Da' Shore - Finale

Just some closing pics for you.
The wild horses were exceptional this year. There were a lot of them and they were very close! These two pics were in our yard! The stairs you see behind are the steps we take to the beach. You can see them in some other pictures.


Again, one of the blessings of our week at OBX is the time each family can have alone, if they want. Some really special memories come from these times.

Having the pool is a real advantage. It is relaxing to come back from the heat, wind, salt and sand and be able to enjoy the pool water.

Uncle Joel and Ana


Ben and his princess...


What can you say about an uncle like this but "Tankyou, Unkin Joel"!



The ladies decided to offer the girls a toenail painting session! Anna took DaniRae, Kelly took AnaGrace and Jill took Rachel. Look how intent the little ones are! It was quite humorous!



Don't know who is having the most fun!

No rest for the weary! Dr. Pah-pah had to do one of his patented "headbumper" tooth extractions! Dr. Uncle was close by to learn the finer points of this procedure - one that was not covered in dental school.



The result!

Dad and son. Is Miah towing his dad?

Ben and Joel enjoy the ocean kayacks.



And once in a while (?) this is the result...


Here we have the Right Reverend Daniel Renno practicing his baptism technique! Honestly, that is what he said as he almost drowned his wife!


This is our beach house. The dunes have grown since we first went there. There is actully a floor you can not see where the pool and garages are. We are blessed beyond words.

And this is the view from that top deck you see in the other picture. We are so thankful for our family and are truly honored that they actually want to spend time together.

We are blessed beyond measure.


A final goodbye from the newest beach girl.

Da' Shore - 3

OK. Were up to the "older" two grandchildren - DaniRae and Jeremiah. The only beach they actually remember is OBX for Miah was only 3 when we first took him and Dani was 16 months old. So this is "Pah-Pah's beach house" (I could only wish!!!)


Dani Rae looking quite the beach girl.


And Miah pausing for a soda before getting back into the pool.


This was soooome sand castle. Uncle Ben and Pah-pah gave their assistance. Uncle Ben felt the king needed some anti aircraft turrets. You can see them on the front wall and next to the high tower. Pah-pah designed an airport, complete with and F-15 "Sandshark" fighter. Oh, and a zip line with an escape capsule for the king was directly linked to the airstrip. Note the seagull feather flag, too!


DaniRae enjoyed the raft we got her. The boogie boards are a year or two away.

Miah, on the other hand, took to the ocean like crazy this year. He was out with Uncle Joel, Uncle Ben and Daddy and rode the boogie board really well. His "fear" of the ocean and waves is gone and now he really likes the water.


Eat your heart out David Hasselhoff!!


DaniRae enjoying some deeper water in the safe arms of her Daddy.




Each year, Dani and Grandma find some alone time to look for shells. They will walk down the beach, sometimes for an hour! It is special time for both of them.

The isolation of the 4 wheel drive area along with the freedom of each family to do its own thing creates special moments all through the week for all of us. We enjoy the fun and fellowship of being together but then there are those sweet moments like this one....

Da' Shore - 2

Moving on to the next age group, here are the inseparable cousins - AnaGrace on the left and Rachel on the right.


Beach shot of AnaGrace complete with sandy nose!


and Rachel posing..

This is as close to the ocean as either of them wanted to get! Notice, the chairs are barely in the wet sand!!


Most of their time was spent in their own "portable ocean" which the daddies and the uncle faithfully filled with ocean water each day at the beach.


C'mon - ya' just gotta smile at that face!!!


Windblown look...

The two girls were pretty much inseparable for the whole week. We were very pleased that there were really no "crises" to speak of. They played sooooo well together. It was a really memorable week watching them relate. BFF???


Days did come to a close and bedtime did come around, much to the pleasure of the parents!! Now, just how much time do you think it took these two to go to sleep in the room, by themselves in the trundle beds? We peeked in a few times and it was "sleepover" stuff each night! Talking and laughing. What a blessing!!

Da' Shore!

Once again we were blessed with being able to have the entire family go with us to the OBX. We have rented the same house now for 5 years! Doesn't seem possible! We now total 13, but still fit in the house. We might be able to do it for maybe another 3??

We have hundreds of pics between the four families but I won't bore you with all of them. I will "launch" a couple of blogs and try to use Jill's little trick to make you think I am furiously blogging every couple of days!

First, our newest Beach Babe!! Naomi Kelly Hamilton!


Several "firsts" occurred this year. I will pull that thread as we go through the "summer blogs". This was Naomi's first solid meal. She loved it! Yep, she's a Hamilton!!!


Mommy and her baby...(with Aunt Kelly providing the smiles)


Daddy and his little girl, now in the minority 3 to1.


She looks good "beachin' it"!!


This was an incredibly touching few moments I got with Naomi as she slept in my arms by the pool.

It's Been a While!

It's Labor Day already! Last blog was June and now its September. Guess I'm more of a quarterly blogger.
Marlene and I are enjoying a VERY quiet day and I thought I might just get out some pics of our summer for y'all.
We'll begin with this blog of our enjoyable 4th of July with Ben, Jill, Rachel and Naomi. We had the privilege of having GREAT parking (thank you Scott) and great seats (thank you Ben) for the fireworks.


This is the view Ben took us to looking across the Tidal Basin. We were close to the FDR memorial which I had never seen. That was a great experience and probably the nicest of the "other" memorials (not including, like, Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington).


Pretty cool shot as nightfall came. Next time, I'll have my tripod! There is a little shake in some of these.

The rest are pretty obvious. Enjoy!

The Third Doctor Hamilton

We were blessed the weekend of the 9th with the opportunity to attend the second doctoral graduation for our family! Ben's was two summers ago in Florida where he received his D.Ed. We were honored to have him invite us to Nova University outside of Fort Lauderdale for that event. Now, his brother has once again copied him (a standing joke) and obtained his doctorate, a D.D.S. The Bennetts were able to go up to which was a BIG help since we also had to pack Joel and Anna'a house. Graduation was Saturday and the move was after church on Sunday.

I have no idea what was so funny for all of these graduates. They do seem to be looking at ME, though!



The face of a woman ready to leave Buffalo!!!!
This one is titled "I have a tee time on Monday at 9AM. You're have a patient. Enjoy!"





Joel and Anna's house. The Lord so richly blessed us with this little house in SO many ways! He is ever faithful!!


Ready to take the bull by the horns! Oh, sorry. Ready to take the buffalo by the horns. (Just doesn't sound the same!)

Joel, you just graduated dental school! How does that feel?




Joel, you now get to work with your father! How does that feel?