Ocracoke 2011 - Fun Before the Storm

Every year after camp, we go to Ocracoke for a few days. This was our 3rd year!

Ila loves the beach more and more each summer.

Look at this stud.

She learned how to make a dribble castle thanks to Hillary!

She can actually throw a frisbee pretty well even if it's upside down.

We took her to the Blackbeard Museum one afternoon. He liked to hide out in Ocracoke until he met his doom in 1718.

Did you know there were women pirates? This one was supposed to be hung, but announced she was pregnant so they let her wait til the baby was born. She ended up running away with her baby two weeks after he was born. Pretty Bad-A if you ask me.

 Ila is down with some pirate lingo now.

Bummed this is the only picture I got of the 3 of us! Oh well!

Love this cutie pie!

Ross even got to surf. Usually the waves aren't so hot in Ocracoke, but he scored some gnarly peelers one of the days.

Our suite was complete with a jacuzzi where Ila had the most fun baths she's ever taken. We need to get one of those!

We rode bikes to dinner every night and pretty much everywhere we went. It was awesome!

And Ila loved it even more than last year.

Pretty awesome view of the harbor from our room.

We biked to Ocracoke Coffee every morning where the have the most amazing smoothies and baked goods. 

The ferry ride back to Hatteras, then Cville!

Never leave home without your T-Rex.

Driving on the beach! Just kidding. We were parked on the ferryboat.

Can you see the rainbow?

Praying for Ocracoke and the OBX this morning! 

Earthquake Aftershocks

Ila hasn't stopped doing this since the earthquake:

Just kidding. But she did do this repeatedly for about 15 minutes before bed the other night. Why is bedtime her most hyper time of day? And how am I not supposed to laugh even when she uses potty words? Sometimes I just can't hold it in with this child.

Beach Hair!

More Ocracoke Pics Coming Soon!!!

"I'm Happy Now!"

After Ila decides to be finished with a meltdown or tantrum, she'll announce very loudly and enthusiastically, "I'm HAPPY NOW!!!!" 

("Well it's about friggin time" is what I usually say in my head). 

Ila has been happy pretty much all summer, but now that we're finished with camp and get a little time to relax, I feel the same way! Don't get me wrong, this was one of the smoothest summers at camp we've had, but let's just say I hope I can look back and call this "my grumpy summer" when I was pregnant and couldn't quite handle having 25 people in the house at all times without a moment of peace. It's also a very odd experience to be on the verge of tears about something dumb one minute and then realize I have to go on as "cat lady" in the skit the next minute. But somehow I still managed to put on my canadian tuxedo complete with a cat t-shirt, pop in my mouthguard, and act like a complete idiot.

But enough about that, we're on vacation now! I even took pictures of Ila today and cooked dinner tonight!! It was glorious. We'll be here for another couple of days and then we'll head to Ocracoke which will feel even more like vacation. (It's about friggin time). :)

Playing under the house is where we spent a lot of afternoons. It's shady and there's always a nice breeze.

One of the outdoor showers is her "house" and the other shower is usually mine or one of her imaginary friends: "Addie, Quinn, or Abigail." (She misses the real Addie btw!) 

"Hey mom, you can't come in here."

If there's anyone in the board room, she'll check in to make sure things are being done right. (She's very bossy these days).

 She's always made funny faces to entertain, and this summer especially, she kept people laughing.

Her beloved "monster face." She's been making this one since she was about 18 months old.

Playing in the pool! She's very cautious and still likes to hang by the steps most of the time, but I guess that's better than worrying about her randomly jumping in!

The hammocks provide about another 5 minutes of fun.

I usually think pictures of food are gross, but I was so happy to make what I wanted to make for dinner tonight I even took a picture! 

And why not go out for ice cream when you're on vacation?!

Chasing the Sun

 No, it's not a metaphor; Ila really was just chasing the sun in the sound behind our house this evening. What a peaceful evening to celebrate the last day of camp for the summer! We'll be hanging out at the beach for a week before heading back to Cville. Can't wait to see our Cville friends!

Camp Life Update

I know I haven't written pretty much all summer, but here is my attempt to share what it's been like...

