Summer Break 2023: Week Five

This week was a hard one as we headed back home for PawPaw's funeral.  As I type this, it is still hard to imagine that he won't be at the country house when we visit going forward.  The boys will miss his ping pong skills and his enthusiasm as they attempt to play pool.  We will continue to celebrate PawPaw's life as I think about the legacy he left behind.  Without PawPaw, I wouldn't have Zack and without Zack, we wouldn't have Zander and Maddox.  That is pretty incredible when you think about it. :)  

Here is how we spent our fifth week of summer together.  We have one more week until Mommy starts back to work but the boys will continue to have fun plans until the school year starts for them in a month!

We had two lake days with the Williams family.  Maddox attempted skiing and showed perseverance as he wasn't able to stay up on the skis but continued to try.  Zander can now successfully get up on the adult skis without Josh in the water and can cross over the wake and navigate through the water as the boat is turning, etc.  We tried to give the boys a couple days of summer fun, knowing it was a hard week and they are trying to process PawPaw no longer being with us.   

Zander headed to overnight camp with our church on Tuesday.  It is a three day-two night mountain adventure that involves swimming, creek wading, flashlight hikes, s'mores by the campfire, etc.  While he was away, Maddox enjoyed some time as the "only child".  We ate at Wendy's (a request by Maddox) and Coldstone (Mommy's suggestion) while brother was out of town.  We also fit in a day at the pool where many of his friends were playing for the afternoon!

On Wednesday, we headed back home for PawPaw's funeral.  We grabbed our big boy from his retreat so he could spend some time with our family.  

The flowers were gorgeous and so many people came to offer their condolences and support to the family. I loved the urn that Granny V selected for PawPaw's ashes and she brought the blanket which has all of the family represented on it.  The blanket reflects the people that love PawPaw the most.  The service was beautiful with James Taylor songs and "It Is Well With My Soul".  Dr. Bland was able to celebrate the life of our PawPaw and remind us of the hope we have in eternity as given by our heavenly father and the sacrifice of his Son.  We went to Granny V's house afterward to enjoy a meal together. Zander is already lining up a day with Uncle Grant to learn how to play poker (as seen in the picture below) and Zander proudly wore PawPaw's bomber jacket as he headed back up to his overnight camp that evening. 

Granny V gave each of the three children PawPaw's last heartbeat in a bottle.  Zander was able to get one as well, being the oldest grandson.  We also have copies to be laminated so Maddox can have his own.  This was such a special reminder of how his heart beat for his family until its last beat. 

I'm including a few more of my favorite pictures that I gathered after my previous post.  We love you and miss you PawPaw!

Our PawPaw

We are grieving the death of our boys' PawPaw, Zack's dad and best man at our wedding, and my father in law.  As I'm typing this, I'm having a hard time finding the words to say to articulate how we are feeling.  This is the first parent we have had to say goodbye to and the first grandparent for our boys.  PawPaw loved these boys immensely.  For me, it was evident at one of our last visits with him.  PawPaw was in the hospital due to a heart attack and with his dementia, he was confused about his environment and wanting to go home.  I brought the boys to the hospital to see him and he lit up as soon as they walked in.  You could tell that even if he might not remember their names every time we visit anymore, he knew he loved them deeply.  I snapped some pictures as the boys rushed over to give him hugs unprompted.  The boys didn't see that PawPaw was sick.  They just wanted to hug their grandparent.  Wayne was always so kind and loving to me as his daughter in law.  He encouraged Zack and you could tell he was incredibly proud of the man his son had become.  I believe Wayne's favorite title was being a PawPaw.  The boys would love playing pool or ping pong with him in the game room at their home.  He would laugh and chuckle as the boys would do something unpredictable and these boys always kept PawPaw on his toes.  Thanks to Granny V and PawPaw, these boys have been incredibly spoiled growing up.  With the yummy food, the hospitality when coming to their home or striving to buy them the top items on their wish lists, these boys know how blessed they are to have PawPaw and Granny V.  Zack is wanting to keep this information private at this time, just sharing the information with close friends and family members.  I think he gets his private nature from his dad.  Zack is a man of few words which I believe he inherited that trait from his father as well.  As I'm typing this, Zack is on his way back home to be with his siblings and Granny V as they make arrangements for later this week for us to come together and properly say goodbye to our PawPaw.  He will be missed immensely in the coming days, weeks and years.  We continue to hold onto the hope that we will see him again one day and be reunited as a family.  We celebrate that his body is no longer in pain and his memory has been restored to God's perfect design for him.  We love you PawPaw and miss you already!

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word.- Psalms 119:114

Summer Break 2023: Week Four

The Bakewell Beach Trip continues to be one of our family's favorite weeks of the year.  With the yummy food, the fun entertainment and the time with family members, it is hard to beat!  We have found a routine over the years with specific nights going out to dinner and nights that we cook and eat at our beach house.  Here are some pictures from our week!

Check out the comparison pictures all the way back to 2013!  

 

We actually came in on Saturday at lunchtime before the Kennedys and Bakewells arrived.  We grabbed lunch at Ocean Isle Fish Company.  Both boys were excited to try shrimp, scallops and fish on this trip.  Maddox dove right in at the first meal by ordering shrimp for lunch!

The boys were able to get in the water before dinner on Saturday night (testing out the pool and beach).  After our pizza dinner, the moms went to grab all the groceries while the kids relaxed until bedtime.  

Sunday was a beach day prior to our dinner at Inlet View Restaurant.  We fit in a swim at the pool most days as well.  We love having a pool at our beach rental.

On Monday, we went to play miniature golf with Grandpa.  We are loving this yearly tradition and this year Mommy beat all the boys! :)  You will see the scorecard included for proof.  I kept saying I'm outnumbered but I'm not outmatched! ;)  (I may not be including the other two scorecards since I didn't win those rounds ;)).  Putt-putt was a great activity for our crew on two different days on this trip because both boys developed a rash from the ocean that kept getting worse when exposed to water (i.e. the beach and the pool).  We have no idea what was causing the rash but we tried to balance out the amount of time in and out of the water throughout the whole week.  We also used pain meds and allergy medicine to make the symptoms more bearable.  

In another attempt to stay out of the water, we took a walk from our house to the pier on Tuesday.  We enjoyed playing arcade games and grabbing a sweet treat!

On Wednesday, we went to dinner at Dockside.  I told Grandpa I was going to include this picture since it was humorous that he climbed on top of a moving staircase for this view.  We are thankful we didn't lose him over the side and have to videotape it for America's Funniest Videos. ;)

Also, we had our annual Sunset Slushies beachside thanks to Grammy and Grandpa.  The kids fed the birds with Daddy/Uncle Zack and Grammy took the kids on their annual nature walk on Thursday while the parents went for running dates. ;)

A new addition this year was two sets of bunk beds in the loft.  The boys tried them out for a few nights of the trip, and they might have a new "bedroom" assignment going forward! ;)

A few more comparison pictures.....

We had to come home unexpectedly a day early (which will be in my next post), but I think these boys had a wonderful week.  They are worn out from all the fun they had!

Until next year.... bye bye beach!