Emerald Isle, NC!!

We were offered a week at Emerald Isle, NC with my parents last week, and we jumped at the chance. Kate was certainly quite at home, livin' the life "on a cation" as she called it! Thanks Mom and Dad for the invite, we had a great time!

Headin' to the beach just across the street with Nana and Papou...

Lookin' all Hollywood on the beach!

Chasing the waves with Daddy...

Snack time!

Sand castles...

An evening on the boat...

Daddy took a turn at wakeboarding while we were out on my mom's friend's boat...

And did pretty darn good!

And we had no idea how Kate would take to the boat ride, but she *loved* it for the full two hours we were out on the water! She did great, hanging out at the front of the boat, checking out the fish, other boats around us, and when we stopped at a small island, she even helped find some tiny shark's teeth!

Family shot on the beach...please forgive Nana Fo...she doesn't know where the zoom button is on our camera!

Hanging with Daddy on the boogie board, catchin' some waves...

Jess's first attempt at wakeboarding was a big success compared to our first time trying it about 7 years ago!! This first stint was way short compared to his 2nd one, where he held on a good 90 seconds before he got tired and called it a day.

And here's a funny little game Jess and Kate played a lot this week, running away from the waves on the beach...her little squeals were so cute!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

It was about time we got Kate into her own big girl bed. Funny thing was, apparently, she was already telling people at school that she was in a big girl bed. No idea why, but she was in a crib until this month, doing just fine. Now, we're back to some whiny bedtimes and some midnight wake-up calls, but overall she's pretty excited about it.

First nap...

And day two...

Even sock monkey and Phante' get a turn at the fun new arrangement!

More adventures...

Our aquarium membership is almost up, so we thought we'd head down one more time to beat the heat last weekend. It's a little sad that we've used our membership and the last few times with Kate have been the most enjoyable visits yet. She's just at such a perfect age to really appreciate what she's seeing, to remember fun things from her visits (like the totally awesome froggy stamp on her hand that she gets every time she goes!), and to basically be our tour guide, instead of us forcing her along and telling her what's really cool.

Something else that's kept us busy lately is heading downtown for some O's games. They have a pretty cool play area for kids, and this slide is about the fastest, most dangerous slide we've seen! One of her first times down, she actually tumbled forward and landed on her face on the rubber ground at the bottom. She took it like a champ, but seriously, niiiice setup for hundreds of kids all summer, right!

Check out my thirsty lil' slugger with all those silly bandz... I guess we're already dealing with trends at age two...

A week later, Aunt Fopper and Uncle Tyler came down to the game with us. Kate hung tight the whole game, and even held out for a nice little walk around the Harbor afterwards. Thanks for the visit guys!

Catching up...July fun

Yes, I am becoming horrible at posting on our blog, I'm sorry! Several busy weeks have passed once again, and it's time I keep y'all up to date on what's been going on in our lives...

Here's some pics from a recent visit from Ev and the gang. Looks like he's having fun, yes?

But alas, he's having a blast!

And last week we finally got a much-needed vacation break from work, and were able to spend it with both sides of our family. Kate got to try out the new swing set/playground at MomMom and DadDad's which has everything, including this cute little picnic table, perfect for snack time!

Cheese faces!

This little pic is the aftermath of a "bump heads" incident on the ol' see-saw. Kate shook it off...Ev wasn't sure he was okay, but after a sour face, he was fine too. Yes, my daughter's a bit rough as a playmate...

And here's Kate's attempt at riding her first trike! They've got tons of bikes at school that they all putter around on outside, but this beast is a wee bit big for our lil' one right now. She's good if she goes straight, but then she turns the wheel and the one pedal goes a wee bit this-a-way, or that-a-way, just outta reach... Thanks DadDad for putting it together, we'll be sure to keep stretching her out so she can ride like crazy soon!

And all of a sudden our little girl is a a little FISH! Every time we're near a pool or the beach, she gets more and more comfortable with the water, and more and more brave about how far she'll go without help. We love it, but it sure is nerve-wracking!

Here's a little taste of our little swimming dare-devil. Clearly she can't swim "all by herself" like she thinks she can, and wants to, but jumping in to Daddy is how she "tests the waters." Just a disclaimer, our daughter is a much better at counting than she displays in this video! Trouble is, with counting shenanigans like this, we never truly know when to be ready to catch the poor girl!