Mack's 2 birthday. He loves Elmo. This cake was tasty, but his head split in two. The rounds weren't evenly baked, and I didn't level them before icing, so where the icing didn't support the sides of the cake, his head split.
A sweet older lady at church has a wonderful pool she is terribly generous with. I was presumptuous enough to ask her if our little fam could enjoy it one Monday night. We had a great time. Here's Jake with a flipper the same size he is.
My cute O. I caught him floating like this, talking to himself, with his eyes closed. He opened them just as I snapped the picture. I could eat him up.
Mack likes to play around the pool more than be in it. The very last time we went to the pool this summer was the first time he happily allowed me to hold him in the water.
Look at that handsome boy. He is usually pretty busy at the pool... jumping in and out, in and out, in and out. It's exhausting. For me I mean.
This was our last day at the beach in Duck, NC. It was also McKay's birthday. We sang Happy Birthday to him, gave him some Sesame Street finger puppets, threw a couple doughnuts at him, and ran around cleaning the house we had rented before checkout. We then hit the road for a VERY long trip home.
Oakley LOVED the ocean. He was a real beach bum. He played in the surf for hours on end. Garen enjoyed the pool at the house better. As a matter of fact, Garen got down right hysterical the first day at the beach. The waves were pretty rough, and he was absolutely, positively sure that someone he loved was going to be swept away to sea. He is such a loving kid.
Cousin Elli taught Oakley how to swim. He was so proud of himself. I just wish he had picked it up a little earlier in the summer so he could have enjoyed it more.
Amazing, right?
This is Jacob and Luke at the Wright Brothers museum in Kitty Hawk, NC. We went there Sunday, the day after we arrived, and did some sight seeing.
This was the only time our whole fam was on the beach together. I don't love the picture either, but it's the only one I have of us all.
Jacob also enjoyed going to the pool more than the beach, but he couldn't resist a big hole that someone had left and had to climb in.
After rinsing Oakley off with an ice cold bottled water and stripping him of his suit, he lay there all clean and cozy, buck naked under the towel. ☺
Don't be fooled. That's Luke in the pic with Jared, O and Jake. The cousins did sooooo great together on this trip. There was very little bickering. HALLELUJAH!
See the foot prints back and forth on the sand? Yep. Those are his as he evades this photographer.
Poor Dad had pneumonia the whole trip. He was pretty miserable. He and Mom managed to go out for a quick jaunt to see some shops after this picture, but he didn't last long. Thankfully he is all better now.
We saw this crab, and Oakley loved it. He thought is was so cool. He kept talking to it in a little voice saying, "Well hello there, little crab." Then the water would rush up, and they both would scurry away, Oakley in fear that Mr. Crab would find his toes.
This is actually well before our trip, but the darn pictures are backwards. Look at that gleeful face. So our wonderful, amazing trip to the beach was a superb, farewell salute to summer. We played hard and relaxed well while enjoying time together as a family. It really was a little slice of heaven. Jared and I especially will treasure the memories we made with our little guys on this much needed vacation.
