Zorro's First Trip to the Beach

Zorro is thoroughly enjoying his first trip to the beach! He got his first look yesterday and fell in love with it! He didn't exactly go swimming but he got his snout wet when he was sniffing a wave.
Next he wanted his very own sandcastle so he could rule his very own kingdom. So I built him a sandcastle.

Here's Zorro in his castle.


Here's Zorro with his favorite perch on top of Georgia's head.


Today we went to Roanoke Island to see one of the settlements from the first settlers that came here from Europe. We learned how they made canoes by digging out trunks of trees. Zorro tried to make his own canoe but he found out it was very hard.


He also played a game of checkers against my sister Kathryn and won! They played the game in the bottom of the boat that the settlers used to sail across the ocean from Europe!

Jockey's Ridge

Last night we went to Jockey's Ridge, the biggest sand dune on the east coast. We played with Georgia and made her run up and down the sand dunes. She posed for many pictures and made tons more friends. We always go to Jockey's Ridge when we come to the Outerbanks and it's one of our favorite things to do at the beach!





Georgia was so thirsty after running up and down the sand dune, she drank water from this fountain for about 3 hours.

Skimboarding for the first time

Skimboarding is incredibly fun. It's very much like skateboarding except way more slippery and way less painful. I tried it for the first time yesterday and it wasn't bad at all. Today I'm going to try to learn a trick. Here are a bunch of pictures of me falling off the skimboard. It happened frequently.

Georgia - the star of the beach

Yes, Georgia the dog is the definite star of the beach! Everybody loves her! We took her down to the water yesterday and she loved it! She jumped over the waves to chase sticks and swam through the waves to bring the sticks back! She has made lots of friends!

we're here!

cold water.
but fun water.

beach tomorrow!

i'm REALLY excited about the beach tomorrow! Kathryn and I are leaving early to try to beat the traffic! We'll see how that goes... I'm sad because today's my last day to hang out with Miguel's family for 2 weeks. Right after the beach, Kathryn and I are flying immediately down to Florida (we're flying from the beach) to go to Discovery Cove and visit our grandparents! It's all going to be totally fun but I've gotten used to hanging out with Miguel's whole crew every day for the past two months. It will be very quiet for the next two weeks without them. I've realized that even though I'm definitely more introverted (never been the party kind of person), I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being around my friends and would spend every minute around them if I could. I get used to the activity level of having all these people around me all the time and then I get so bored when I'm not with them. It happened when the Adams and Brian and I went to Disney World over spring break. There was never a quiet moment and even though I would think that would bother me, being an introvert, I actually loved every second. When we got back, I was so sad that there was nobody around me every second of the day. That's sort of what it's been like for the past 2 months with Miguel's family. With 5 of them, there's always something going on and we're always doing something until 2 or 3 AM. So when I think about two weeks without that, my first thought is, "Geez. What am I going to do?" Fortunately my sister will be there so hopefully we can go do stuff and play stuff and explore. I have this mixed feeling between wanting the two weeks to go by so fast so I can get back and see my friends, and wanting the weeks to take forever because when I get back, school starts the very next day. These are my last two weeks and that is not a thought that goes well with, "I hope the time goes by fast." Anyway, I know it'll be an awesome, awesome two weeks and I hope Miguel and his family know how much I'll miss them!

3 days til the beach

3 days til the beach

3 days til the beach

3 days til the beach

WOO HOO!!!

Bored out of his mind.

This is Miguel's desperate attempt to relieve his boredom while Ivan and I were playing on the computer. He asked to borrow my camera and then disappeared into his room for about 20 minutes. When he returned, he walked directly towards us, thrust the camera into our hands, and then walked away. We laughed and laughed when we saw the picture.

My First Skateboard

A cool thing happened last night at the skatepark! There was this little kid there, maybe 8 or 9 years old, skating and I recognized his board one time when he fell down. I asked to see his board and he showed it to me. Sure enough, it was what I thought it was - my first skateboard! I don't mean it was like the board I had. I mean it WAS the board I had. The wheels and everything were the same. I asked him where he got the board from and he said another kid gave it to him. I didn't tell him it was my board, but I just asked if I could take a picture of it.

See, a year and a half ago I gave that board to a kid at the skatepark whose board had been stolen. This kid came to the skatepark every day and he and I talked a lot. It was Christmas time and he said the only thing he wanted for Christmas was a skateboard. I talked to his mom and she said that she knew he wanted a skateboard but they just couldn't afford it. So I told him he could use my board until I saw him again. He asked, "What if I never see you again?" And I said, "Then you can just keep it." I've thought about that board a lot because it was my first one and I loved it! I think it's so cool that that kid gave the board away to another kid who needed one. I never thought I'd see it again and it's so nice to see it's still going strong! Here's a picture of my board and its new owner doing a manual across one of the ramps!
Meanwhile, my class gave me a gift certificate to Freestyle at the end of the school year, so I used it to get a new skateboard! Here's a picture of it:
Here's a picture of me learning how to do an Indy grab off one of the ramps. I'm using my new board!

skateboard tip

So last night Miguel, Ben, and I went to the skatepark again. The main difference was that I actually skateboarded too...for the first time since last October. At first I was sort of nervous because I thought I would fall on the ramps since I hadn't done it in like 10 months. Well there was this other little kid there (about 7 years old) who I had seen last summer. He wasn't very good then and I was helping him learn how to drop in to ramps and do ollies and stuff. NOW, however, the kid is amazing! He can ollie over ramps and down steps and do kickflips! So anyway, I was standing at the top of a ramp trying to get up the courage to drop in for the first time in 10 months, and he climbed up the ramp and stood beside me, staring at me.

