for a 7 hour drive to the beach??

Apparently not Jacob!

I am in the back because Timmy was in the front.

And because Catherine would rather deal with Elijah than sit in the middle back seat.

We sent Seth with the Knoxes. 

Sadly, the nice setup we had last year where we were just across the street from the Johnsons was not an option this year. We found a really nice double house about a mile down the beach, which ended up being perfect. The Knoxes took one side and the Bloods took the other.  We did have morning visitations with the Johnsons, alternating between our house and theirs. 

The Mikesells had a beachfront house, which sounds really cool but was kind of a letdown. The boardwalk to the beach was almost a quarter of a mile, so it wasn't like you could just walk right onto the beach. Plus when they arrived, the house was trashed. Pizza crusts on couches, alcohol bottles under beds, bloodstains on bedding...just disgusting. Apparently the cleaning crew had missed the house. They offered to come the next day, but that was not an option. So Mom cleaned it and we got several hundred dollars off the cost of the house for the week. But it still smelled like fish/pee the entire week. Definitely the most disappointing of all the houses we've ever rented in Holden Beach. 

I also didn't take many pictures because I rarely had by phone down at the water. So enjoy the small handful of photos I managed to take or steal from other peoples' phones!

Tan redheaded baby observes tan Catherine hunting for sand crabs.

Pasty white Russell looks on. 

As is tradition, Aunt Ashley was the queen of the beach fun.

This year the highlight was catching, frying, and eating sand crabs:

Yes, Catherine would still throw me over for Ashley in a heartbeat.

I'm totally okay with that.

I mean, who wouldn't??

Fried sand crabs are surprisingly delicious.

Who would have thought??

Cool hawk thing that was eyeing me while I walked to the beach one morning:

I actually remembered my running shoes this year and spent some nice mornings running on the beach. Sand running is really not very fun, and I actually did better barefoot. I ran almost four miles one morning, all the way to the inside of the island, which I was pretty proud of! 

The highlight of our trip this time was the hatching of baby sea turtles. Last year we just missed seeing a nest boil. This year we were determined to do better. There were several nests that were ready to boil and we all had eyes on them. 

Bekah was the winner. She was out on a night walk when she saw a baby turtle being attacked by a crab. She immediately called the Turtle Patrol (still Ashley's dream retirement job!) and they came to rescue any other babies who boiled. Because of her heroism, Bekah had the honor of being the baby sea turtle counter when they opened the nest the next evening. I can't remember the exact number, but I think it was around 130 baby turtles came out of the nest!

Prepping the nest for opening

Unfortunately, our family missed the pre-sunset nest opening. We stuck around the other nest for quite awhile, but nothing was happening. I eventually sent the littles back home with Jon. It was totally dark when the turtles finally emerged. We could see little shapes moving, but not much else. It looked pretty much like this:

One day I will see baby sea turtles hatch.

One day. 

When we weren't at the beach, there was a lot of this:

Random naps and afternoons of screens

(we redheads skip the beach in the afternoons)

The Mikesell clan (minus Weirichs) at Holden Beach

Another stunning family picture

Evenings were for games.

I can't even remember the name of this one, but it's basically the telephone game but with pictures.

What began as Cinderella bowling with a banana eventually morphed into Drunk Elsa.

Another favorite was Lumiere in space morphing into Buzz Lightyear flipping off a donut.

There were real, real tears.

The Mikesells made a stop one afternoon for some nice, cold shaved ice:

Elise loved Audrey and wanted her to be her little shadow.

Audrey occasionally cooperated:

I'm not quite sure, but to me this looks like Gabe sitting on Seth's lap while playing video games.

Sounds about right.

My one beach complaint is the mosquitos that haunt the showers under the house.

You have to be fast or you'll get eaten alive.

Elijah was not fast enough and got chomped on the forehead right as we were leaving:

It got all swollen just like Catherine's used to.

Then it blistered and peeled off, which was totally freaky.

Mutant mosquitos?

Holden Beach is just the best. I love getting away from everything and spending time with the best of people. Unfortunately, it looks like the prices for house rentals are increasing to a ridiculous amount (more than doubled in some cases), so our trips down there might be coming to an end. Sad day for all of us! 

