Pancakes

"There is hardship in everything except eating pancakes." ~ C. Spurgeon

So true, although Vanessa and Zane might consider average pancakes a hardship since I didn't bother making pancakes into letters and characters this time. :-) Really I only took a picture so I could post it with this quote because it's a good one.

Lazy Summer Days

The kids' idea for being lazy is for Mom to set them up with a movie, sleeping bags and popcorn. I can't really explain the sunglasses except that maybe they feel like movie stars when they get the star treatment. :-)

"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." ~ Sam Keen

"Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air and you." ~ Langston Hughes

Like Father, Like Son

Zane sleeps like his daddy. His body jerks in his sleep. He'd prefer to stay up late and sleep in late (with the exception of trying to keep up with Vanessa in the morning.) Sometimes his sleep position is the same too. Both make me smile.

Home Sweet Home

Zane likes to draw. Here he's making a shark for Daddy. "Daddy likes sharks."

Some other recent ramblings:

Zane: "You know what I missed while we were at the beach? I missed the iPad, home and myself."
Mom: "You missed yourself? What do you mean?"
Zane: "I mean I missed everything that belongs to me. I missed my bedroom and things in it. I missed this chair. I missed being here."

Vanessa and Zane have been all about being home recently. They haven't asked to go anywhere and seem to be exhausted from running. I guess all it takes is a short vacation to regain an appreciation for all the things that make it home.

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Home inspired connections:
I walked through the dark dining room to the garage door and opened the door and turned on the light to toss something in there. I started to close the door when Zane called to me "Mom, aren't you going to turn off the light?" At the same time I turned off the light and turned to walk back his direction. Zane stopped me to explain "Mom, the garage is nocturnal. When you opened the door the light was on in the garage. Then you shut the door and turned off the light and it was dark. Even if you didn't turn on the light and you opened the garage door with the light off, the light shined up and down from here and filled the garage. It is nocturnal like Skar is nocturnal. He has some light even when you turn off his light."

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I was explaining to a friend that Vanessa can spend all day crafting in various forms -- she bounces from one thing to the next.

She and Zane made a community of balloon characters to act out plays. She pulls out plastic cups and makes spy kits and other random things. She makes rattle characters and animals out of toilet paper tubes.

Last week she and Zane created a web out of crocheting yarn. It was thick in the play room and long and thin in the great room. Our neighbor stopped by and I showed it to her. Vanessa wanted to keep it up to show Daddy but I couldn't even walk through the house, so by late afternoon I grew frustrated and asked her to take it down before Daddy got home. Not sure why I didn't take a picture, except that I was struggling with making her take it down -- I love to watch their creativity pour out into our home . . .

We know we're at home when the rooms are cluttered from her several projects a day.

Irongirl

I love how Vanessa truly is a superhero to Zane. She came into the kitchen dressed and approached Zane as any star superhero would. She then asked Zane if he would like to pose with her.

Zane was counting the days down to having her home for the summer. And Vanessa seems to be just as excited to spend time with Zane.

Huntington Beach, SC -- Day 4

It's always hard when it comes crashing to an end. We agreed that in the future one more day could be added to this trip to make it perfect.

Our new tent neighbors were disappointed that we were leaving just as they were beginning their time. Vanessa and Zoe loved to compare notes and challenge each other, but they also cheered for and encouraged each other. Little Kate was fierce and very sweet and Zane was happy to share his floatie tube with her. It was their first time camping but they always do an annual time with extended family in rental homes at Pawleys Island (about 44 years worth -- Zoe's and Kate's mom Elysia's entire life), just a few miles south of Huntington Beach State Park. They'll hook us up in Louisville if we ever want to come for the Dickens festival. I would love that.

 Dad was attempting to cheer up the sad ending.

 And we always have to take one last look.

Above was the last trek back to our campsite. People were already moving in their stuff, eager for our departure, apparently. :-)

 We ate a late lunch at the state park area before hitting the road.

We were exhausted.

And what a great way to wrap up the trip, with another reminder of God's promise, just before starting the Ocean Commotion VBS the following week -- based on how God used Noah.

Huntington Beach, SC -- Day 3

Thursday morning we woke to some cloud coverage but that didn't stop us from running over to the beach after breakfast. I kind of consider cloud coverage a blessing -- I love sunshine but I overheat.

The night before, you can notice in a picture with the last post, a rainbow appeared over the ocean water. It was quite the sight to see it form. I replied to God that I believe His promises.

 If you zoom in to the picture above, search for the sand crab.

Zane wanted to be held late morning. I realized he was still tired but was surprised he fell asleep on me. I dozed off too. I was startled awake by a jetty boat that came close to shore.

We headed back to camp for lunch.

Below is the entry to our tent site.

After lunch we headed back to the beach. This time we walked up to a baby shark that was dead and washed ashore. (This happened on June 14, 2015, about a week and a half ago, when we really went to the beach -- shark attacks about 40 plus miles north of here.)

It was a beautiful afternoon and probably the lowest tide we experienced.

Vanessa made a castle while Zane made a village for workers and common folk.

A family of footprints!

Below is our little beach setup. Can you believe how much of the beach we had to ourselves?!

We headed back to camp again for dinner. While preparing to cook, Vanessa took a short nap. Zane and I decided to take the opportunity to walk into the woods behind our tent. We ended up discovering a trail not too far from our site.

We were absolutely amazed by the awesome trees we found. Vanessa was in heaven again. Zane loved sharing that moment with her.

See the Vs above? Can you find the Zs below?

There were so many really cool trees!

We kept walking.

Tree after tree we happened across an old wooden overlook. We could see the marsh, dunes and ocean all in one scene.

Dinner time!

Zane chose a hot dog and insisted that he eat it the way Grandpa makes it. We didn't get it exactly right but close enough.

After dinner we decided to take a twilight walk on the beach.

It was awesome.

We even caught a few fireworks being set off in Georgetown! What a treat!

Apparently I forgot to tie off the zippers to the tent porch. We had a visitor while we were on our beach walk. No food because we secured it after each meal, so the visitor came and left.

We could see the glow of the moon before it was above the trees. The stars were pretty too...