Take your kids to work day

Actually, it was just a family cookout but let's pretend just this once because lets face it, they'll most likely never get to go with him to his real work. Do they still do "take your daughter/child to work day"? I don't even think it was a legitimate excused absence, but that was probably one of my most favorite days in school. Any ways, back to our pretend day that we invented for the Marine Corps.

The whole day was actually Jane Wayne day. It is where the wives get to go do all the "fun" things their husbands do. Now, I have a confession... I will be the first to admit it... I suck at this Marine wife super duper hard core lifestyle. I will never understand or even try to learn ALL the acronyms. Almost everything is an acronym and if its not then they just change the name completely. I know a few, by accident but compared to the other wives I look like a fool. And, I'm perfectly fine with that. As long as my husband knows how to not die and I am taking care of our babies and keeping our family happy and together then we are doing great. I am a little jealous I didn't get to shoot some big guns though.
{correct sentence would be: fire some weapons.}

When we first showed up, H only noticed the bouncy castles and slides, but after several attempts at that and taking his shoes on and off one too many times, he noticed all the big guns and trucks.

  

{That's my little girl on the top of a big truck, mixed emotions}

We had so much fun though. Getting out of the house and letting them run in any direction without limitation was a dream come true, especially for Riley.  And I think Jake was excited to see Hunter interested in all the cool boy things. The kids had such a hard time finding their daddy though once they noticed everyone else had on the same pants and big brown boots. Emma kept walking up to every guy, sitting on his boots, looking up, then looking at me to say nope, wrong daddy.

Weekly wrap up: fun overload

 And you know what that means... 

...picture overload...

...like a ridiculous amount of pictures.

{forgive me}

Jake gets all the credit for an incredible fun filled weekend.

With all the hard work his unit has been putting in lately, they were finally given a long weekend, so Friday we headed out to N. Topsail Island for our last attempt at the beach for the summer. 

It was a beautiful sight. The tide was up and the waves were crashing in as we watched from under the pier. H was stuck to my thigh refusing to look at the water, R was tightly holding on to my side just in case I tried to put her down and daddy headed to the water with E. My babies are just not beach babes, but at least we tried... maybe next year.

When all else fails, head to the nearest park.

And enjoy the local seafood.

Saturday was a well planned out day as well. We would carry on as usual, then after naps we would head out to the NC Seafood festival in Morehead City. But before naps a magical package arrived for Hunter. 

He was in heaven. And since big brother was pretending to be Buzz, the girls definitely needed to join in on the fun. 

Not sure what Riley ended up being, but she was enjoying sticking all the craft balls in her mouth.

Emma got Hunter's Yoda costume from last year, but with an added bow for a girly touch.

I love watching my kids interact with each other more and more every day. I love that they are so close in age, not only with the girls being best friends, but H being right along there with them. Teaching them, making them laugh, loving them and protecting them. 

{I'm lucky if he doesn't accidentally hit them with a toy or knock them down right now}

Of course, I forgot the camera for the seafood festival but it was not exactly what we thought it would be. 

It was a crowded, smokey, fair looking event. All of which we are not fans of. 

We lost, then found one of Riley's Tom's in a mass crowd of people arguing with protestors.

Tried to win H a real fishy and failed, but later he won an inflatable sword that he popped 3seconds later. Managed to get some seafood though, and then headed to... if you guessed park, then you are starting to get it. An open area where Riley can "runaway" from us, Hunter can climb, swing and slide and Emma can scream with excitement was all we needed to know they enjoyed our well planned trip.

Sunday was a chilly, beautiful fall day where we unfortunately missed church because if 3 colds, but we did manage to go to our favorite pumpkin patch for the 3rd year in a row.

Daddy did great this weekend and spoiled us with fun and excitement.

{it's amazing what fall weather can do to a person}

A perfect ending to a wonderful week can only be completed with ice cream cones. 

A first for two baby girls and a rare treat for a messy toddler.

Thank you daddy, we love you!

Who wants seconds?!

Can you believe it? Two posts in a week... it's a miracle! Or maybe Jake is still taking vacation so we're able to get out more. This one will be quick and mainly revolving around pictures. I find that it is so much easier to just post our pictures on here instead of emailing everyone.

Independence Day with the Johnson's means eating dinner early, struggling to keep 3 babies awake for fireworks, finally reaching 9:00pm with 2 of 3 kids and standing outside to see the base fireworks, then hearing the big booms and cheering and realizing we are just a little too far to join in on the festivities. Really?! Oh well, we enjoyed our day with Jake home and just being our family of 5. This time last year Jake was actually getting to celebrate the 4th with some wiffle ball in Afghanistan.



Today we headed down to Wilmington for some birthday shopping for the girls, a trip to the childrens museum, and some incredible pizza from Mellow Mushroom(comparable to Hideaway). The museum was so much more enjoyable this time around. The girls were able to go almost everywhere and Hunter loved exploring like a big boy. Trains are becoming a new hobby for him which is adorable to me. He's becoming a little boy now!

Hope you all had an incredible holiday!

Coastal Carolina: our playground!

WE ARE BUSY!

The girls are practically walking and my dream of life getting a tad bit easier is actually more of a joke now. Emma can literally climb anything and Riley moves on her walker like a Indy race car driver. Hunter is usually spending his days hiding from his sisters. If they're not after his snacks or drinks then they are into whichever toy he is playing with. This absolutely drives him crazy!!

We've experienced the beach twice... failed twice too! Both times Hunter was tired and cranky, but mostly he hates the sand and the water and the sun. The girls LOVE the beach. Mainly for the massive amount of sand it provides them to eat. It's basically a hit or miss on beach days with each child, but when you have multiple children I guess one is always going to be the "party pooper."

On our journey to find a new church home we've been able to see much more of Coastal Carolina. Our new area to explore is North of us with one of North Carolina's aquariums, an old Civil War fort, and fun local island life.

Besides trying to venture out and experience new things, we are just plain busy. Even days we don't leave the house I fell like I've been running around like a mad woman! Cooking fresh is a new hobby of mine and it's been good on our new budget too! What is this budget I speak of? It's actually pretty fun... in a weird budget-y way. I've been inspired by the thrifty(ness) ways of other moms out there, as well as keeping fresh foods stocked in the fridge instead of junk! The big first birthday party for the girls is also budget friendly, but cuteness and theme will not be taking a backseat! I am beyond excited to see the finish product... which is in 27 days, eeeeek!

Ok, ok... time for pictures! Posting is getting harder, but hopefully we settle in to a good routine soon and with walking/bottleless babies running around we should get to experience a lot more fun around here!


N. Topsail Island

My babies growing up- E&R 11months H 25months

Fort Macon Museum