The kids had a nice long fall break this year so we headed back down to Atlantic Beach with Grandpa and Tiki. The weather was lovely, the beach was pretty empty, and we got to go on a few little adventures.
Finding fun creatures…
Adventures…
Normal beach things…
We had a great time last week spending time on the beach, at the pool, and with cousins! All bird photos are credited to Charlotte!
Of course, while we are at the beach we have to take beach pics, it has been fun to see how they have changed over the years.
Charlotte Gray Hess is officially 11 years old. The pandemic was the longest and shortest years of most of our lives and it is hard to believe that we now have a 9 year old and an 11 year old. We just had our first parent meeting about middle school last week, and this fall, Charlotte will be heading to a new school as she begins this next chapter of her life. Before we know it, she’ll be driving, talking to boys and moving off to college. But until then, we continue to love seeing her grow and mature. She’s creative. She’s smart. She’s compassionate. She’s caring. She’s a friend. She’s a leader. She’s musical. She’s artistic. She’s 11. Happy Birthday Charlotte!
Oliver James turns nine today and he is full of spunk, energy, and sound! He is always humming or singing, loves soccer, gardening and nature. He is one cool kid and we are glad that he is ours!
To celebrate Ollie’s ninth birthday he invited some friends from school over to take part in his carnival birthday party. All the games and the menu were chosen by him. We even had one of our lovely neighbors come over and do some balloon animals with the kids!
This summer was busy and had some of the feels of a normal summer. We spent plenty of days at Coney Island and we all got to go on some pretty fun trips! We started the summer with Charlotte and Melissa’s birthday trip that was postponed due to the need to be home with our spring chicks. For our birthday trip we got to visit COSI and The Wilds near Columbus.
The week after, we headed to the beach with the Hess side of the family. We had great weather and everyone had a great time.
At the end of June, Auntie Paula took Charlotte on her ten year old birthday trip. They chose to go to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg in the Great Smokey Mountains. Ben’s tenth birthday trip was postponed due to COVID so they had a combined trip and I think everyone loved it!
While Charlotte was away on her trip, Jay and Oliver went on their postponed Ollie and Daddy trip. When asked where Ollie was interested in going he listed the Grand Canyon, the Sequoias, and Tide Pools. Tide Pools it was, so the two boys headed up to Maine for a few days.
Everyone got back just in time for a lovely Fourth of July and the fair and 4H presentations and awards. Charlotte placed first in both of her projects this year: cake decorating and beginning art.
At the end of July, Charlotte got to go to church camp with one of her good friends and they had a great time. A few days later, Jay and Oliver went to Daddy and Son adventure camp. Oliver was in heaven and even got a hatchet he plays with in the woods!
Right before school started, we took a quick little trip to visit some friends in Virginia. We got to see some friends we haven't seen in a while and got to stay with the Smiths. It was a really nice and relaxing week.
What a summer it was. It flew by so fast not one blog post was published! Hope everyone had a great summer. Fall starts tomorrow and we are looking forward to some cooler temps. I think we packed as much into Summer 21 that we could!
