Danny's Drum Solo

Danny's girlfriend April is turning 30 today, so last night Danny threw a big birthday party, complete with a rockin' Reggae Band! Here is Danny's drum solo from his guest appearance with the band:

Abbey's Bumpy Road

Here's a little video of Abigail making some cute noises as we walked the bumpy footbridge.

Windjammer Days

This year's WJD Festival was a blast! We had beautiful weather, which made things so much easier for me with the three kids. We were so busy for the past 48 hours, running around to take it all in, and then me waitressing both nights. My bones are aching today! Here is a pictorial recap of our WJD activities:

Our first stop was the library's "Wee Matey's" event, complete with octupus sprinkler (here the boys are pretending to be Coast Guard men, fighting the octopus), balloon blowing, puzzle & craft making, and a touch tank.

Josiah had a lot of fun touching everything in the touch tank, but Benjamin was too nervous about getting hurt. :)

Logan came with us to the Coast Guard Station on his lunch break. This year, we skipped the tour and went straight to the good part -- the boats!

Of course we had to fit in a trip to the Railway Village!

We found the best view from land of the big Navy ship.

After waiting patiently for the shark to come to his side of the tank, Josiah couldn't work up the nerve in time to touch the little guy!

The boys painted buoys at the aquarium. Benjamin worked swiftly and quietly, while Josiah spent four times longer and chatted non-stop with the assistant about sharks and whales.

Abigail got lots of compliments for how easy-going and patient she was, hanging out in her car seat and taking in all the action.

Benji's lobster

Josiah's whale

Best-EVER WJD event -- boat making for the kiddos!

Josiah and Benjamin stuck with this project for nearly an hour. They were so intense about their creations. Very cool!
My proud little boat maker!

The balloons were an epic fail -- very traumatic when they burst ten minutes later! The clowns had closed up shop, so there were no replacements to be had.

The Windjammer-scape.

I snapped this last WJD photo as I left for work, leaving the family behind to enjoy the parade. Logan said they loved it, of course. :)

Father's Day Celebration

We had the great privilege of hosting the family Father's Day dinner this past Sunday. There were three wonderful fathers there to be honored for their special place in each of our lives, and other dear fathers and grandfathers who were not with us were there in our hearts and conversations. Josiah sandwiched between two great Fathers - Uncle Jim & Papa

Little Monkey Benjamin wearing his dessert

The world's sweetest little angel, Abigail & her Daddy

Nana & April enjoying the beautiful day

April, Abbey, Uncle Danny, Mom, Uncle Johnny, Josiah, Daddy & Benjamin

I unfortunately didn't think about taking any family photos until after Papa & Uncle Jim had already left for their Safe Landings meeting. :(

Uncle Johnny's new truck

The kiddos with their Daddy - The World's Best Father!

They are blessed to have such a wonderful Daddy who loves them so fiercely and who takes the time to invest in their emotional, physical and spiritual development. Thank you, Logan, for being such a good Daddy!

Saying Good-Bye to Good Friends

Our dear friends Wes, Laura & Emma are moving back to their homestate of NC this weekend, so we've been spending as much time together as possible the past couple weeks. Two weekends ago we threw a going-away potluck with several other families at a beautiful local park down in the harbor:Of course, the boys were thrilled about a "picnic party." They helped me make these cupcakes:The Moms: Melissa, Bree, Laura, me, Lisa & Desiree

Wes & Emma Bear:

A playdate at Ally, Kady & Lily's house

At the playground, I caught a cute picture of Josiah with T.Bone, also moving south.

Emma went to the Railway Village with us this past weekend:

And today, we rode the trolley with Emma, her mommy and her grandma.

Two days left to spend with these dear friends before we wish them well and send them back to NC. I am so grateful for the time we've had to get to know each other, and I look forward to staying in touch and visiting their new home in the mountains (where a Mama bear and two cubs were spotted a few days ago!).

2011's First Beach Day

Memorial Day was Logan's first ever paid holiday! So we made sure to set our busyness aside (because there is ALWAYS something important we should be doing) and enjoy the day. First we went to the Memorial Day parade and service in the harbor, where I quickly discovered that my camera battery had died. No pictures, but one story: We thought we had found a great spot to view the ceremony up close and personal, until the 21 gun salute. After the soldiers lined up with their guns right beside us, Benjamin was immediately cowering in Logan's arms and crying into his shoulder in fear, and then they shot once...twice....and Abigail started screaming!!! While the band played a beautiful rendition of "Taps," everyone was staring at the wailing baby in my arms. I don't think anyone could hear the music! Poor little thing.

So we went home and while I charged my camera battery, we got ready for an afternoon at the beach. It was a beautiful day. The boys were so excited. It was a wonderful surprise to see our friends at the beach! Josiah and Benjamin had a blast playing with Maggie and Nina.


Our brave little swimmer went in the icy water!

Logan and I took turns shading Abbey girl from the sun.

Oh, to be young again and have the energy to run up and down the beach!

Abigail really enjoyed sitting in her little seat and playing with the sand and seaweeds around her. Yum!

Most favorite moment for me: After we got all our things together and cleaned up three sandy, muddy little beach babes, Logan looked at me and said, "Is it this much work for you everytime you bring the kids to the beach?!" "YES! And last year I was doing all of this while I was pregnant...and you were jealous of me!"

It was a gratifying moment, to say the least. :)

We ended our day with a trip to the Railway Village, an easy spaghetti dinner, baths, and an early bedtime. What a fun day!

Wounded, Cheated, Disappointed & Heartbroken

Something that becomes more apparent to me all the time is that everyone has hidden hurts in their life. We're all victims of a fallen world, wounded by the shrapnel of sin. I love Ann Voskamp's blog, A Holy Experience, and just read a post she wrote entitled, "When You've been Wounded, Cheated, Disappointed & Heartbroken."

Ann's new book comes highly recommended by my friend Bree. I hope to find time to read it one day! I would like to review some of the books I read this past winter, as I usually do around the end of the year but didn't get around to doing with the new baby and all of my new craziness around here. It's nice for me to be able to look back on the topics I've been thinking about and also I can't help but share a little bit about things I'm learning with others! So maybe sometime this June I'll find the time to do that.

It's beautifully sunny here today. I'm changing over our winter clothes to summer clothes today. An important milestone of the year! I hope you have a blessed Wednesday!