The Family Beach Trip - the tradition continues...

Having grown up going to Myrtle Beach with my family every summer, I knew I wanted my girls to have those memories of spending a week at the beach every summer with their family. And so...10 years ago, I began the task of finding a "less crowded, less overwhelming, family friendly" beach that my mom and dad would be willing to vacation on. Emerald Isle, North Carolina (the "Southern Outer Banks" as it is referred to) surfaced and we have been returning for the past 10 years.  I love this time with my family, and am so happy that we found a place that my mom and dad, sister and brother-in-law are able and willing to return to every year!

 

2004 - 10 years ago - Emerald Isle #1:

 2013 - Emerald Isle #10:

We have the typical beach vacation with mom, dad, kids, grandparents, aunt, uncle - eating, playing and relaxing...but we have established  EVENTS that have become traditions every year. In the spirit of "Seldom A Dull Moment," our traditional events have evolved into non-traditional events...

Here's the pictorial narration of this years non-traditional events:


Boogie Boarding:
Even boogie boarding becomes an event for this group! Katie started off the week refusing to get in the water. She's had some traumatic big wave attacks in previous years, and didn't want to venture in this year...she was happy to observe from the sand and find her own way to relax...

The others - Don, Carleigh and my sister Patty, and brother-in-law Ev took to the water and waves right away - they had to upgrade the boogie boards mid-week for more speed and agility. Once upgraded...they formed their Boogie Board Gang (club was too "boring") They each had a name and away they went into the water to wait for the perfect swell!!

the Gang -  (l-r) Bullet, Barbie, Tipper, and Flipper - Katie observing

Waiting for the perfect wave...

Getting Ready...

Got it... altogether!

As high tide would come in - the sand allowed for a "Lazy River" to sort of form at the shore - Katie enjoyed that and explored the possibilities with a boogie board. - Yes, nontraditional boogie boarding!

Barbie and Bullet decided to join in on the Lazy River fun...

 

 To keep with the non-traditional boogie boarding.....my mother wanted to play in the lazy river, but needed a little assistance. So...my sister jumped up to help.

Yes...my mother is being WALKED by my sister! Seldom a Dull Moment!!

 

 After exploring the Lazy River concept, Katie decided it wasn't that scary and ventured into the waves to try real boogie boarding...she was very successful and proud of herself for conquering that fear!

She was even willing to hang with the big boys!

Going back for more!

Feeding the seagulls takes on a whole new meaning for this group! Towards the end of the week every year, we share with the friendly beach birds!

This year, Don found a breakfast potato that was too happy to eat!

In the theme of Tom Hanks and "Wilson" from Castaway, Don and "Happy Potato" went to the beach to see if it could become seagull bait.

Patty and Carleigh started out sharing, to get them interested...

notice blue cup (near bottom left) with Happy Potato waiting to be lifted away

 

Then the seagulls got interested and started exploring...

 Then Gigantor (the biggest of them all - aptly named by the girls) swooped in and took off with dear Happy Potato!

the fork and cup fell to the ground - and he was a happy seagull - RIP Happy Potato!

We also had some fun time just relaxing, flying kites and playing football on the beach....

 Now for the family pictures....those of you who know us, know that we don't just do that traditional last night on the beach family photo. Nope, we have to have clothing changes and multiple night pictures - and LOTS of photo bombs, which turn into either arguments or laughter...or a bit of each.

It starts with posing on the beach - we've got to get those sun and surf bathing suit photos:

Then girls on the beach at dusk with fun clothes on:

yep...this one sums up the behind the scenes during this photo shoot

Mid-week we tried a blue shirt picture - not bad, but most of the pics had my eyes closed:

it was very windy that night...

and then the photo-bombing begins...

Every year we do a "girl shirts" photo shoot. This is the 5 girls with a variety of shirts - usually about 3 wardrobe changes. This year was no different!:

#1 Tank tops - with "Take Me Away" on the front:

Then the wardrobe change for #2:

 

 #2: Old Navy - "The Beach is Calling Me" shirts

 #3 - "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" shirts:

 Notice Ev photo-bombing all of these pics in the background - up on the deck!

