EMERALD ISLE

This past weekend, we traveled up to Emerald Isle to see Dave's parents, Aunt and Uncle, and my mom, of course!  We had a great time up there!  We brought all the bikes this time and rode them both mornings.  One morning, Ben rode 5 miles round trip with my mom to get the newspaper and some bait!  She said he was definitely getting tired towards the end but it didn't stop him from spending the rest of the day at the beach!

Maaike, Uncle Peter, Lexi (on the back of my bike) and I rode together one morning.  I think Uncle Peter and I would agree that the highlight of our ride was when Maaike went over one of the speed bumps before us, got off her bike, and did a victory dance because she was first!!!  It was hysterical!  She rode 2-2 1/2 miles both mornings and did it with a ton of excitement!

Mom had a big surprise for Ben when we got there... a new fishing pole!  He was super, super excited. I'd rather watch paint dry... well, not really.... let's just say I'm so happy that Dave is also enjoying fishing!  This will be a "Daddy thing" and Mommy will happily sit and watch the fishing adventures!  Maaike enjoyed it also but her stamina was nowhere near Ben's!  He was on the beach both days for hours having a great time.

Behind Mom they were setting up for a wedding... there were weddings on the beach both days we were there!

Ben learning how to put the bait on his fishing pole...

Ben caught about 10 fish the first day (none that were big enough to keep but that didn't stop him) and just a couple the next day.  The first day, Dave caught 2 on one hook and that was it... poor thing!  But on Sunday, he caught some kind of fish that was 15 inches... but it needed to be 18 to keep it!  So close!

Lexi was interested in it for about 30 seconds before finding something else to do!

...so Lexi and I took a walk...

...and I asked her to do some ballerina spins for me!

Nana got in on the action and helped the girls jump in the waves.

On our down time, the kids loved hanging out with everyone... especially those with Ipads!!  Ben doesn't look happy here but it's just because I asked him to take his eyes off of Aunt Carol's Ipad for a picture!

The girls greeted Poppy at the beach!

Our group!

Daddy's big fish!

Dave using his OR skills to unhook the fish!

And Maaike and JoonJoon saying goodbye to the fish!

Ben in his glory with food and an Ipad!

Dave and his Mommy!

I could not get the kids to smile for a decent Poppy picture!  Oh well, you get the idea.

And Ben kept covering up poor Poppy's face!

But Poppy got his hand just in time for this one!  Poor Poppy just gets beat up by Ben... in sort of an affectionate way, I guess!  He just loves jumping on Poppy and roughhousing with him.  But Ben's getting bigger so we're trying to get Ben to tone it down a bit.  When we got there on Friday night, he just ran straight in and jumped into Poppy's lap!  He definitely has a thing for his grandpa!

Maaike loved hanging out with Uncle Peter!  When we were biking, she stopped towards the end.  When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I'm just waiting for Uncle Peter."  He wasn't too far behind but it was sweet of her to look out for him!

Sibling love at its finest...

Our group!

So we got in the car and headed home.  I'm not quite sure where Lexi thought we were going because when we pulled in, she said, "Why are we home?"  That was followed by tears and please to "go back to Joon Joon's house."  So, I had to grab my camera.  It's only the natural thing to do!

Spending the weekend with family = priceless!!!