Three cousins and a birthday

Kassidy and Ezra in the morning. So sweet. Ezra became very attached to Kassidy (and to Ally) while she was here. I should be getting some pics of Ally soon.

Ezra and Jacob sleeping in. Aren't boys precious?

The treasure chest cake. In the background is a robot made from recyclables that Ez made. He filled his head (tin can) with rocks that he got while up at Tweetsie with Nana, Poppy, Kassidy and Jacob.

This summer, we've had the joy of a few of my nieces and nephew to come and stay with my mom and dad for a while. Ezra's had a blast being with Jacob, Kassidy and Ally. Now that there's a break between cousins, it's quiet around here (unless you count Ezra's lengthy stories and non-stop sound effects and humming!).

I don't have any pictures of Ezra's 5th birthday yet, our camera wasn't quite ready for pictures. Either the batteries ran out or the memory card was full, I wasn't paying attention (bad mom!). My parents have some pictures that I will post later. I do have a picture of his cake though. Jason helped with the design. He had the idea of making an extra cake so we could make the treasure chest look like it was half-buried in the sand. Yep, he watches Ace of Cakes with me occasionally.

I need an Ocracoke morning

That's the phrase I thought of yesterday as I was feeling a little weary and thought it would make a great tagline for an Outer Banks campaign.

But I really do need an Ocracoke morning, or two or a week's worth. It seems everyone I know has been enjoying vacations. I am keeping my eyes on two of my neighbors houses next week as they will be gone, and my other neighbor was away a few weeks ago. It doesn't look like we'll have a vacation this year, although my husband is talking about going to Mississippi to visit his dad. Not quite a vacation when you visit in-laws in MS. But, we'd make the best of it.

Ocracoke is my favorite O.B. location though. So quiet and calm. You have to take a ferry to get to it. Ride your bike all over the place and stay at the beach all day. Ahhhh.... My son made some contraption that I keep by my desk that reminds me of the ocean. He took an empty root beer plastic bottle and filled it with pea gravel and water. When you tip it over and back, it sounds like the ocean. It's my beach in a bottle!