Last couple of days here in Raleigh

The grandkids and their parents head back to their home tomorrow.  Time has flown since they have been here and since we returned from the beach.  It has been a short week.  John Paul and Luke helped Patt and me prepare dinner one evening — that was a hoot.  We had such a good time.  The two littlest were real helps - well they thought so anyway and we enjoyed it.

One very hot afternoon,  the kids spent set up a nature museum in our garage.  (Laura I think helped a little). And they found a lot of stuff in the yard natural area in the back— and so far no poison ivy has shown up on them either.  We have a lot of nature as is evident.

Of course our pool leaves a little to be desired.  It may not be the fanciest you ever saw as our membership in the neighborhood pool lapsed long long ago.  The membership in the pool below is still current and remains valid.

Patt's inventory of crafts is getting a little low, colored glue on colored glue with some glitter was theme of this day I think.  The leftover Christmas crafts got very little enthusiasm.

 Well we can still read, and play cards, and both are hits. And we do both well.

This morning we went for a hike along the greenway and threw sticks into the rain swollen creek to watch them being swept down stream.  This is an activity that still fascinates me too.  ( I will also look for a rock or two to toss in).  Both Matt and I were somewhat busy keeping a grip on the two littlest.  

Tomorrow early the airplane leaves with seven passengers headed east and our house gets real quiet.

We have enjoyed their stay.

final beach and return to a party

The last day at the beach came all to soon, sand castle building was the order of the day as the tide was high and the surf a bit rough — we had been very fortunate with the tide and beach schedule for our play time.  Isaac especially got skilled with drip sand castle building.

Even John Paul got a bit into adding value to the construction of a walled structure around one of our building projects.  And this was appreciated.

Putting on sun screen should have been documented earlier— it was a project that was a twice daily activity.  We got better at it too.  I tended to arrive late and take down toys and chairs to the beach.  That may have helped.

and the traditional group photo squinting into the sun just prior to starting the packing up process.

Oh and before we leave the beach I should mention a dinner at the marina at Blue Water Point and a spirited game of Red Rover just afterward in the restaurant yard afterward.  Luke thought it was more a "kam-a-kaz" game and put his full charge into it.

Got home and headed off to Kelly and Beth's for a celebration party for many occasions listed chief among them Maddie's graduation from High School (finally!! )(we all thought she eventually would- and low and behold she did).  So we did have a back yard party that was a great success.

Guests came from afar- 

great socializing and visiting times were had

One important part of the event was John Paul's reunion with Uncle Lelly or Kelly as he is now able to say (we appreciate his improvement in speech but sure did like his cute name for Lelly).  John Paul was super happy to see Kelly and there was a time when we were unsure if they would be separated.  They were, but John Paul would return for reattachments like below.  He likes his uncle.

All the kids liked playing in the backyard.  There were ten cousins and they surely had a grand time playing.  The garden wagon got a workout as did the various uncles who pulled the wagon around the yard .

The kids made various efforts at at entreating themselves too.  Such excitement you should have seen.

The cousins occasionally slowed down, not often, but occasionally.  They worked hard.

still playing and pier trip too

Having ice cream on the porch and look who tried himself a selfie — Luke — well not exactly, Luke was busy putting chocolate, vanilla ice-cream on exposed body parts of himself and nearby others— that would be me.   That's alright - needed a shower anyway.  And Luke got to see the picture right away.

Card playing during the heat of the day.  Isaac is learning 500 Rummy, the girls keep score.  Carefully.

"cooking various pies and cakes on the porch in the afternoon.  Note the moisture on the deck.  Yeah they have run the hose.  We have spent a good deal of time working on who gets to play with the hose.  A fuse waiting to happen.  The working end of the hose is just too temping a device in the hands of a small child - (or unweildly) according to every statement I heard.  (that's basically what the message was they were trying to get across.)

We continued playing in the surf and on shore.  

Below Isaac demonstrates prime form in "wave jumping" 

and here in "running from the wave"

both are great games

now sitting in the low tide shallows and riplets is an art form and Patt and Luke are really good at it.  (Luke is not overly fond of the ocean, but is fond of his grandmama.)

He worries about his boat and this is about as far away from his grip as it gets when not in contained water - like one of our engineered "lakes" or tidal pools.  He keeps his eye out for THE — BIG  —
ONE  meaning wave.

After dinner yesterday we went for a short drive up to Ocean Crest Pier.  A treat in and of itself, and the pier trip was compounded by some very nice people who shared their fishing poles with the kids who reeled in and touched small sharks.

Laura has walked these piers before — back when they were a bit more rickety than they are now and back when we had one closer to the house.

