The Second Week of August

 In a blink, the second week of August was here.  Summer was winding down, but we had a big week ahead of us!  Emerson's bestie, Claire, stopped into the ice cream shop to say goodbye to Em.  She was leaving for college this week, and Em and I were headed out on our own adventure.

I have to admit, we've gotten to see Owen much more this year than I was expecting.  But still, I wanted to get Emerson down to North Carolina for some time with Owen before she headed six hours in the opposite direction.  Road trip time!  I am just going to preface this trip by saying we ate a LOT of food.  Like, a disturbing amount.  Our first stop of the day was Crumbl.  If you have not had their cookies, I highly recommend making the trip.  We picked up a six pack variety to munch on while we drove.  We stopped for the night in Beckley, WV, where a creepy dude made Emerson's hot tub visit very short, and we both fell asleep early.

Day two dawned, and with it, came a Starbucks stop.  Emerson's days are not complete without her Starbucks. 

As we continued the drive south, Jason was having a new experience of his own: Back to school orientation with Alayna and Greyson.  This is usually a mom job in our household, but he managed to get them up and ready for pictures and to the school at their scheduled times, right in the middle of his workday.

After a few more hours, we arrived safely in Jacksonville, NC, anxiously awaiting when we could see Owen.  After he was finished with work, he met us at the base gate and escorted us inside.  We got to check out Owen's barracks, meet his roommate, and watch him interact with his bestie, Hedges.  Those two sure are goofballs together!

We decided to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner, and after asking for some bread and butter to go, Hedges was given a gigantic bag of rolls and butter and we were all dying laughing!

The next morning was Friday, and Em and I had several hours to kill before we'd get to see Owen again.  Of course, we started the day with shenanigans.  Em is such a good sport.

And then we got gussied up and had an Emerson kind of day: SHOPPING.

There was thrifting, lunch at Noodles & Co, military salvage, and of course, boots.

Finally, Owen was out of work and we scooped him up!

This time we got to see him in uniform after a day in the field.  I still can't believe my son is a U.S. Marine!

It was so hot, and there was plenty of daylight left, so we hit the beach!  I didn't know this, but part of the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean is inside the boundaries of Camp Lejeune, making this beach strictly for military personnel and their families.  It was so nice to watch my two biggest kids just be kids, laughing and playing in the surf.  I did, at least, get my feet wet, if you were wondering.

After dinner, we left base and went in search of food.  We came upon a little authentic Mexican restaurant, and the portions did not disappoint!

Saturday began with, you guessed it, Starbucks.

And then we picked up Owen and headed to Emerald Isle.  Doesn't that sound magical?  Well, it was.  Owen was such a good sport about carrying ALL the things and then we hit the beach!  It was hot and windy: a recipe for sunburn!  The kids played in the water forever, coming out now and then for a drink or a snack, and then back into the water they went!  It really was too hot just to sit there, so I spent a lot of time walking up and down the shoreline.  It was a beautiful beach and we really enjoyed the day.

Clearly, we hadn't had enough of Noodles & Co. yet, so we headed there for dinner with Owen.  I was so thankful for this time together with my two grown kids!

This was our last night in North Carolina, and we weren't ready to call it a night.  Owen talked Hedges and his girlfriend into meeting us for ice cream.  We found a cool little spot with fancy rolled ice cream and had so many laughs together.  

Outside, the building had several more photo opportunities, and of course, Emerson had to try them all out.

When the night was at it's close, we squeezed Owen extra hard, not knowing when the next time we would see him would be.  It's always hard saying goodbye to him, but I felt a bit better about it this time, knowing he had some good friends there with him.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, AKA home, there was all sorts of excitement.  Alayna and Jason found a three-place slant trailer and brought it home.  Thankfully, Penny had no complaints about getting into this trailer!

And Nash?  Nash decided to sell his dirt bike and get a go cart instead.  He had lots of fun buzzing and drifting around the yard!

And if you think those two purchases were enough for one weekend, well, let's add one more to the mix.  Emerson got her wish of a BMW with a sunroof, and it was there waiting for her when we returned from North Carolina.

By Monday, after that long road trip, I was in need of a run.  Kara and Lynn were headed out for 20 miles or so and I joined in.  We made a pitstop at Mile 12 for some food and I think they were disturbed to witness me scarf down a big chili cheese dog and just keep on running!

We were getting closer and closer to the start of school, and this would be Nash's first year out of elementary school.  We went to meet-the-teacher night were he checked out his new digs and met his teachers.  It was also his first time with a locker and locker combination, so we spent quite a while perfecting that.

And then back around the house, farm life continued.  We got our chicken snuggles, this time with Bernice.  And there were plenty of opportunities for riding horses.  Blaze and Rainy were back at the farm, and despite their old age, did well on the local trails.  There was just a handful of days before the start of school was here.