Bird Shoals Island, North Carolina

Jessica found an excellent beach we would take a boat from Beaufort on Bird Shoal island.  This was a different beach than we went with Rod and Ileene with the big shells.  This beach's advantage is the small waves and shallow water.  This was our first "day trip" since the lockdown! It was exciting to get out.  The kids played wonderfully together.  Milton liked to water the beach with a little watering can that Jessica brought.  It was a really fun day.  The sunscreen didn't work all that well with Owen and he took off his swim shirt so he got a rather unpleasant sunburn.  He won't fight wearing his shirt next time! Half of the photo credit goes to Jessica, thank you!

May 2020

May was our second full month of isolation. We are in more of a routine so not as many tears or as much screaming.  The biggest change was that Phase 1 for reopening North Carolina began mid-month.  Our interpretation for that was that Owen and William could play together again, just outside only (for now).  We also got some new neighbors with kids so it was impossible to keep them away from each other. The Onslow Beach also reopened.  Without any human contact for a while all the upper sections of the beach were very crusty, thereby less sand blowing around.  Also lots more shark teeth to find! Towards the end of the month, AMCC opened back up the playgrounds which is another huge win.  The kids being allowed to play with other kids and having more that we can go do has made a huge difference in all of our mental wellness.  My sewing project for this month was to work on another of Grandma's quilts.  After getting it re-tied I decided I would rather have totally disassembled it which is what I am planning on doing while I am in WY for the summer.  I also finally made all of our required face masks.  With our upcoming flights to WY I want the kids to be accustomed to their "cowboy masks".  For Memorial Day base did a 21-cannon salute which was pretty cool.  There is a one minute pause between each firing which was a bit difficult for little boys to wait that long between "booms". The close-up pictures are from the Camp Lejeune Facebook page.  Milton's favorite thing to do is still digging around in the front yard.  Damon loves going canoeing with all of us and with the new summer season hours open we are able to stay out until 5 instead of only 3.  Our new family event is to go for our Bike/Runs where Damon pushes Owen in the stroller and I ride my bike pulling Milton in the bike trailer.  Milton becomes very worked up whenever Damon offers to take Milton for a run.  Of course, Damon finds this hilarious and teases Milton to the point of Milton saying "stop bugging me Daddy go work".  I agree with Milton on that sentiment! Owen loves going for runs with Damon since he can get an iPad the whole time.  Its really nice that Damon and I can have some time to talk.  Running with me on my bike has Damon go faster than usual which he appreciates for training.  His Wilmington Marathon got rescheduled for the Fall and then the Marine Corps Marathon is in October.  I've also decided to just focus on playing my cello instead of feeling like I need the pressure of a concert to practice.  I was pretty bummed when I turned back in my music folder to the orchestra director.  Overall, the kids are doing well.  We are really looking forward to our summer in Wyoming.  A bummer is that Owen's best friend William is moving this summer down to Florida.  They play so wonderfully well together and Milton even gets to join in without much conflict.