Sad note there used to be something called The Long Beach Pier - North Carolina's longest. Several years ago it was torn down. The cheap gift shop, bit of a grocery store, restaurant /bar /night club, and fishing hot spot ( I guess) was an institution that should have been preserved. It was not and I miss it.  It was an even mile from our beach house.  A nice walk, or marker for running or whatever.

Nevertheless, Ocean Crest Pier is still nice and we all got to catch fish, see and walk on an outer banks pier, be far from the shore and make new friends.

and pose for a grandchild grandparent photo — (we were not the only set of grandparents out there doing this either).  It is a nice place to take kids.  and take yourself.

 Oh and one more thing.  at the beach house— we even have most every night something called  boys night for clean - up Matt this afternoon had some good "hope you" from Luke.  I might add from my point of view it seems as if boys night clean up comes very often.  Of course boys cooking day does not come often - and we do eat well.

Well it's just the Seven -of - Us

Matt and Laura have gone to the big City to meet, greet, speak and do other work related type activities.  Rather than load up the crowd, Patt and I remained at the beach with the kids, tough duty.   They left last night.  

Today, breakfast then down to the beach — time to do a little prep work for sand castle building.  We enlisted the younger set for the heavy lifting.

We were fortunate that low tide and calm seas coincided with our time on the beach - set up sorta close to the tide line - and our holes collect sufficient water. (if not filled in by constant movement in and out of the hole — (yeah that's not going to happen).

and the trench to the actual tide is not to long, but does keep workers busy.  We tote water, import sand for fine drip castles on top of base layer mountains.

 This guy is going to be an engineer.  Isaac,just likes to build stuff.  Entertains himself.

Luke today, learned the joy of running from the little wavelets that are the remnants of a wave that lap  up onto the beach.  It took him a few days, but when he figured out what we were doing it was like a new toy.  "Look-a-big-one" he would shout which was followed by turning and running as fast as short fat little legs would carry him all while tightly holding my hand.

Later he began "jumping" those wavelets and then when Patt pointed out the little fish that were at his feet, well Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 John Paul of course had to join Grandmama in the shallows for a bit of attention.

and here is the crew searching for the fish that Patt and Luke had spotted.  We were planning on pizza for dinner and did not change our plans.

Lunch of course was leftovers and guess who was tired?  Yeah, it was his Grandfather sitting to his immediate right.  This boy will fall asleep with the best of them.  He rallied for applesauce and a cookie — briefly.

After lunch was "quiet time,  Isaac did a little work bookwork, as did the girls.

 Then Julianna read

 as did Lydia

John Paul, of course, slept — and check out the bed in the back ground.  Yes— the famous front room "nap bed" and it has Patt caught for what has become habit forming — an afternoon nap.  She did not even pretend to read either.  I am thinking it is going to be hard to convince Patt to consider part time work.

rinse and repeat- another day at the beach

I believe I mentioned that there are things done at the Wheelhouse at Oak Island that have been done before.  This is one of them.  This is far from the first watermelon eaten on the deck in the afternoon shade.

And as is obvious from the backdrop, it was a pretty day and yet early in the afternoon, great time for watermelon and a cleansing trip to the beach to wash up, as if it were needed.  It was.

Reading has been a major pastime at the beach of mine for many years.  Something I enjoy and look forward too.  Often I have with me a stack of magazines, historical epics, long novels and other "beach reads".  Curious George, Cat in the Hat, Tip Tip Dig Dig, Blue Truck, Ladybug Girl and others seem to be on my list this year.

We do get in lot of card playing.  I taught the girls rummy and gin rummy years ago and we enjoy playing for real — score keeping and all.

Everyone gets in on the reading — it is also a participatory sport for these two.

On occasion, Laura can get in some real magazine catch up and John Paul does his own "reading"

Matt entertains the troops minus John Paul who is roaming the house - someone best be watching somewhere.

I think I mentioned card playing, well, we start 'em young.  Luke and I were working on exchanging colors and not throwing the cards.  We talk, or rather he talks, a lot about his hand.  He will learn not to tell what he is holding in due time.

Another day of kite flying, with the strong wind and wide beach, the kids will be spoiled for launching a kite anywhere else.

And we are getting a little bolder in the water too, with calm seas and low tide, we went out past the breakers today with the kids — they were so excited.

The crowds as you can see have really picked up — well actually they have, it is just that it is as it usually is, a pretty quiet beach.

We are eating well too.  Got lots of help in the kitchen.  Well on occasion— but we get help cleaning up if not in prep, so it all works out.