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.

Isaac can stand-up...now... and that's all he wants to do-

Isaac started the "official" crawl two weeks ago. Just a few days after that I went to get him after a nap and he was standing in his crib. Since then he spends most of his time chasing his sister and pulling-up on anything he can get his hands on. He has recently started standing unassisted and is now walking along objects, also know in the baby world as "cruising." I seriously need to go and buy him some shoes as his little toes are all scratched up. He turned seven months old last week and I truly cannot believe he is already doing all of these things. He is months ahead of his big sister and she was considered "advanced." So yes, I know I'm in for it.
He LOVES the slide best of all.
Big sister gets in on all of the fun.

He is standing here, unassisted. Little shit.

Nana's New House

Nana moved into her new house in Albemarle, NC last Saturday. She is now only 2 hours away! Yeah...we are so glad that she is back home in North Carolina. Sid was in Charlotte on Thursday so me and the kids drove down to Albemarle that afternoon. Sid drove to meet us on Friday and we all spent the weekend helping Nana get settled-kind of-not sure how much help we were. :-) We love Nana's house. It is beautiful and will be a wonderful place to visit. Her backyard is wonderful too. We also got to spend lots of time with Aunt L. She too is guilty of spoiling Grace and Isaac to the point of no return.
Isaac began to full-out crawl on Thursday. No stopping him now. Grace could crawl forward at 8 months. Isaac is a full 6 weeks ahead of her. I can only imagine when he will start walking if he is crawling at 6 1/2 months. Yeah.

Aunt L brought over this fun water toy. We would like to think we were also helping to water the grass...not just destroy it.
Isaac wasn't too sure about this one.
Nana has lots of baby gear at her house. Isaac felt right at home.

Nana's neighbors have a pool and let us use it while we visited. Isaac got to try-out his new floaty. He loved it.
Grace loves to have her picture taken. And I got my hair cut-off. Hasn't been this short since I was 12.
Grace and daddy playing in the pool. Actually, this is just a picture of Grace sucking down a ton of water. She is actually a great swimmer.
Though there is no sound, you'll have to trust me that this is Grace and daddy making silly noises.

Beating the Heat

Like the rest of the southeastern US we had 100+ degree heat for over a week. It was not so fun. We stayed inside a lot and while outside we tried to be in the baby pool or visited the "big pool" at the YMCA. Isaac spent the majority of these days naked and Grace we tried to keep in at least panties- but you just have to pick your battles with two year olds. Chillin'. Who needs an inground pool when you have a $10 KMart special? Our neighbor Elizabeth decided to break tradition and get in with her dress on. Why not?
Isaac has no choice on whether water is poured on or around him.
Ah yes- Naked and lovin' it! Plus he has one of his sister's new snakes- what could be better?
Apparently the new thing this year is snakes and mermaids. We picked up a package of snakes at Target for $3.99. Best purchase I have made this year. Grace spends hours with them. They are still creepy, though.
Great minds think alike! Nothing like little girls dressed in Patsy Aiken suits. :-) Grace and Elizabeth model for the camera. Grace was so excited that Elizabeth had a suit just like hers.

An evening with Elmo

Saturday evening Sid and Grace headed out to the RBC Center to see 'Elmo Live!' They both got all cleaned up and had a wonderful time. They sat in the front row and Grace got to high-5 all of the monsters. Sid said she was mesmirized. She ate a ton of popcorn and daddy spoiled her with an $8 balloon of Elmo's head.
Just a couple of shots of my little guy.