Sunset Beach Photo Day

While at the beach I dragged the family out to the beach one evening for a photo shoot. My brother, Nana, Sid, the kids and I got all dressed up in our blue, white, or khaki and practiced our best smiles. It was so windy that the water was blowing off of the ocean...nevermind the sand. Our photographer was coming in from Myrtle Beach where the winds were calm. She couldn't believe our weather just a few miles north. She had never shot in winds like we were experiencing and offered to do a re-shoot, but we were all dressed and ready to go- so we did it. We didn't get any wonderful family shots, but there are still some great photos.

Happy 3rd Birthday Grace!

What a big day Grace had for her 3rd birthday. She awoke to the song of "Happy Birthday" and cinnamon rolls. She had been asking me every morning last week if that day was her birthday, so she could hardly contain herself when she came downstairs to a special sign and lots of balloons. She got a candle in her cinnamon roll and wore her tiara all morning. We then went to Crabtree Mall for her party. We had pizza, salad, breadsticks, cake and lots of sugary drinks. We played "Life Is a Highway" by Rascal Flatts over and over again, and made sure the birthday girl received extra attention- which of course was a challenge b/c the bday girl had already been borderline smothered in attention the entire weekend by all of the family who had made the trip to celebrate with her. We then took the party to Build-A-Bear in the mall where the kids each chose an animal to create. They had a blast. Finally, after the parents could take no more, it was time to go home and open gifts. Grace received some wonderfully thoughtful gifts and most everything was mother approved. Sid and I got her a bicycle with training wheels. We thought it was going to take her a couple of days to get the hang of it, but no- it took about 10 minutes. She is now a professional and Sid is training her for the Tour de France. We are blessed to have such a precious daughter...and as the mama I can say it is so bittersweet to watch her grow.The night before my mom and I spent 5 hours creating a Lightning McQueen birthday cake for the princess. Pretty darn good if I say so myself. I couldn't have done it without my Mom. She did the hard stuff.Princess Grace blows out her first candle for the day. Grandma, Nana, Aunt L, and Uncle Will store up on energy for the day. Later, they were glad they did.
The party animals- literally. Spencer, Grace, Hayden, Miss Betsy, CJ, and Isaac.

Daddy with the babies. Only one of them is ours. Just an FYI.
And like her father, Gracie can put down some icing.
Grace blows out her candles...and then wants to eat them. Seriously.
My cutie pie.
My other cutie pie.

The party-goers cooperatively stand to have their picture taken.
Again, cooperating.
Isaac and Grandma. Isaac spent a good part of day scoping out other babies. He did not want to be held.
CJ attacking the photographer.

Cruisin' on her new wheels. Fortunately the bike doesn't have a banana seat, so she won't be pickin' up her 9 yr-old crush up the street.

Isaac's Dedication

Phew! What a busy and joyous weekend! Grandma Rossan and Uncle Will flew in to celebrate Isaac's Dedication to Christ on Saturday, the 12th and Grace's 3rd birthday on Sunday the 13th. Nana and Aunt L drove up from Albemarle to celebrate as well. We all had a wonderful time together sharing these very special occasions. Isaac was so good for his dedication. He even let our pastor, Jeff, hold him during the ceremony. Grace loved being on stage and all of the extra attention. It meant so much to have our family there as well as lots of friends. How blessed we are to have our precious baby Isaac and we continue to pray that he will grow to know and love our Lord. Pastor Jeff holding Isaac during the ceremony.

Grandma with the grand-babies.
The Mitchener brothers with the rugrats.
Our little family.
Me and my babies.
Family photo. Sorry Will. There was only one other option and your mom's eyes were closed and Grace was hiding her face in Sid's chest.

4th of JULY!

Happy Independence Day! We spent the 4th at the beach. Thank goodness for Uncle Ben who went out and bought some fun fireworks and sparklers to celebrate the occasion. Grace had a blast. Isaac did too, though he wasn't so sure what was going on most of the time.This is my most favorite picture of all. Isaac and Uncle Ben are really connecting on the importance of fireworks. Uncle Ben in action.Don't they all look so festive in their red, white, and blue?
We all just sat back and watched the show.

Grace is helping by holding Isaac. Uh-huh.
Nana and Grace do a sparkler dance.
Ben and Grace discuss the ins and outs of smoke bombs.

Sunset Beach

We just returned from the best vacation we've had since Grace was born. We spent a week at the beach with Nana and Uncle Ben. We rented a house on Sunset Beach and honestly, there is no beach like it and we have been to lots of beaches. Sunset Beach has these wonderful wade pools from the tide going out- as you can see from the photo below. So the kids play in these huge pools of water that only get about 2 1/2 feet deep, at the most. There are still fish and crabs to chase and none of the worry of big waves and currents. Grace and Isaac had a blast. Our house was just a block-if even that-from the beach so we kind of came and went as we pleased. Ben, of course, got severely sunburned on the first day. He also consistently hoped that the 16 year old girls vacationing with their parents were actually 25 year old grad students there to party. He took the disappointment well. Nana had a great time too. She and Grace shared a room and got to spend lots of time holding and playing with Isaac. Our good friends, Betsy, Paul, Hayden, and Evan came down on Wednesday. We had a blast with them too. This is a picture of the beach at low tide. You can see the wading pools.

The four of us down on the beach in the late afternoon- the best time of day to be at the beach.Uncle Ben and his weird beach towel.

Nana and Grace. This house had a hammock and we spent lots of time swinging.
Isaac was a force to be reckoned when it came to the beach. He loved the sand and the surf and wanted to be on the go as much as possible. He was adorable. People walking the beach would just stop and stare at him as he made his way from one group of sunbathers to the next. He also loved the boogie boards.
Hayden, Isaac, and Grace playing in a wade pool.
The girls leisurely hanging in the hammock.
BillaBong! here I come!

The girls playing in the sand and sharing???
The "guys." Evan, Paul, Sid, and Isaac. -right before we headed out for a boat ride on the InterCoastal Waterway.
Here, I am holding little Evan and the girls are enjoying the ride. Isaac is crawling around on the floor of the boat. He DID NOT want to be held.

Grace and Daddy having so much fun on the boat.

Here, Uncle Ben is working on his sunburn.
I love those thighs!
Me and my little guy having fun in the ocean.
Grace making sand pies.

Isaac eating sand pies.
How cute is that hat?

Nature Walk

Last Friday, June 27th, we walked down to the lake and onto the dock to feed the ducks. It ended up being a nature hike and the kids had a blast. The first thing we saw was this adorable little bunny. He was on high alert when he saw us, but didn't hop away...he just watched us closely and Grace was kind enough to not chase him all the way to kingdom come.
Nothing like Old Navy ballcaps!
Our small neighbor, the bunny rabbit. We also got to see ducks and geese, some enormous turtles, who were battling with the geese for bread, and fish. Grace was in Heaven and we played on the dock for 45 minutes.