Outer Banks

For summer vacation we packed up and headed to the beach! Outer Banks, NC! We invited my parents and sister to come along and it made for a really fun week.

(I've put this post off a LONG time, so I'm more concerned about just getting the trip documented. 

There are a lot of pictures, and they are not in chronological order at all. )

 We made a stop at a large fruit stand to stock up on fresh watermelon and cantaloupe before we got to the beach house.

 Just chillin'

 Out for some grub with Oma and Poppy.

 Sleepy boy! This was the 4th of July and also Dallin turned 4 months old this day.

 At the 4x4 beach - this was probably my favorite day. We drove on the beach and saw wild horses,  kyacked in the ocean, ate a picnic and searched for shells.

 This was Charlotte on the drive home. She was very tired and cranky and we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.

 This is the sign of a good vacation - when you can't see the floor of the car anymore.

 Driving on the beach in the back of Poppy's truck

 We saw a lot of dolphins too!

 This lighthouse wasn't far from our beach house, the girls had a girl day just exploring the area.

 The best part of our trip was the private pool we had at our beach house!! I think we spent more time in the pool than on the beach....

 My three favorite men!

 S'mores anyone?

 It was so bizarre to me that wild horses would just roam around the beach. But they were beautiful and although wild, they seemed very accustomed to humans.

 THE HOT TUB!! Everyone's favorite spot.

 There was a whole lot of reading going on....

 And a whole lot of napping going on....

 And a whole lot of water fights going on.

It was so wonderful to spend this week just relaxing and enjoying one another. I think we all had a really great time and can't wait go again.

Swim Lessons

It has been so rewarding this summer to see my kids confidence blossom in the water.

Charlotte has never had too much fear of anything, she loved the diving board and the big slide. After three weeks she was swimming under the water and is very comfortable going anywhere in the pool with her floatie on. 

 Aliza also is a little mermaid in the water. As long as she is wearing her goggles, she swims pretty well under the water. And as long as she can reach to bottom she is comfortable to swim around anywhere. 

 Carmen improved by leaps and bounds this summer!! She went from just barely being willing to dip her head in the water to diving off the board and swimming all around like a fish with no help at all. She can even go after those dive sticks in the deep end!

 This is about all the swimming Dallin has done. He's gotten in the pool a few times, but doesn't really appreciate it yet. However, he does love to splash around in the tub!

A Diaper Graduate

Charlotte finally decided to jump on the potty train! I think we both were feeling really frustrated with each other over the whole situation, but she did catch on and is doing pretty well with it. She had picked out a My Little Pony toy months ago that would be her prize and motivation for potty training. She was so excited to finally get to open it! And I'm so excited to have only one in diapers again.

Aliza Kate

Aliza recently told us that we couldn't call her Aliza Lu anymore. She is to be called Aliza KATE! Although a little sad to let go of her cute little nickname, I loved seeing her determination and confidence. Although she may appear shy to many, she has quite the air of confidence about her. And although she is in the difficult whiny 5 year old stage, I just love everything about her. She always puts others feelings above her own.  And she is so creative, smart, playful and couldn't really care less what others think of her.

This day she proudly rode her "horse" up and down the sidewalk without a care in the world! Never mind that she looked like a bag lady...

Lunch Time

I've really felt recently that I needed to document more of the daily mundane things that we do, like lunch time. The particular day it was Spaghetti-Os for lunch!

Oh the joys!

No real events are documented here, just simple daily JOYS.

 

 The joy of spit up - great timing Dallin!

 The joy of ice cream cones from McDonald's!

 The joy of great lighting through the McDonald's windows.

 The joy of being silly!

 The joy of a nap when you are too tired to even take your froggy boots off, or find a more comfortable spot to sleep.

 The joy of sitting outside and waiting for Daddy to get home from work.

The joy of a sweet reminder of my days in Brazil. The best gift ever David has brought back from a business trip. 

 The joy of making cookies.

 The joy of seeing your son reach for toys for the first time.

 The joy of a swing at the park.

 The joy of climbing up the slide.

 The joy of being greeted by these bed hogs every morning.

 The joy of spending time with extended family.

 The joy of warm gooey s'mores.

The joy of holding a sleeping baby.

The joy of seeing beautiful hot air balloons at sun set.