Books (that I kind of wish I had never read)

You know those books that make you cringe while you read them, yet you REALLY just want to know the ending so you finish reading them anyways. And then at the end you think about all the time you wasted reading the book when you could have been improving your life somehow...
yeah, the following fall in that category.

 16. Casual Vacancy: I much prefer J.K Rowling as a children's author. I would rather be stuck in Hogwarts any day, than in Pagford. Its pretty much a soap opera set in a little English village. And it is a TERRIBLE place to live.

17. Gone Girl: No words. Just a reminder that we live in a fallen world. And what kind of ending was that?

Sorry if you loved these books. We are all entitled to our own opinions! haha!
Next on my list are eleanor and park and Wonder. Hopefully these will be better. But then I need to make sure I read some really happy books.

a wonderful week at Hilton Head

I don't even know where to begin when I think about the wonderful week we had away at the beach. So many memories that I will cherish forever. Even though we are all home together all summer, it was so refreshing to have a change of pace for a week and focus on fun and rest! (Can they really go hand in hand? ;) ) We usually spent the mornings at the beach then we would come back for naps and rest time (reading time for Will and I!). The afternoons we would go on a bike ride and then we did different things every evening!

Beach Fun

We most certainly have two beach bums for kids! The boys loved the water, the sand, the sun! Liam had no problems being sandy from head to toe, he didn't mind eating it either.
 He was the destructor of all kinds of sand castles as if he was the giant sitting on the castle and letting it squash to the ground.

When we would go to the water to wash off he would lay in the shallow water for ages and stare at the water coming in and out. Out deeper he was not afraid of a little wave coming up to him. He was a little fish in the water.

Each day Alex warmed up a little more to the water and the waves. Once he learned how to "swim" (tread water with his puddle jumper on) he enjoyed swimming back and forth to Will and I!

It took FOREVER to coax him into the water though because he loved to play in the sand.

Towards the end of the week he would run to the water from our spot on the sand to get water. Along the way he would get so distracted looking at other people and what they were doing. On the way back he would do the same, then have to take a minute to locate us again, then he would wave, and keep coming towards us.

The water was perfect for little kids. Lots of shallow, calm water that made it easy to play and float without being crushed by a wave. I had never seen so many sea creatures that were alive!

 On one beach walk, we saw about 4 starfish walking back to the water, crabs walking, sea snails, and we saw and felt numerous sand dollars with our feet in and out of the water!

 What fun! The one bad part of the beach was when I was stung by a jelly fish, but in the end I was thankful it was me that was stung and not one of the boys! 

By the end of the week Will and I were experts at setting up and taking down our canopy and cleaning up the toys! We were about 2 miles from the beach so we ended up driving every day because of all the stuff we had. 

Bike Rides

I had heard from people that Hilton Head was a great place to ride bikes, so we decided to rent some and a kiddie cart while we were there. I am so glad we did! Every day we spent time on the bikes.

 Most of the time we just went for rides around the plantation, but we did venture on a longer ride one time to a park and riding to Coligny Plaza for ice cream and treats was fun too!

On our bike rides we would see turtles and alligators swimming in the ponds and herons (I think, or maybe egrets...) standing on the edge of the water.

We would ride under huge trees and see the spanish moss hanging down. Alex's "whoopie" as we flew down a hill or Liam's "ahahahah" over the bumps were precious sounds letting us know that the boys loved it too. Liam even fell asleep on the rides a couple of times, his head resting against Alex's shoulder. It was so sweet. 

Evening Excursions

After our early dinners (Liam has to eat by 6 or he gets super fussy!) we enjoyed heading back out to do something fun. Tuesday it was walking along the marina and seeing fireworks at Shelter Cove.

 Wednesday we enjoyed a bike ride to the beach and then a nice walk down the beach.

 Thursday we went up the Harbourtown light house and enjoyed Greg Russell under the Liberty Oak Tree.

The boys loved being out and about and enjoyed all the new experiences.

Alex just came up to my lap and asked in a pitiful voice if we could go back to the beach and to our other home! :) It was the first time we had spent a whole week at the beach since before he was 1. I am so thankful for the wonderful memories we now have together.

Out of all of the beaches I have been too, Hilton Head is one of the top! I hope that we can go back again soon!