Our last night picture has changed over the years - tie dye, black shirts, and khaki/white. We returned to the khaki/white theme this year and spent about 30 minutes with these memorable pictures:

The group - 2013

 

 

the original 4 Wests

 

photo-bomb!

5 girls on the beach!!

We added a new component to the last night pics this year...empty picture frames:

not quite sure what was being discussed, but it must not have been good - I've got my teacher face on!

 

Photoshoot bloopers:

 Random other moments of fun:

And good-bye beach...'till next year...

A Busy Week!

The End of School and the Beginning of Summer...

It's officially summer for the young people in our house, but the adults still have a few days left, but we celebrated the end of school and the unofficial beginning of summer this week....and what fun we had!

We started with Katie's end of year celebrations, as she finished elementary school and fifth grade.

 

1. Fifth Grade End of Year Party at the Skating Rink..

Katie with best friends - Sophie and Brynn

Katie with friends since Kindergarten/First Grade - Sophie and Megan.

2. Next came Katie's birthday party - her birthday isn't until the end of the month, but we always celebrate with friends before school is out. She had fun spending her 11th bday party with some of her best friends!

3. Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony: 

It's not graduation, but "Promotion" ...and it was definitely a tear jerker as we both said goodbye to elementary school, and look ahead to middle school!

Carleigh and her friends watching from the stands.

Katie with her teacher, and two best friends

Katie and one of her best friends since 2nd grade - Trevor

So Katie has been promoted, the school buses have all left for the last time, and Don and I are packing up our classrooms. And in my case, waiting for the sun to come out so that I can move all of my school belongings into our garage for the summer. Then come August 1 - move it all to my new home - Blue Ridge Middle School. The days are busy, but we couldn't pass up an opportunity to have our summer celebration, albeit a bit early this year...

4. Lobster Day #12... 

Every year we invite new people to join us for Lobster Day - and every year brings new adventures....Here's the link that explains "what the heck is Lobster Day?" (What is Lobster Day ? A Primer for the Clueless...)
 So this year's new attendees were my cousin Blaze's wife, Lindsay and their adorable 2 yr old son, Miles! Blaze was a Lobster Day veteran from before he entered into the military, and before he was married. 

Here's a picture from Lobster Day, 2008

L-R: my cousin Jessy (Blaze's brother), Don, Blaze, my uncle Jim (their dad)

It was great to see him again and finally get to meet Lindsay and Miles. Blaze is stationed at Mountain Home Air Force Base in Idaho, and was home visiting east coast relatives - hence the early arrival of Lobster Day this year. We planned it around Blaze and Lindsay's east coast visit. We had a great time, it was nice to relax for a few hours amidst the chaos of finishing out the school year!

Lobster Day 2013

The first Lobster Day where Carleigh is the tallest - and Don is photobombing

The first Lobster Day where Katie manned the grill

Is that a (toy) Lobster in your pocket, or are...................

A man and his dog...

The real lobsters!

Little Miles had a blast...I think the girls did too~!

Bacon wrapped shrimp - the contribution from my Uncle Jim and Blaze!

Miles liked the lobster!

Yes..we are the family that has matching t-shirts! But, they were from Old Navy, so..trendy matching t-shirts! :)

 

 5. Carleigh and Katie head to the Fairfax Fair - Don and Laura stay home and do school-work!

The girls were very excited when they were invited to go with the rest of the family to the Fairfax Fair because the original plan was that they would be bored and Don and I would be finishing up paperwork and last minute stuff for school.  They had a blast. Carleigh, Jim and Lindsay were the thrill-riders. Katie, Rina, Blaze, Patty and Miles took it easy.

Carleigh rode the bull and did NOT fall off. She was on for 3 minutes!!

Katie did ride the bumper cars! :)

Somewhere in there, you can see Carleigh! :)

So...we were able to pack some fun into an already packed week of ending school! Don and I have another day or two left and then it's summer fun!!

Stay Tuned for...

Saying goodbye to 23 years of elementary education and saying hello to summer fun!

With summer comes Rahn fun, so who knows what will be happening in the coming weeks. Our first official vacation isn't until July 13 - so lots of homemade fun coming!!