Shackleford Horses

Happy Birthday to Joyner!!! Today we went to Shackleford Island on a ferry. We wanted to see the horses. We were a little sad when we got there because we didn't see the wild horses. It was a hot day so we figured they were hidden somewhere. Joyner went on the hunt while Blake and I played in the water. After about 15 minutes Joyner found the horses! They were beautiful! This was Blake's first time seeing the wild horses on the beach. This checked off one of our things on the bucket list.

And did we mention it was Joyner's birthday?!?! He is 38 and we are so excited to be spending his birthday with him!

Beach Boat Day

Joyner has a boat at the beach and we were lucky enough to take it out on the ocean. We went cruising and a pod of dolphins even joined us! It was the coolest thing that I have ever seen. The dolphins were a little family - we even saw a little baby dolphin. They swam near the boat following our path. We would see them surface every now and then.

We then went to Coast Guard Island and anchored the boat. We were able to get out and hang out on the island and play! We had a blast! Blake discovered that crabs are in the water and that freaked him out - but he LOVED jumping the waves with me.

We even did a little fishing under a bridge. Blake caught the first fish. Joyner also threw in the anchor on accident, but we were still able to have fun fishing! :)

It was a great day on the water!

Swansboro Fun

It is Joyner's birthday weekend and we all headed to the beach - yes, all of us including all 3 dogs! Haha. We are grateful that Joyner's family lives at the beach and we can stay at their house.

Today we just spent the day in Swansboro - it is my favorite beach town. They have a really awesome candy store, waterfront, a bridge you can walk under, and more. Blake's favorite part is the candy store - he stocked up! We also went to an ice cream shop after dinner. They had a large checkers board and Blake kicked my butt. Haha.

Mommy/Son Hiking

COVID has really put a damper on places that we can go this summer. Some businesses are open, but many remain closed due to lack of social distancing. This means that many of the places we would normally go (Hillridge Farms, Galaxy Fun Park, Defy Gravity, etc) are still closed. So, that is requiring us to explore new things this summer.

Since moving, we have discovered a really awesome place called the Wake Forest Reservoir. It is this water reservoir with a soft hiking trail around it. Blake and I decided to hike 4 miles and explore the reservoir. We had a blast! There are little obstacles (bridges, trees, etc) along the trail. Blake loves to make them a challenge.

We were totally worn out after our 4 mile hike, so we decided to grab some yummy ice cream on the way home! It was a great mommy/son date and we are excited about exploring more trails this summer.

Magic Milk Experiment

Blake LOVES science projects. It is something that he really gets excited about doing - so this Summer we are going to try out a few projects. We had a oddly cold and rainy summer day, so that was the perfect day for our first summer science project.

We did the Magic Milk Experiment. You start with a little bit of milk in a bowl. Then you add little drops of food coloring all around the bowl.

Then you take a Qtip, with a little bit of dawn dish soap on it, and place it into the milk. The soap will react with the food coloring and milk and make it spread and mix. It does it with a little force so that it shoots away from the QTip.

Finally it leaves this really awesome Tie Dye design. It was a great first science project!

Family Lake Day

It is a tradition, on my moms side of the family, to have family lake days during the summer. My mom and Greg just got a new boat, so the tradition has now gotten bigger and better. We kicked off our summer with family and the water!

We had a quick pool day at Tiffany's house. Blake and all of his cousins were there! They were little fishies having a blast!

That weekend we also all went on the boat. Blake rode the tube and loved every second of it. His little dare devil side came out and he kept wanting it to go faster. Haha.

This was the perfect way to start the summer. We are finally getting to feel a little like normal in the midst of our hect COVID Spring.

Summer Time

Well, life is slowly going back to normal. It is still NOT right and there are so many things still going on with society right now, BUT it is finally our SUMMER TIME and we are excited.

Summer is always a fun time for Blake and I. We get the whole summer for bonding, adventures, and still a little learning (Teacher Mom Probs). We always set a few goals for our adventures - kind of like a bucket list for what all we want to do. Yay!!

Our Summer Bucket List:

• Learn to tie shoes (Blake)
• Get married (Joyner and Sarah) and create our little family 
• See the wild horses at the beach 
• Learn to ride a bike (Blake)
• Read - LOTS of books!
• Explore new places to hike locally
• Dog train our pups
• Maybe a mountain trip
• Work on swimming skills 
• Family Garden