Calvert Cliffs

Ever since I found out that Calvert Cliffs existed, I have wanted to go. But it's a bit of a hike to get to the cliffs, and strollers are not allowed. Since we've always had some kind of baby or two to haul, it's never been an option. Until now! 

We had the best tour guides ever: Ashley and her dad, who frequented this place when Ashley was little. They all the secret knowledge and all the cool sieves requisite for true fossil hunting. I am so glad my first trip was with the Johnsons!   

Aaron and Elliot, reunited at last.

There were numbers and made up game stats flying around immediately.

After a long-ish walk through the woods/marsh, we made it to the beach!

Let the fossil hunting begin!

Sadly, we had only been in the water for a few minutes before the attack began: jellyfish. Everywhere. Elise was one of the first casualties, with a nasty sting all around her arm. Being ignorant, I just grabbed the stingers and pulled them off. Miraculously I didn't end up getting stung with that stunt. I did, however, get stung on the back of the knee after stupidly venturing back in the water. 

Elise's burn (kinda hard to see, on her upper arm)

Burn marks, post-bath.

Pretty nasty looking, although she said they didn't hurt anymore.

After that we kept to the shore, but even that wasn't enough. I had Elijah playing in a little puddle by the shore when a rogue wave lapped at our legs. Apparently there was a jellyfish there as well. Poor little guy was very unhappy. 

But despite all the jellyfish nastiness, we did find lots of tiny shark teeth and got to spend a lovely day with family and friends. Of course the adventure couldn't end there. We had to hike back to the vehicles in a literal downpour. Then the Knoxes' van broke down about 30 minutes into the drive home. It ended up being a good thing--better to break down now than a few days later when they were on their way to North Carolina to stay at a beach house with us...

Thanks for another great adventure, Ashley the Blood!

August Things

I have to admit that I never thought Timmy would stick around Baltimore since it's, well...Baltimore. So when he announced that he was house hunting, we were thrilled! Permanent Uncle Timmy! Despite Emma Knox's express command, he did not buy a townhome three minutes from our house. But he did get one 20 minutes away and will be attending our same church building, just not our ward. So we are calling it a win! 

After he closed on the house, I strong-armed him into giving me and most of the kids a tour. I think he was okay with it since the house was empty, therefore there was nothing my barbarians could destroy. Well, not completely empty. He did have this sweet, sweet apron already there:

Despite the lovely maroon carpet, it is a great little townhome.

Now my kids are just waiting for Timmy to acquire beds so they can go over for sleepovers.

Timmy doesn't seem in any hurry to acquire said beds for obvious reasons.

I'm sure Timmy's neighbors sighed with relief when they realized this crew wasn't going to be there permanently. 

Working with the young women at church can be a lot. But it also has some sweet perks, like getting to go on fun adventures with all the youth. This adventure was called Guppy Gulch, which is Jacob's new favorite thing to say for no reason. Despite the ridiculous name, this place was AWESOME. Tons of huge, floating, climbing things out in the water. Paddleboards. Obstacle courses. A zipline over the water. It was SO MUCH FUN. 

Anna Perry was my buddy that day.

Did I lose my brand new Fitbit in the 80 foot deep water? Yes I did. Did it break my heart a tiny bit? Yes it did. Did I still have so much fun that I was exhausted and sore the next day? Absolutely. 

When you are the baby of the family, you get pampered by big sisters:

Elijah's new favorite activity:

shooting everyone with 'pew pews' (actually Lincoln Log pieces):

Way to use the natural cover available in the kitchen, Stinky!

Bekah Knox decided to foster a litter of kittens for the Humane Society, which meant we got all the benefits of hanging out with kittens and none of the responsibility! 

Gentle kitten loves from Elijah

The kittens all gravitated to Catherine.

She just has that calm, peaceful aura that kittens love. 

Aaron might have had to force the kitten to stay in his lap.

All the kittens love Catherine!

Elise was ragefully jealous.

Elise finally got a kitten to stay on her lap.

Hooray!

There are some perks to being two.

First, it's socially acceptable to not wear pants.

Second, you can eat straight sour cream for lunch:

Living the good life, 100%.

