C & his boys.

These are Caiden's boys. He asks for them pretty much daily since we moved. In fact, he requested that next time I have a baby in my belly that I name it Matty. While we were in Connecticut in July Caiden was soaking up his cousin time. Cowboys, ghetto Buzz, trips to the creamery, playing at Jen's house, and having Matty read him stories before his nap. Lake family: I think you need to come visit us/move to Atlanta asap mmmkay? 

Outer Banks [the pirate beach part].

As specified earlier there were two pirate parts of this vacation. The aforementioned pirate ship part and now the pirate treasure hunt on the beach part. There is something about a pirate treasure hunt along the ocean that just feels right, and puts all other treasure hunts to shame. The hour after the sun sets in the Outer Banks is magic. The lighting is perfect, the air is a little hazy, and the ocean looks so peaceful. This was my favorite night of our trip. Perfection. The three boys were very into it, Rilee was busy burying a beach chair, and Kaitlyn was making a break for the ocean.. but they all ran to the treasure candy when it was opened. Candy unites all.

Outer Banks [the piñata part].

This one is short and sweet. My parents are rad grandparents and brought a piñata down to OBX filled with candies for their grandbabies to whack and enjoy. The best part was when Matthew broke it open and Jen went pushing the kids out of the way to "get the good candy first." Love it. My sister is hilarious. There may or may not have been a strawberry laffy taffy fight that broke out between Jen and Nikki that may or may not have resulted in Matthew defending his mother's honor. It was funny and sweet all wrapped up in one.

Outer Banks [the pirate ship part].

This is what will now be known as "the pirate ship part" and yes ship needs to be specified because if you know my family at all, there was more than one pirate part. But more on that later. My Aunt Kristie found a place in the Outer Banks that dresses you up, paints your face, and takes you on a pirate ship to find treasure and battle other pirates with water canons. I mean seriously? How could we not do that?
Here were my discoveries:
1. Caiden loves to get his face painted.
2. he does not follow directions well.
3. even if things start slow and you're thinking you might want your money back they can turn out to be pretty fun, so give it 20 minutes to warm up.
4. you should never tell a 16 year old boy you don't care what he paints on you or you will end up with either a stabbed/bleeding teddy bear or a unicorn.
5. how cute is my grandma with her mermaid tattoo?