Independence Day Celebration 2013- Garner Style!

After returning from our adventure to Norfolk, we were able to get in a few more fireworks in Garner. We have had so much rain this summer, so the firework celebration ended up being postponed until Friday the 5th, which worked out in our favor!

This was our second year attending the Garner celebration at Lake Benson. This year however, Camille's buddy Madelyn and her family came with us.

Camille and Madelyn headed straight for the bounce house area upon arrival. Their eyes were so big just taking in all the bounce house options available to them. They ended up jumping a few minutes in each before wanting to try a new one out. They even braved the giant slides! The look on Camille's face was priceless... you may need to zoom in on the slide pictures to see it!

After all the bouncing, we convinced the girls to sit for a few minutes while we enjoyed our picnic dinner. The girls were more into trading sunglasses than eating. Oh well, excitement overload. Camille and Madelyn spent the rest of the evening dancing and running around in circles as we all waited for the fireworks. They did stop for a few minutes to eat homemade peach icecream, but that just gave them an extra boost of energy for more running and dancing.

Since Nick and Britton were stressed just thinking about leaving the park following the fireworks, they started devising their plan of escape to avoid as much traffic as possible. So, we ended up packing up all of our things and watching the fireworks from the back of Nick's truck to guarantee a quicker leave time :) Well, as it turned out, we had the best seats in the house!!! It was such a great view and Garner really outdid themselves this year with both the quality and quantity of the fireworks. Camille and Madelyn weren't bothered by the noise at all. Instead, they liked to scream out the colors as they appeared and comment on how much they liked each one! It was fun for us all!

And the best treat for the parents would be in how tired the girls were :) They not only went to bed without a peep, but they slept in later than ever!!

Baby you're a firework... Norfolk style

Ok, so that Katy Perry song was on my playlist during this morning's run... so it stuck in my head and made the title... It seemed appropriate enough considering we visited Norfolk during the 4th of July holiday to meet Baby Luke.... AND we got to see fireworks. So there you go.

Since Camille and I had July 4th and 5th off and Nick had to work, we figured what better way to spend those two days.... Norfolk bound!

We loved getting to meet Luke. He is such a sweet baby and so laid back. He has quite a lot of entertainment with big brother Jack, so I guess he feels like he just needs to listen. I got lots of Luke snuggle time... and when I carried him in the infant carrier, I had to keep checking to see if he was asleep b/c even when awake, he is so quiet and content. I took a few selfies of me and Luke.

Jack wanted to visit the Virginia Aquarium, which worked out great since Camille had never been before! They were so excited and held hands and followed each other around a lot of the time. They both agreed that the sharks were very cool and the most fascinating. However, what held their attention the most was this submarine simulator thing. It was basically a dark space with lots of lights and buttons.... so they were in heaven. You should have seen the looks on their faces when they figured out they were actually allowed to touch all of the buttons. 

It was a fun day! I figured Camille would be so exhausted after all that fun and no nap, so we headed back to the hotel right after dinner thinking she could go to bed early. Boy was I mistaken. She saw there was an indoor pool at the hotel and started jumping up and down until I agreed to let her go for a swim. I had to drag her out after an hour because Mommy was tired! She is getting to be quiet the little fish. She loves going under..... completely.... which is actually quite funny. She will jump in and go under over and over and over and over. I guess those swim lessons are paying off. She still won't put in much effort to paddle with her arms or kick with her legs, but I figure that shouldn't be too hard.

Since it was July 4th that evening and our hotel overlooked the Norfolk waterfront, I figured I would let Camille stay up a little late to watch the fireworks. She was still pumped up from the day, so she happily waited. We had a pretty good view from our hotel room so it wasn't too loud and not at all crowded :) That was the ticket!

The next day we ventured to the park so the kids could get some energy out. It was a hot day, so we had some sweaty kids on our hands. Camille liked sliding and climbing the most, while Jack loved digging in the dirt and sand :)

They did get pretty exhausted so on the way back.....

Another fun visit to Norfolk... Thanks Allie for your great hospitality! Oh and if you wonder where John is during all this fun... that is when he was working night shifts, so he was using his daytime hours to get some sleep.

We made it home in time to see the Garner fireworks which had been postponed to Friday the 5th..... another post to come on that :) 

Elizabeth Jane McNeill

The past two months have been so crazy that I neglected to post about my newest niece, Elizabeth Jane McNeill. She is just as precious as her name! She came into the world on June 17th, 2013 weighing 9lbs 5oz of pure chunk! That date was extra special b/c Camille is a 17th baby too. Also, that was a week early, which made me very excited, as we were supposed to be 3 hours away at the beach on her actual due date. I was thrilled to get to see her before we left for our vacation, as well as when we got back! She is contagious! (especially those cheeks!) I've already had two babysitting sessions with her to which she was a sweet little angel. All of my pictures reflect her sleeping, but she is just as cute with those little eyes open. To me, she looks a lot like John when she is asleep, but the minute she opens her eyes, its all Haddock!

Cox Family Beach Vacation 2013

Every other year we take a vacation with Nick's side of the family. The past two vacations have been to Nags Head, NC. It is such a great location for a family. The beach is never too crowded and the area isn't completely overrun by tourists. This year Nick's parents rented an oceanfront house to fit all 13 of us. A full week at the beach was much needed! And we lucked out with wonderful weather. A few storms threatened some plans, but always passed quickly or held off.

On our way down to the beach, we stopped at Bodie Lighthouse. Camille was more impressed than I thought she would be. It was a windy day, so our selfie pictures didn't turn out as well as planned.

I had vowed to stay fit and healthy (as much as one can be on vacation) during the week. Since our mornings started very early (combination of a house on the water with the sun rise beaming in every room and an 11 month old that wakes up early- all of us under one roof so you get the idea), Nick & I were able to get in a few miles of running and biking before officially starting our day on the beach. Renting bikes was the best idea of the week! It was fun biking along the beach road, looking at the beautiful houses, getting some "easy" exercise, and allowing Camille to be with us. Camille noticed the bike cart when we were in the rental store and quickly exclaimed "I want that carriage!" The "carriage" ended up being popular with all of the cousins too. They all asked Nick to take turns pulling them :)

We spent most days at the beach before lunch and then at the pool after lunch. That was enough fun in the sun to keep the kids from getting bored. Camille didn't even fight her naps :)

We had many nice nights on the porch. The moon was supposedly brighter than usual on our second night, so I tried to capture the extra glow in a picture, but without much success.

Camille got her first taste of ghost crab hunting. It was quite amusing to watch everyone scramble to either get out of the way of the crabs, or try to capture them in our buckets. Camille was never scared, but loved screaming each time that cousin Emily did.

We also had our family pictures taken again this year. Though it was humid and the sun was shining bright, I know Megan did a great job is getting all 13 of us smiling and cooperating. I can't wait to see how those turn out!

We enjoyed many meals, both cooking in and eating out, but I think the kids will all agree that ice cream time was their favorite :)

It was so nice to have a change of scenery for the week and to spend time with the family, especially b/c we don't get much time together otherwise. Camille already misses all that cousin time! We are blessed with how well they get along and how cute they are together!

Thank you Maw Maw and Paw Paw for organizing another family vacation.