Hermit Island Part III

Sunday morning, a busy day ahead.  Playing at the beach, then goodbyes, a drive to Portland timed to coincide with nap time, an afternoon with Aunt Kitty, Uncle Randall, and cousin Ginny, then picking Alexe up at the airport at 11 pm!  (I did that by myself, the kids were sent to bed knowing that Mommy would be there in the morning.)

It's getting s bit repetitive, but he's so adorable!  Coming into his 3 year old attitude, but a doll 85% of the time.

And the little princess.  I love how secure she is in herself and her world, that she is free to let her body and mind explore whatever she encounters.  This is not a girl that worries about limitations. 

We packed the morning at the beach.

More sand castles.  The first day there was an epic battle of the competing sand castles, William and Natalie against me and the kids.  It devolved from constructing defenses against the incoming tide to sabotage.

Those two...


Auntie Caitlin set up a mini-shade village, where we unloaded crates of nuts and dried fruit, and rested and snacked between escapades.

The experience of being together this summer, constant companions with an unending series of adventures has made these two even closer.  They fight, struggle with the sharing concept, but for the most part they are awesome, actively love each other, and watch each other's backs.  It's getting to the point that one will tattle on the other, then feel so bad when punishment is being administered, that they argue the defense.  What do you do when a prisoner is released from time out early by the victim?


Anyway, they do almost everything together, and I love it.

We said our goodbyes, which were easy since we would be seeing everyone on the 4th, and headed to Portland.  An easy hour+ drive, timed so well that the kids closed their eyes as we pulled out, and opened them as we pulled into the Coughlin/Weil driveway.  Annaliese woke up and said with a smile, "that was a very short drive!"


The kids had a moment of shyness before running free with their cousin Ginny.  Aunt Kitty had their room, dining area, and play room all set up, and they acted like they had never left.  We had a lovely dinner, a relaxing evening of chatting and catching up, Uncle Randall and I poured over some fascinating military engineering handbooks and pamphlets he kept from his time in the service, (watch for some of these in frames, something I'll get to when we're back in MS, they are super cool,) and late in the evening I jetted off to pick Alexe up at the airport. 

And Alexe is here!!!