Karen and Belinda took Henry, Bennett, Harper Grace and Carson Hope to the Brushy Creek park splash pad last week.  Here are some videos from the event.  See the photos here.

Henry's really getting a kick out of the baby pool in the backyard.  Maybe we'll go for the big pool next summer.  Or this one, there's still time!

The banter in the background is Car Talk.  Part of the weekend rituals, you know.

We celebrated the 4th of July on the 3rd (Happy Birthday, Lindsey!) because we were going to be driving home from Arkansas on the 4th.  But we all had a good time.  Homemade ice cream, burgers and of course fireworks.

What's that happening there?  Is that fireworks he's handing to the 20-month old?  You betcha!  Well, it was just the little poppers that you throw–mostly harmless.    Henry had a grand time stomping on them and making them pop.  He also thoroughly enjoyed the Hanlon family traditionals: Cuckoo's and jumping jacks.  Bennett on the other hand was unimpressed.

We arrived home the evening of the fourth in time for our neighborhood's fireworks display, which was really quite impressive.  Several dozen mortars and other assorted artillery, dozens of rockets, roman candles, noisemakers, really the works.  And that was just four houses on my street.  They really take their fireworks seriously in Texas.  And now Henry won't stop asking for fireworks.

Pictures from the 4th at the Paynes here.

Bocce, puzzles, classic board games, frisbee, and more.  Even Xbox and Wii.

The traditional Hanlon beachside activity in Carolina Beach is building sand castles.  This year was no exception.  Here is a sampling of this year's construction efforts.

The Main Wall.  The beach was a little washed out this year and there was a distinct tide line down the middle of the beach.  Thomas and Christopher took advantage of this to build the main wall of the compound.

The Southern Colonies.  For some reason unknown to me the south end of our camp always gets a bad rap.  So this year I constructed a large step pyramid to anchor the south this year.  Of course, Christopher was jealous and ran back to the North to construct his response...

The Northern Colonies.  Two shots of Chris's response to the Southern pyramid, and one of "Pablo-1," which was the first structure built this year.  Here it is in a little bit of disrepair, but it had already been standing for about 5 days.

The setting sun over the castles.

A few scenes of Carolina Beach...

Here's the Google Map for any who weren't there.

Many more pictures from CB '09 in the Image Gallery!

Henry just loves playing in the sand at the beach!

Henry had his first beach experiences this week at Carolina Beach, NC.  Carolina Beach is the regular Hanlon summer gathering spot at the "Just for Fun" house right on the beach.  He LOVES the sand!  He was a little apprehensive of the water at first, but it grew on him.  Some more pictures here.  More pictures and posts to follow shortly.