Mow Mow

Remember that robotic lawn mower that Elijah loved to go visit in our neighborhood? Well, Jon let that idea marinate for a year or so. When our ride-on mower started having issues (like it does literally every year, despite keeping it in the garage and doing all the things we're supposed to), Jon was ready to take the leap. And so one day, this giant thing arrived at our door:

Installation was not an easy feat, especially in mid-July. We had to place a boundary wire around the entire yard, including the trees, garden and playground. And by 'place' I mean bury it an inch or two under the grass. We woke up early to beat the heat, but still ended up working most of the day for a couple of days. Poor Jacob was living with us over the summer while taking a Hindi class in DC, so he got roped into the wire-laying party, too. Fun for the whole family! We were so terrified that when we went to hook up the wires to the base that there would be a disconnect somewhere and we'd have to dig it all back up. But miracles happen, and it worked on the first try!

Next step was selling the old mower.

Elise apparently wanted to be sold as an accessory since she insisted on being in all the photos. 

Of course it decided to start leaking oil right as the buyer arrived, but it all worked out!

All of Elijah's dreams have come true. 

Sure, he may not have a puppy to play with, but he can now shepherd the Roomba mower around the yard all summer long! 

After some deliberation, we decided to name said Roomba "Mow Mow" as a nod to our most favorite TV show, Avatar: The Last Airbender. The amount of joy that it brings me to see Mow Mow out cutting the grass all day instead of me or Jon is full to overflowing. Automation is pretty awesome. 

Trees Camp

Once upon a time, last winter, Catherine's awesome Primary Activity leader sent out a message to all the girls about an opportunity for a summer camp. It was a week-long, outdoor camp focusing on the art and science of trees. I saw it and immediately knew it was a perfect fit for Catherine. I immediately got online and signed her up, snagging the very last spot! 

She was nervous. She knew absolutely no one, plus being outside all day in the middle of hot and humid July seemed like zero fun. But she was willing to do it for the trees. And after day 1, she was hooked!

They spent the entire week in the woods, learning about trees in general and the specific trees native to our area. Mornings were for science, then afternoons for art. The kids ranged from 10-18, so Catherine was one of the youngest. But everyone was really kind and she made several friends. 

At the end of the week they invited the families to come to a presentation. We got to enjoy seeing all of their nature sketchbooks:

Catherine's tree art:

Creating her artwork:

Some cute pictures they had of the group:

Catherine is the one scowling and dangling over the railing on the right.

Climbing down an obstacle at camp.

Catherine the tree queen

Balancing the giant balance board off on of the trails

Then it was time for the program to begin! The entire thing was created by the kids, with help from some of their teachers. They opened with a song they wrote about trees, which Catherine (and apparently the rest of the kids) was extremely embarrassed about. But I got the whole thing on video so we can enjoy it for generations to come. 

Singing about trees, trees, trees, trees. 

Each participant also got to plan their own skit. Catherine did one with her camp friend, Claire:

It was kinda hard to hear anything, but I think they were 'painting' and comparing their works.

Catherine was most proud of the 'advertising breaks', where small groups would come up a sing a little jingle from a commercial while doing some kind of coordinated actions. Her favorite one was "Safelight repair, Safelight replace." It had some complicated arm movements that she was quite proud of mastering. 

This was the highlight of Catherine's summer. I literally could not have designed a camp more perfect for Catherine. She hung her certificate from camp in a place of honor on her bedroom wall and is already begging to go back again next year. I'm grateful they were able to make this work despite Covid and all the complications it presents! 

Moving to the Country

One time I thought it would be fun for all of us to go pick fresh peaches at Lohr's Orchard. Peaches are delicious, and the kids always enjoy hunting down the ripe ones. Plus it wasn't blisteringly hot that day! We loaded up and prepared for a lovely morning hunting peaches.

Unfortunately, Elijah had different plans:

For whatever reason, he hated EVERYTHING to do with peach picking. He just wanted to be carried around the entire time, which really makes picking things off trees rather difficult. So instead he followed us around, whining and crying until I finally gave up. 

We finished our peach picking by sitting in the van until everyone else finished up. It ended up being kind of a blah year since most of the peaches weren't actually quite ripe yet. But we did get a nice bag full and enjoyed lots of delicious peaches for the next few weeks. We even shared with Elijah, who loved them. Apparently the story of the Little Red Hen doesn't apply to toddlers. 