Living at a surf camp and running it takes a whole lot of patience when you have a toddler on your hands and when you are pregnant with your second. From the outside looking in, it's a pretty cool lifestyle to get away to the beach for the summers and live in a big beach house with a pool. But one might come to that conclusion too quickly before realizing we're also living with 16 teenagers and have 8 other college-aged peeps around at pretty much all times. Don't get me wrong, we have the most amazing staff this year who are all a joy to be around. But when it's THAT many people there usually isn't a moment of quiet, especially not when Ila is down for her nap in the afternoons or in bed by 8 p.m. It's a very interesting family dynamic to be living amongst so many people and yet still needing to function like a "normal" family sometimes. I'm pretty grumpy in the mornings and I try my best to conceal it, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes I get pissed at Ross for something dumb and can't wait until later to tell him about it. And more often than not I am saying the most ridiculous words, singing the most ridiculous songs, and making the most horrific faces with Ila because that's just what I do. It's all out in the open here at surf camp when we don't really have our own space besides our bedrooms. 

 Thankfully Ila is absolutely loving it and never has a dull moment. She goes from one staff person to the next asking to play, calling them "my Coleman" or "my Hillary" and telling them how much she loves them. Sometimes I don't know how I feel about her pretending Hillary B. is mommy and Hilary W. is daddy, but then I see how happy she is and remember how tired I am and I'm okay with it. Ila has been saying the most hilarious things lately too. Travis is growing a mustache so Ila gave him the new nickname "Crusty" because of it. She has to be a part of every conversation and sometimes dominates them even if her contribution is something like "I like macaroni and cheese and that's silly!!" She calls all the campers "my campers" and address them as "camper." In the mornings the staff wake them up in some creative way like being cowboys and aliens or zombies, and Ila anticipates this moment like it's about to be Christmas. She will yell out "I HAVE AN IDEA!! Let's be T-rexes!!" Then when it's time to call up the campers to eat a meal she greets them all by dancing to whatever song is playing, (usually "Hungry Like the Wolf.") She'll pretend to be in charge too and say things like "come upstairs campers!" or "don't touch that yet!" Then whenever Ross is giving them some kind of instruction Ila will try to pipe in with her own by saying something like "get your boards and put them in the car!" or "go sit on the couches when you're done eating!" It usually doesn't apply either. She has become a very outgoing little girl this summer. 

And as for me, I really struggled with the adjustment in the beginning and still do at times, but after we hit the half-way mark everything becomes easier and it's been going by really fast. I've been trying to appreciate the good things about our summer lifestyle like not having to do dishes or cook very much, having the weekends to enjoy the beach, and getting to know some pretty awesome people who work for us. I've also enjoyed getting to take pictures in the mornings while Morgan or Hillary watched Ila and having the late afternoons to play with Ila by myself while everyone else is at the beach. It's so beautiful down here too. The sun sets right over the sound and we have the most amazing view. It's nice to have that at the end of a hectic day. Even though I complain a lot about missing my friends and feeling a bit isolated at times, and having to drive 5 hours each way to my Dr. appointments,  I'm learning to appreciate what God has given us and trust that it's His plan. It's easy for me to envy other friends' "normal" summer routines and just having a whole house to themselves and being able to cook what they want for dinner (wait, do I really envy that?) but without surf camp I imagine I might get a little bored anyway. At least that's what I tell myself. 

To Surf Or Not To Surf?

Ok, this is NOT me, but I figured it's about time to announce to my blog-readers that I am 13 weeks pregnant! Aside from feeling extremely tired a lot and a bit nauseated in the mornings, I've been feeling pretty good and have been able to carry on as usual at surf camp this summer. (Though I did throw up for the first time yesterday in my hand). We told Ila a few weeks ago and she is SO excited. Some cute things she said when we told her include " Yay! I get to touch her little feet!" and "Mommy, I'm going to help her not to cry." I think she gets babies. Though she did ask twice during the conversation "Is she borned yet?" She insists she's going to have a baby sister but I keep reminding her that we don't know yet and it could be a boy. I'm starting to show a little bit and have been nervous about surfing, but there have been a couple days I couldn't resist when the water looked just like this picture above. I'm also pretty inspired by this Hawaiian chick who is pregnant with her third in this photo and surfed all the way up until she was 6 months pregnant. When asked how she paddled, she said it felt like laying on a big ball and that knee-paddling worked pretty well. I don't know that I'll go that far, but I do aim to get a sweet picture of me surfing pregnant by the end of the summer. Due date is January 9th!