The Hamrick Family

Monday, July 9, 2012

July 4th

We were at the beach for July 4th and there were so many little events that I decided to make a separate post.

After the morning at the beach the kids got ready for a 4th of July golf cart parade in the beach community that we were staying. Everyone decorated their golf cart and then drove around the neighborhood. It was super cute and the kids thought it was too cool.

After the parade the kids helped Nana make a yummy flag fruit pizza.

After dinner we fed the turtles and ducks our leftover hamburger and hotdog buns.

And then we went to the beach to watch the fireworks!

Hannah was waaay hyped up. I said, "you're killing me smalls" to her. She said, "I'm not smalls! Your're killing me!"

Hamrick Beach Trip - Emerald Isle

We had a very nice trip to the beach with the Hamricks. The weather was perfect each and everyday with a nice breeze so it was not horrible to be on the beach.

We pretty much slept in, went to the beach, took naps, hung out and ate dinner - same routine each day, which is how it should be when you are at the beach. Aside from me getting a quick but horrible stomach bug one day, the week was very nice.

To summarize our week we:

Dug a few holes:

Bought Emma some new bikinis: (which she had to have after her only one fell down the entire first day)

Got a "little" sandy:

Flew a kite:

Had some quality cousin time:

Enjoyed some putt putt:

Went to Beaufort:

Ate lots of yummy food:

Built some sandcastles:

And enjoyed our time together:

**July 4th on separate post!

The kids also went to the aquarium with Nana and Dadoo on Friday morning!

Thanks for a great week Nana and Dadoo!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Before the Beach

Two other things occurred before we left for the beach on Saturday:

1. I got home from Baltimore around 5:00. Bo and I had several errands to run and of course finish packing for the beach. Then, dance moms got together to see Magic Mike. We went to the 10:30 movie and met at one of the other mom's houses. So - the movie was horrible. It had some good scenery, but seriously it was not a good movie. As we are watching I notice my phone going crazy with storm warnings. Then a few minutes later Bo starts texting me that the wind was so bad his car alarm went off and that we had lost power. If Bo says a storm is bad - then it is bad. As we walked out of the theater the wind had knocked over umbrellas outside the theater. The rain started and mom called and said do not go anywhere - that the worst was heading our way. So we waited out the storm in the car away from trees and light posts! Then we had to drive home super slow since so many trees and branches were down. As I left her house most of our area was still out of power so I was driving home at almost 2:00 AM in the complete dark. Bo met me outside with a flash light! I could barely sleep at all without our power on. It was still storming a bit too. Then, it began to start getting hot in our house. Emma woke up and realized her night light was not on so she started crying and then got in bed with us - then it started getting super hot. Just as I was about to pack everyone up and head to mom and dads for air conditioning the power finally came back on. I basically slept for maybe an hour that night.

2. Saturday before leaving for the beach I went to a baby shower for one of my dear friends. I met Carrie in the sixth grade when she moved to Suffolk from Hawaii and we have been friends since. She is having a baby girl in September so I could not miss her baby shower. Lindsay P and I rode together and it was nice spending time with some friends. Carrie got lots of cute things for baby Taylor and we just cannot wait for her to get here!

I was home by 3:30 and we hit the road for the beach by 4:00. I will post beach pics when I get some from my sister in law. My camera was acting up a bit while we were there. I have been using my iPhone so much I did not know my camera was having issues.

Baltimore

Yeah, I knew it would be a long time since writing. I guess I am going to start over a week ago when I left for Baltimore for our school conference. So many people have said, "why are you going on a conference during your summer break?!!?!?" Hello - and I will repeat:

1. It was free
2. all recertification points for the YEAR = less meetings during the school year
3. time with friends/coworkers/administrators outside of school
4. hotel room by myself for three nights = yes please!
5. nothing is wrong with mixing a little work with fun

So, there you go. I rode with three other hilarious coworkers to Baltimore. We had very interesting conversations from Mr. Grey, things apples and toilet paper roles can be used for, trips we have taken, differences in our own children, family, how husbands had extra responsibilities while we were gone, the shoppers vs. the non shoppers, fears of bridges and I don't even know what else but we seemed to entertain ourselves quite well for the four and half hours it took to get there.

SPS put us up in a hotel right by the Harbor so everything was in walking distance. The first day we were there we went to the aquarium. I did not know they had a dolphin show there so I thought that was so cute. After that we explored around the harbor and the major restaurants had tented outdoor eating/drinking areas outside by the water and it was so nice to sit there, enjoy a "snack" and people watch. The weather was so nice too. Other coworkers from our school and other schools arrived so we met up with them that evening.

The conference was set up really nice. Although there were many people and schools from all over the country it was very relaxed. Food/snacks were provided for us all day outside the conference area and we could get up whenever we needed and get coffee, drinks or snacks. One of our presenters was from Texas and she did a good job of mixing humor with her talking. We also did many get up, move around and talking activities so it was not like we were held captive to our seat all day. We got an hour and half for lunch and the first conference day we were given a sit down lunch at the Marriott which was very nice.

We were also provided with very nice materials, books, digital materials and free educational trials and accounts to use. All in all I thought it was very nice.

As far as more play: We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in "Little Italy" one night and it was "Winesday" so bottles were half off. We also enjoyed a night at the Orioles game. We did a little shopping and visited a few historic sites for our history teachers.

Bo was working in Northern Virginia on Friday so he was able to come pick me up Friday around lunch and we headed back to VA to get ready for our beach trip.

I missed the girls and Bo very much while being gone, but I kept reminding myself to just enjoy the free time I had. It was very nice to hang out, talk and spend time with my administrators and coworkers on a more personal level. Since I work in the library I am not really part of a "team" and it was nice to connect with the teachers more. I also got more insight from my AP about potentially starting my EDS to one day work my way into administration. I am trying to decide when the best time is to start it and also want to see if a cohort will be starting soon.

I am very thankful for this trip and do not regret spending a few days of my summer thinking about work. I got to know my way around Baltimore pretty good and would like to take the girls there too.