beach bums...

Aaaaaand another 2 months has gone by since my last post.  It's not my intention for this to be the pattern.  It just is what it is, you know?

As a matter of fact, I've had this post in mind for quite awhile and I've only just had an opportunity to go through my [thousands and thousands of] photos to choose some to post here.

I thought with the end of summer approaching, or at least the end of beach season, it would be neat to post some photos from some of our trips to the beach this season, including Natalie's first time at the beach and in the ocean (intracoastal waterway):

[these were taken in May, when Natalie was 10 weeks old --

her first trip to the beach]

[these were taken a month later in June, when she was 14 weeks old]

[these were taken at the end of June, when Natalie was 4 mos old --

isn't her bathing suit adorable??]

[these were taken at the end of July, when Natalie was 5 mos old --

she took her first boat ride AND got into the water for the first time!]

These are not the only times we went to the beach; they're just the times I took my camera along, so as you can see, we have been quite the beach bums this season, since I'm now able to stay home with my littles (praise the Lord!).  Deacon loves going to the beach and now playing/swimming in the water.  He's gotten very confident with his puddle jumper, and it's nice for mom & dad, too, knowing he will pop right back up to the top.  :)  

So long, summer!  We'll see you next year!  Bring on F A L L!

Mother's Day weekend...

I had such a good weekend with my boy last weekend for Mother's Day.  On Saturday, Jeff went golfing with some of his friends so Deacon and I went to play in the park up the road...

 

[it startled me how big/grown he looks in this one...]

 

And then we went up to a new strawberry farm (close to home!) to pick strawberries!

Deacon did really good finding strawberries to pick.  He liked carrying the bucket and he lasted for probably a good 20 min or so.  Everyone at the farm thought he was adorable and kept giving him these ginormous, outrageously shaped berries to eat.  He was loving that!

 

[instagram photo -- so in love with that app!]

 

When all was said and done, we picked almost 4 lbs of beautiful, yummy strawberries!

Saturday evening, my boys took me out to eat for dinner, my choice.  I chose Blue Water for the outside dining and yummy menu.  We don't eat there often because it's all the way down at Wrightsville Beach, but it was so pretty out, I thought it would be a nice night for it.  And it was.  :)

Deacon enjoyed seeing all the big boats on the water, listening to the seagulls, etc.  And he charmed anyone who would look at him, of course.  He's a show-stealer, that one. :: wink ::

 

[another instagram photo -- it's how I capture my life in real time]

On Sunday, we went to church, of course, and then went home for naps.  Around 4:30 or so, we decided to head to the beach -- our first official trip (with bathing suits and everything!) of the season.  It was absolutely perfect out there.  The water was a little chilly but the air temperature with the sunshine was so nice.  Even the wind was minimal which kept us comfortable.
 

 

[instagram again :)]

 

[here's another one that makes him look so grown... :: sniff ::]

I love being this precious boy's mama.

our beach baby...

On the first Saturday in June, we took Deacon to the beach.  It wasn't technically his first time at the beach (we had taken him the end of April -- still pretty cool -- just to see it), but it WAS his first time getting in the ocean.

We headed out pretty early -- around 8am -- to Topsail.  We only live about 3 mi from the beach so it doesn't take us long to get there and we know that once we hit warm weather, Saturdays are an absolutely RIDICULOUS day to try to get to the beach.

Unless you go early.

So we rounded up some towels and a couple of beach chairs, threw on our bathing suits and headed that way.  We didn't plan to be there long and didn't really know how Deacon would do so we didn't take any toys or things (like an umbrella, sunscreen, etc.) you might need for a "long-term" trip to the beach.

It was fairly warm and only a little bit breezy at that time of day on the beach but the water was COLD.  To me, anyway.  Jeff said it was okay and that it would be fine for Deacon.

Deacon didn't think so.

Maybe it was the rushing water but either way, he wasn't too keen on the whole thing.  He did a little bit better when he was sitting on Daddy's lap, rather than directly in the sand between Jeff's legs.  That lasted for about 15 min or so and then we got him dryed off.  We had him in a little swimmer diaper and just left him in that and his little t-shirt.  We sat out with Deacon on my lap for a little bit longer and then we headed back to the house.

That's the beauty of living so close to the beach.  :)