"going to carolina's" - Day 2

Monday, July 3rd. - Our First Full Day In North Carolina.

Today, the kids and I spent most of the day at the cottage. We all slept in which was a nice and had a late breakfast. We did venture out for a lunch and then a trip to Wal-Mart and the grocery store. Yesterday, we got back into Franklin late so we just picked up stuff for dinner and breakfast. Today we stocked up on food for the rest of the week, plus some sparklers, bubbles, and a giant purple ball. It was fun getting out, but we had most of our fun hanging out at the cottage and enjoying each other's company.

Today's highlights:

- Eating breakfast outside at the picnic table. It was a beautiful morning. The kids thought it was so cool that we were eating breakfast outside.

- Coloring pictures for the boys in their journals. Each of the boys brought a notebook and crayons and wanted me to draw in them. Dylan and Harper each wanted a sun in their books, while Harris got a flower. They all were pleased. I signed and dated the pictures for them. Harris insisted I write a "3" on his picture "because I'm three!"

- Picking fresh blueberries with the kids and eating them immediately.

- Dylan helping me figure out how to put his tent together.

- Playing catch and kicking the giant purple ball around with Devin, Dylan, and Harris. Harper was amusing himself with two sticks. He looked quite like the little swashbuckler! Afterwards, we all sat on the deck and blew bubbles.

- Watching Devin enjoy the view while sitting in the grass. I suppose she could just have easily been bored out of her mind, but it looked like she was enjoying the view!

- Watching Devin and Harris (the oldest and the youngest kids with me) talk as they each sat on a swing.

- Watching Harper draw in his journal.

- Washing dishes with Dylan.

- Painting with the kids. I had the boys collect leaves, sticks, and grass. We tried to do leaf prints on a canvas but it didn't work too well. Devin was reading but came out and helped us with the painting. We ended up covering the canvas with different color paints using brushes and our fingers. While the paint was wet, we used sticks to scribble and scratch at the paint to reveal colors underneath the wet paint. It also has some grass stuck to the canvas. It turned out really cool. We plan on hanging it up when we get back home.

Things I learned today:

-My kids are funny!! I can't count how many times today one of them made me laugh. One of the funniest moments involved Harper.

"Dad, are hot dogs really made from dogs?"

After I stopped laughing, "Ummm, No they are not Harper."

"Good! I wouldn't eat them if they were. Would you?"

"No Harper, I wouldn't"

"Cool!"

- Harper is an artist!!! I watched him drawing and he is very physical and purposeful with his crayons. He is also very intense and seems to disappear into his art while he draws. His art has lots of energy in it too. It was amazing to watch! I took some great pictures of him from overhead. I can't wait to see them.

- Harper loves life! He seems to have a great zest for life. His energy and spirit is infectious! Again, it might just be the setting but he seems to revel in being outside. He is definitely a nature boy and is also very sensitive and caring. In a conversation today, he told me he doesn't want anyone in the family to die, including the pets, and then expanded it to everyone everywhere... and the trees.

-Kids can become emotionally attached to blueberries. At about 8:30 pm Harper realized he couldn't find his bag of blueberries. He was sobbing. He looked all over the cottage and couldn't find them anywhere. He then asked to use a flashlight so he could look outside for them. So, in the near dark, he rushed outside to search the yard for them. He never found them, but I promised him tomorrow morning he and I would go pick some more for him. He was especially concerned because he had lots of them. I assured him we'd pick that many and more. Note: It is now a week since we picked those blueberries and he has still not eaten them. They currently are in our fridge here in Tallahassee. I think he plans on saving them forever!

- "You're fun to hang out with Dad." Said to me by Harris as we sat at lunch. It was one of those totally out of the blue moments that kids frequently have. Of course, I was also sharing my food with him, so that might have influenced him.


All in all, it was a great day. It was nice to spend the day with the kids being creative and making art! Tomorrow we are going to pick up Maggie and Henson and spend the afternoon together. I'm sure there will be more fun and adventure. Stay tuned...