The Rest of August

Last weekend, we went to the New River Gorge so Matt could run the "New River Gorge-ous Trail Run".  A free campsite was included in the registration.  In spite of flash flood warnings and loud partying all night long outside of our tent, Matt did great!  The kids loved cheering for their dad as he came to the finish line!

This weekend, we headed to DC.  Matt and I went to the temple in the morning while Carey watched our kids, and then Matt and Merrody went to the temple while I took the younger ones to the visitor's center.

Surprisingly, this is not the most sacrilegious thing that happened at the temple that day!

After the temple, we took the kids to the National Gallery of Art.  I told each kid I would take their picture with their favorite work of art.  The security guards warned me a bunch of times not to do it.  Oops!

Some people just don't appreciate good art!

The Beach

The Malone family took an awesome vacation to Sandbridge, Virginia last week.  We stayed in an awesome house right on the beach.  It was amazing!

All of Matt's siblings came, as well as his parents.

The kids spent so much time in the ocean and playing in the sand. They had a blast!

 

 

I made a sandcastle, too!  For Grandma's birthday.

The beach house was a great place for hanging out and relaxing.  The kids spent endless hours in the hot tub and eating snacks at the bar.

I could write a whole blog post about how much our girls love Carey's girls.  It was the highlight of the trip!

We went on a few outings during the week.  We went to Back Bay National Wildlife Reserve, the Virginia Beach boardwalk, and on a very fun and educational ride on a boat.

The food was incredible.  Every night, a different family was in charge of making dinner.  We had chicken korma, homemade Mexican, fresh crab cakes, bruschetta and chicken Caesar salad, etc.  One night, Molly and Erich made grilled veggies, fish, cheddar bay biscuits, etc, and set up the whole dinner down at the beach.  We ate and then Noel shared experiences from her mission (she got home last month).  Off in the distance, fireworks were going off over the water.  Pretty soon, the moon rose a bright red color.  It was pretty magical!

All in all, we had a fantastic time.