The rest of the summer was spent getting to know our new furry monster and gearing up for the upcoming school year. We wrapped up the summer with Ansel’s annual week at Camp Kanata. Just like that, it was time to start school.
This year is neat in that Jay and Parker are both in the ninth grade. Parker is at West Forsyth High School and Jay is still at Carver High School. Ansel is attending the brand new Lewisville Middle School as a seventh grader. We were all back “in person” at school with face masks required.
For Labor Day, Mom Mom came down for an adventure. She, Kristie, and Ansel drove up to Ace Adventure Resort to take on the New River Gorge! Parker had said so much about it from his experience at kayak camp that Kristie had to get on it herself. Thanks to Hurricane Ida, the river was pumping!
While the girls were on their WV adventure, Jay and Parker went to Conway to see G Daddy and Martha.
Not to be outdone on WV adventures, Parker me up with some of our friends for a trip down the Lower Gualey. Of course he styled it. Jay stayed home. Kristie read a book. Parker has passed us by.
The kids are enjoying their new schools. Ansel joined the cross country team and has had a really good time.
When we could, we made several trips to Roan Mountain. The next thing we knew, it was Thanksgiving.
This year, we all had a whole week off. We decided to head to the beach to relax and celebrate the extra time. Mom Mom came back down and we headed to Oak Island where we rented a house. The house was really nice and we enjoyed our stay. We took many walks one the beach and some of us even ventured out above our knees. Some longer and more often than others. On Tuesday, we cooked a classic Thanksgiving meal. In between we enjoyed getting our seafood fix at Tranquil Harbor, Fishy Fishy (Moose and Lulu joined us on the deck), and Pelican Seafood (I think the unanimous favorite).
On Wednesday, we went out exploring. Our adventures took us to Wilmington. We enjoyed walking around town and then drove down the coast and ended up at Fort Fisher. It was a gorgeous day, but when Jay was three steps from the car, he turned around and realized that the other travelers were not coming with him. Nevertheless, he enjoyed walking around the fort and taking in the views if the Cape Fear. He almost had too much fun as we cut it close to catch the ferry back to the mainland. They still got us on and we had a great cruise back.
Thursday, we got up for an unsanctioned sunrise 5K on the beach. Afterwards, we met the rest of the Cross family in Cherry Grove and enjoyed visiting with each other and spending Thanksgiving together. We enjoyed more beach time Friday and then dropped Mom Mom off at the airport on our way back home.
Now, as Merle Haggard once said, “If we make it through December…”
bloggers note – apologies for the unevenness or this post. My enthusiasm for documenting this leg of our journey waxed and waned. Additionally, copious pictures of Moose and Lulu seem to have replaced pictures of humans on our camera rolls.
