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!