Vacation Reading

We just finished our vacation on the lovely island of Hilton Head and because we were trying to fit a lot in our small Fit, I opted to choose books that I could read on the IPad. Our library has a great downloadable selection through the 3M app and so I have been finding quite a few books on my list to download. It was also great to have a rainy start to our vacation because it has made for great reading weather! I had started The Cuckoo's Calling a couple days before we came here and stayed up way to late one night to finish; and I finished Reconstructing Amelia tonight (at home), but here is my vacation book list:

  11. The Cuckoo's Calling: I am a crime/mystery lover. Whether it is a book, a tv show, or movie, I love them all. Nancy Drew books were the ones that first got me reading. Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot shows hooked me for life! ;) So it was no trouble getting my nose stuck in this book! (or to the screen I guess). I was curious to see how J.K Rowling would be with other genres and she did not disappoint. I did not see that end coming and I can normally figure out the murderer before the end of the book. The language was kind of intense, but then again I kind of expected it, because it is a British novel.

  12. Year of Billy Miller: Reading this right after Cuckoo's Calling was a little strange. I don't think you can read two books more different, but I adored this book. I cannot wait to read it to my first graders next year and to Alex and Liam when they are older. I think they would connect to the character so well.  Billy Miller brought to mind some hilarious first grade boys I have taught over the last 6 years. Billy Miller is a bit what I imagine Alex to be like when he gets older.  I love the family dynamics in the book too. Fabulous story and written by Kevin Henkes, who I did not realize until now also wrote novels!

   13. The Language of Flowers: The story quickly drew me in, and I was thankful it ended well, or I would have been VERY unhappy! It was a fascinating story and I was quite relieved to know that my wedding flowers, tulips, mean declaration of love. :)

 14. When You Reach Me: This book had been sitting on my shelf for several years, so I am glad I finally got around to reading it. Though, I think I would eventually like to read this book again later. Its the kind of book that everything comes together in the last chapter or two so I feel like I may have missed some details, or rather, knowing the ending, some details would make a little more sense. I did enjoy it, and it makes me want to read Madeleine L'Engle's, A Wrinkle in Time, though I have tried in the past and never gotten too far. We shall see.

 15. Reconstructing Amelia: Is this really what high school is like these days?? I read it to the end because I wanted to know what happened to Amelia, but I wanted to put it down several times because I didn't really like it at the same time. It was an interesting read, but not one I would pick up again.


I read something this week about the argument of Young Adult Fiction vs. Adult (is that what you call it?) Fiction. Most of the authors and stories I love would probably fall into the YA side, but does there necessarily need to be a distinction? I'm pretty sure it is not because my reading level is stuck on that level ;) but sometimes I feel that the character's outlook on life tends to be quite different between the two. I don't feel like I can generalize the two genres, because they are really too broad, but I think when it comes down to it I like stories that are a little more wholesome... I really don't know. Thoughts? Opinions?

Books 9 and 10

   9. Navigating Early: I had checked this book out during the school year, but never got a change to read it. I found it again at the library and knew I needed to read it! I loved Moon over Manifest. Navigating Early didn't disappoint either. I loved following the characters and the adventure they embarked on, each for their own reasons. As they navigated through their adventure, they learned so much about themselves and each other. I really look forward to reading this one day with my boys!

I started And the Mountains Echoed but I just couldn't read it. I love Khaled Hosseini but his other books were so sad on so many levels and I didn't feel like putting myself through that! I get so involved in books. :) So that one is shelved until a later date! In the meantime I couldn't find anything else I was in the mood to read and we were out of town and things were a little busy.

  10. Stay Where You Are and Then Leave:  This book popped out at me on display at the library. I don't get a lot of time to browse bookshelves for myself, so usually I pick random ones that interest me on display. I have to admit, I often judge a book by its cover. ;) (on a side note, after I looked at the front cover I realized why this book stood out... Oliver Jeffers did the cover illustrations!) The story is set in WW1 and the main character is a 9 year old boy who discovers his father is in a hospital because he has shell shock. Once I got started I had trouble putting this book down. It was another interesting perspective of how war affects families.

I laugh a little that the last 4-5 books I have been reading have been reading have male protagonists. I was worried for a while that I didn't know what books to read when the boys got older because my shelves were lined with a lot more "girly" stories. I mean, I love Anne of Green Gables, but I don't think that would be the first reading choice of Alex or Liam. I do often contemplate what our first read aloud chapter books will be... I still have a little while to figure that out!