Bald Head Island

WARNING: This is an extremely long post full of lots and lots of pictures!

Disclaimer: I know there a way more pictures of A2 than anyone else. The reason for that is because she hung out with me the most. And I'm the one usually taking all the pictures, unless I specifically ask someone to takes a picture of me. We had a very busy but fun weekend.

I love this picture of my Sassy girl! She has been taking her bear, Alice everywhere she goes. Poor Alice got lugged around a lot in the last week. We had quite the caravan getting to the island. Mom and I left first around 9am. We took the girls, 5 bins, 4 coolers, 3 suitcases, and 4 carry-ons in my van. Dad, Lettie, G'ma Clem and Aunt Linda were about an hour behind us. Then Cheeto and the boys left after school got out and arrived to the island about 7:30pm.

Sassy awaiting her ferry ride.
Watching birds on the water.

The only way on and off the island

Gorgeous beaches!

All of the roads were like driving through tree tunnels. It made it less hot for sure.

I did not ask Sassy to sit on the steps and pose like this. She was so grateful to be to the house after 4 hours in the car, 1 hour waiting for the ferry, 30 minutes on the ferry, and about another hour waiting for our luggage, loading it on the tram, riding the tram to the house and then unloading the stuff. It was a long trek for the girls.

No cars are allowed on the island. The only around the island is on golf carts.

The kids loved not having to have car seats!

While we were waiting for our boys to arrive, we went to the beach for a little bit. I left early to go get the boys, while the little girls played with Dampa and Tia on the beach.

She looks so tiny compared to the vastness of the Atlantic ocean.

Bridal Luncheon

Sassy got quite attached to "Grammy" Clem.

She was so ready for the day to be over.

Rehearsal

Goofing off as usual... at least with those three!

Pretty girls
These are some fun dresses I made for the girls specifically for this day. I like when they can match. I absolutely loved how they turned out. SO SO Fun and darling! And best of all....
SUPER EASY to make!

Daddy's little girls

Chatting with their Tio Marcos

We decided to make the rehearsal dinner a little fun. I put together pictures of H and M with their Panthers and State stuff. Then had vases of water filled with glass rocks in the appropriate colors of course, then glittered with color coordinating rose pedals. I had to hand paint the Panther blue and black rose pedals.

What a ridiculous picture of me.

I made almost 200 brownies and froze them before we left. Mom got some strawberries fresh from Rudd Farms here in the 'boro. This is one of Cheeto's all time favorite desserts. We had to make them individual which was so much fun. I love creating and making them look pretty.

SO TIRED! It was a long day!

A1 was all ready to do it until she walked around the corner and saw all the people. I wasn't asked asked to do anything in the wedding so I ended up having to walk the girls down the isle. A1 still wouldn't drop pedals but A2 was! She would grab a handful, drop them and GIGGLE quite loud too. It gave everyone a chuckle. She did it the entire way to our seats.
After a lot of adjusting and creating, I was pleased with how their dresses turned out.

K took his ring bearer calling very seriously.
He even wore his official "badge" during the wedding.

This is how she entertained herself through the wedding.

Ring bearers
Family Picture
Thanks Carolyn for taking this for us!

I know I'm biased but Cheeto and I have some pretty darn adorable children!
This picture is great. You can see me taking C out for discipline issues. We sat out in the hot sun for quite awhile in a time out. C was hot, tired, and HUNGRY and simply had a major break down. At that point he was SO OVER the wedding stuff.

Sassy's hair turned out so cute. It had been a long time since I had laced the ribbon through her braids. She wasn't sure I knew what I was doing. :) Shen needs a little faith in her mother.

K playing with a camera. I really didn't want my picture taken. I had a headache, my side hurt, and I was exhausted. I was doing this to totally bug K!

I love this picture...

She was so excited to get to the beach

Was not a fan of the water....

There is me again... taking a self-portrait just to document I was on this trip.

She barely touched the water. Her at A2 shoveled sand almost the entire time.

A2 and Dampa shoveling more sand into their bucket.

That smile says it all... what a handsome little man. He had a pretty rough day up until this point. He was hating the wedding events and was taking it out by pitching a fit. The beach made up for putting him through a hot long morning.

My sweet Sassy girl!

OUCH.... salt in the eyes and mouth. Nasty stuff!

Didn't stop K though... one tough little guy. He loves the beach... well, the waves that is.

Still digging in the sand....

He hates that I'm always making him "smile" for pictures.

I'm pretty sure I drive him crazy 98% of the time.

Still content.... even though sister moved on to wading her feet... and only her feet in the water.

Cheeser!


getting her feet wet....

She got a little too brave. I was so glad daddy followed her.

It didn't take much for her to go down.

Her face after tasting the nasty salt water.

She was fine now.

K showing off at the evening BBQ.

After the wedding, they had a BBQ for all the remaining quests. It started at 7pm. By 7:40, C was begging us to take him back to the house so he could go to bed. He said, "Mom, why are you doing this to us? I think you're crazy keeping us up late so many nights in a row!"

All my kids were just sitting there like this when I wanted to take the picture. It didn't turn out right the first time so I had to force them to stay like that a little while longer.
What a cute moment!

We saw lots of wildlife on the island. A deer (up close), a fox, lots of lizards, a snake, a jellyfish, crabs, and dolphins. The boys loved exploring the island.

Almost.

A2 was SO EXHAUSTED. Sunday morning before we boarded the tram.

We stopped on our Sunday morning drive to take a picture of us and the light house. I would have been so upset that I missed taking a picture of it because we were so busy with the wedding. It truly was a busy crazy weekend.

Bald Head Light House

"Marsh Madness"
the house we stayed in and ALL the junk we had to haul with us.

The room where the boys slept with the "big boys" (Adam and cousin, Joseph) - bunk beds.
Cheeto and I had the other bed room.


Entrance way. The kitchen, living area, deck, sunroom, and this one bedroom were upstairs.

NICE- huge kitchen area!


The back deck and living area at Marsh Madness.


Awesome wrap around porch.

The ferry ride home.

Sassy wanted to stand outside... well so she thought.
Cheeto said she really didn't like it out there once the boat started moving.

We have been meaning to stop by this sign every time we have been to Southport in the past year. Which has been more than once for sure! Not sure when we would be back I insisted we REALLY try stopping! We did and was also thankful besides his attitude he actually smiled for the picture.

She was literally trying to hold her eyes open with her finger.

That's how tired she was and how much she was fighting a nap!