I said, "Can I help you? Of all the ramps in this park, do I happen to be standing in the exact spot that you need to be in?"

He giggled and said, "Don't I know you? Aren't you the person who taught me how to drop in a long time ago?"

I said, "Quite possibly. Now what do you want?"

He said, "Why aren't you going down this ramp? You know how to do it."

I explained to him that I was a little nervous, with my head being so much higher from the ground than his head. Then I asked, "Hey, do you have any tips for me? Remind me how to drop in."

He got a huge smile on his face and said, "YEAH! I can help you! Okay, first you put your board like this. Then you can't think about it, you just have to do it. You have to stomp down really hard like you're trying to squish a spider that's on the floor! See like this!"

I started laughing and laughing because that spider thing was the exact thing that I told that kid a year ago to teach him how to drop in! I don't even think he realized it! So after that I dropped in and he cheered and clapped for me! It was really cute!

Just another summer day...

I love days like this...if only this was every day of the year. Perfect temperature, sunny, friends, swimming, soccer, skateboarding, what could be better? I really don't see how anyone could get tired of days like this.

Spiky Crystalpus

So today I was very productive! I sent out birthday invitations for the giant kickball game that is happening this Saturday. Aaaannnnnd I made a new creature! His name is Spiky Crystalpus. He's a really friendly guy with webbed feet (even though he can't swim). They're webbed for better traction because he lives on wet ground. He has spikes on his back for protection and a platypus-like mouth. He's called a CRYSTALpus because on the tip of his tail he has a crystal. It's covered by a feather to hide it so that bad creatures won't see it and try to steal it. Tomorrow I'm going swimming with Miguel and Ivan and their sisters and then I'm going to the skatepark to watch my friend Ben drop in on the 8-foot ramp. He claims he can do it now, but I don't believe him. :)

Kings Fest!!

So we just got back from King's Dominion and let me tell ya...it was AMAZING! Okay no, King's Dominion doesn't even compare to Disney World, but it was still a fantastic weekend! We had so much fun! There are so many stories I have to tell, but I'll try to limit it to the funniest and most meaningful ones!

Ivan's Smile:

If I had to say the number one thing I enjoyed the most about the trip and the number one reason why I wanted to take Miguel and Ivan, it would be for this smile right here in the picture. Ivan is such a great kid and he's so responsible and serious. He has to be the kind of big brother who's more like a dad for all of his siblings. He doesn't often get to act like a kid himself. Well I saw him smile and laugh more in the past three days than I've seen in the past 10 months! One time in the wave pool, I decided I was going to chase him, but he didn't know it. So I looked at him with this little grin on my face (one of those sneaky "I know something that you don't" kind of grins). He saw me looking at him and was trying to figure out what I was smiling about. Suddenly I put my hands up above my head like a shark and said, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1!" When I got to 2, he got the biggest smile on his face and he realized what I was about to do. He took off through the water and I took off after him! When I caught him, he was laughing and said, "AGAIN! AGAIN! Do it again!" So I counted back from 5, the whole time with him staring at me with his huge smile. Then when I got to 2, he took off again. We played for maybe an hour to an hour and a half. I think he just really enjoyed being chased (being the kid) instead of being the chaser (like he does for his siblings).

Ivan - Master Fire Maker:

Ivan definitely wins the award for Master Fire Maker. My friend Ann and I were trying to get this nice fire going so we could cook dinner on Thursday night. It was basically a fire that was in a constant state of dying. So Ivan comes over and kneels down, takes a deep breath, and blows on the fire and all of a sudden FWOOSH! Fire. Big fire. Big nice campfire fire. Ann and I were like, "I knew there was a reason we brought this Ivan kid on this trip!" For about 3 hours, Ivan kept that fire going! Every time it was dying, I tried blowing on it and let me tell ya...nothing happened. Ivan comes over and blows and FWOOSH!

Miguel's laugh:

Miguel wanted to ride everything in the park. He had never been to an amusement park before, never ridden a roller coaster or any type of thrill ride, never been in waves, never been to a concert, etc. Everything was new for him and he ate it up! He loved EVERYTHING! On the roller coasters, I tried to ease him in by starting with the least intense Scooby Doo coaster and building up to the Volcano and the Dominator. He loved it all! He is so fun to ride with because he doesn't scream. He laughs hysterically. From the moment the coaster goes fast until it stops at the end, he laughs and laughs and laughs. It's just this laugh of pure joy, pure delight. He laughs the hardest when the coaster goes upside down. It is the funniest, most infectious laugh ever and you can't help laughing the entire time yourself!