Seth at 13

Dear Seth,

I really can't believe you're already a teenager. It doesn't feel like that long ago since I was your age, and now here you are. It makes me both excited for all the great things ahead of you, and a little bit sad because I know soon you'll be grown up and on your own. Very bittersweet. 

You definitely LOOK like a teenager, though! You're the tallest one in your Deacon's quorum by far, and one of the tallest young men. I keep wondering when Jack will catch up to you. There's not much hope for Gabe, though. 

Speaking of Jack and Gabe, you have really been blessed in the friend department. Not only do they conveniently live about five minutes away, you also share most of the same interests and humor. Plus they both come from awesome families. All three of you are hoping to attend the same magnet high school for computer science. It's your dream (and mine!) that it works out for all three of you! 

Gabe, Seth and Jack outside the Philadelphia Temple

A close up of the boys

Gabe may be the smallest, but he can still take you down.

I feel like you've done a lot of growing up over the past year. The sheer amount of obnoxiousness has decreased significantly. Not to say that you don't enjoy pestering your siblings on a daily (hourly?) basis, but there's hope for the future!

You spend most of your time designing and developing Roblox games. This is something I struggled with since I hate all the screen time, but Uncle Aaron came to your rescue by mentioning to Dad that he had learned most of his computer skills from messing around at home. Since we can see that you really are learning lots of awesome stuff, I'm trying to back off and give you more freedom. You and Dad have been working together on a Roblox game, which makes me happy. Whatever your future may hold, you will be better off having some programming skills under your belt. 

Just as I expected, you have been a pretty mellow teenager so far. Occasionally we'll get a minor tantrum (about screen time. Always.), but generally you're easygoing and happy. I'm excited to see what's ahead for you, and to watch you continue to grow into a kind, funny, intelligent human. 

Love you, my giant Seth child.

Seth's Birthday Interview:

Hi Seth, how old are you now?

"23. Minus 10."

What's your favorite color now?

"Purple. Well, it's more along the lines of this pink thing."  (So basically magenta).

How about your favorite food?

"My favorite food will always be Pasta Roni."

Who's your best friend?

"Gabe and Jack."

What's your favorite movie?

"Guardians of the Galaxy."

What's your favorite game to play (not on electronics)?

"What?! How dare you suggest such an awful thing! Boom Boom Balls." (A card game he created). 

How about a game on electronics?

"Hypixel. A really fun online Minecraft server. And what do I like to do in my spare time? I like to work on my Death Run (Roblox) map."

What's your favorite snack?

"Snapeas. Specifically that one flavor (tomato lentil)."

What's your favorite animal?

"My laptop."

Not an animal.

"Narwhals."

What do you want to be when you grow up?

"Game designer. I wanna be a neerrrrrrrrrrrrrd."

What's your favorite song?

"Well, depends what kind of mood I'm in. Am in like a dramatic mood? Or like a gamer mood?"

Pick your overall favorite. 

"Probably 'Broken Heart of Ender'." (Here follows a long explanation on why this a song about Minecraft and not a song about Ender Wiggins). 

What's your favorite book?

"Uuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....Dilbert."

How about a non-comic book?

"The only books I like are comic books!"

I don't believe that.

"Harry Potter."

What's your favorite school subject?

"Computer science."

What's your favorite activity to do for fun that's not on a screen?

"Usually pester one of my siblings. Although I do really like to bike. It's fun."

Anything else you'd like to add to this interview?

"My therapy chair is very comfortable."

BYE SETH.

Teenage Seth

It began, as all Seth days do, with screen time.

And giant hair. 

Snuggling with his bag of birthday Krave.

Still not quite awake yet.

He requested a creme brulee cake. 

I was happy to oblige.

His best attempt at a "normal" picture.

A few days (and one haircut) later, he had Gabe and Jack over for pizza and games:

So much teenage boy in one picture.

But he really does have excellent friends.

Seth calls them "The Trio."

This time he wanted a swiss cake roll cake.

He got a lemon roll cake as well because his mother is a sucker for lemon.

Officially a teenager!

Still can't believe we're already to this point.

Where did the time go?