My Nose:

So remember how I said how much I enjoyed seeing Ivan smile when I chased him in the pool? Well, on Friday night, Miguel and I decided to chase him around the playground at the campsite after the TobyMac concert. So Miguel had a soccer ball and I had a stuffed frog that they won (see story below). We were trying to hit Ivan with the ball and the frog and he was just laughing and laughing as we chased him. Well Ivan ran up one side of the playground and I was jumping up the other side to get him. Keep in mind it was dark. So I leap up the ladder and lunge forward to get him and I completely missed one key detail - there was a big metal bar right at head-level. It was dark. I couldn't see. So I lunge forward, right, and WHAM! Metal bar across my face. I fell back down immediately and oh, was there blood. My nose and face are still really sore, aching right now, but miraculously there's no swelling, no bruise, no nothing. I find the whole thing pretty funny really.

Luckiest Game Winner:

You know all those amusement park games that are impossible to win? Apparently they're not as impossible as I thought. I spent the whole first day trying to convince Ivan and Miguel to not play the games because it's a waste of money. But right at the end they wanted to play one where you throw a little ball towards a whole bunch of cups. If it lands in the blue cup in the center, you win a big prize, but it's surrounded by cups everywhere. So Miguel picks up a ball and tosses it across all the cups and it lands right in the blue cup! See in the picture of the boys sleeping, that gigantic doggie that's bigger than Ivan? That's what he won! Then they were all excited so they wanted to play another game. It's the one where you throw a softball in a sideways basket. If you get the ball to stay in, you win. I told them, "No, don't play it. Don't push your luck!" But they insisted. The lady asked Miguel if he wanted one ball or three. He said confidently, "I only need one," and threw the ball right in the basket where it stayed. So he won the green frog that's up next to his pillow in the picture!

David Crowder:

Miguel desperately wanted to see David Crowder play! He knew almost all of the songs that he played and danced and sang along with them! He loved it! David Crowder had bought a Guitar Hero guitar and rewired it so he can play his songs on it, plugged in to the amps. It was awesome! In the picture you can see his guitar!

TobyMac:

Everyone loved TobyMac! Ivan was totally into it! The coolest God thing that happened was that during the David Crowder concert, Miguel was trying to take pictures of David Crowder up front, and the concert usher people kept telling him he had to go back to where we were. Well right before TobyMac started, these two people came up to us and said, "Hey we're really sorry that he couldn't get any pictures during the David Crowder concert." I was like huh? They said, "We saw him trying to take pictures and the lady kept sending him back. We're not going to stay for the TobyMac concert and we have seats right up front. We'd like to give our tickets to you so he can sit up front and take pictures." How cool is that??? So then Miguel and Ivan got to sit right up front where they could see really well!

Newsboys:

What can I say? They put on such a great show! All of these bands do! I love how they constantly bring the focus to God and not themselves. They are very clear about who deserves all the glory and praise! They read from the bible in between songs, but they also go all out and show that being a follower of God does not mean you need to sit at home, being bored and not having any fun. They are up there rockin out for God, dancing, shouting, cheering, clapping, throwing everything they have out there so that everyone can see that the people of God should be in the front lines of "greatness" in this world, not hanging out in the background being quiet and calm. Miguel loved the drummer and he did this cool thing where his drum platform rises up in the air, tilts over sideways and then starts spinning, all while he's playing it, not missing a beat. This picture is from the front of the stage with the platform spinning sideways. At the end of the show, Miguel ran up front and the drummer saw him and threw his drumstick to him! So now he has a Newsboys drumstick! He brought the drumstick with him to church today!

It really was a great, great trip, full of smiling, laughing, and very little sleeping! As it says in the bible, "BE JOYFUL ALWAYS!" It's so cool that God gives us permission to laugh, have fun, delight in things, and have a great time!"

Winged Feather Trap

Check this guy out! Do you like him? I just designed him on the computer! His name is Winged Feather Trap. I think he's beautiful. He has two little wings that appear to be useless, except that they aren't useless at all. They're actually very important. He has a few spikes on his back that are for balance. Without the spikey things, he falls forward a lot. He can jump really high with his kangaroo style legs. And see his webbed hand? He can swim well too! He has sad eyes but he's really not sad. His eyes just make him look like he's sad. And the best part of him is his mouth! It's like a venus flytrap plant. His mouth can open up and snatch annoying things out of the air, like flies, mosquitos, bees, spiders, ticks, and anything else that could possibly get on your nerves. I love this guy! He's rather small, only coming up to a normal human's waist, but he's not frail. Maybe I'll make another creature when I get back from King's Dominion!