Beach Bums

Our beach days were pretty relaxed. Connor just wanted to sit in the sand and dig, fill a bucket, repeat. A fine way to spend hot summer days.

... hello Virginia Beach!

We arrived at our hotel around 5 and had every intention of getting a quick dinner, then heading to the beach in the morning. Connor had other plans, though. As soon as we got out to the boardwalk he headed straight for the ocean. To say he enjoyed his first shore experience is an understatement.

Goodbye North Carolina...

Sunday we said goodbye to our North Carolina family (cousin Laura, Aunt Fran, and Aunt Sandy, at left) after having a super fun morning at Hill Ridge Farms and delicious lunch hosted by Aunt Sandy at which Connor ate 3 pieces of watermelon and wanted more - he is definitely my son.

Working his way through the maze - such concentration!

In addition to the rides and other fun activities, they also have animals you can feed. This llama scared me big time and I think he knew it!

Hiking up to the Giant Mountain Slide

Children under 4 must slide with an adult, eh?Occasionally rules are meant to be broken, like when your 2 year old asks to do this crazy huge slide by himself - he loved it!

Climbing around in a fort - I don't know why I have my crazy face on

Connor told me to go into the teepee and that I wasn't allowed to leave. Hmmm... how should I take that?

I wonder where he'll be on this the next time we visit? For the record, their chart is a little off - he's easily over 36"!

And we're off to Virginia Beach! It was naptime and I wanted to take a pic of him with all of his animals, but he was none too happy about that. Luckily, the trip went by easily - perhaps helped by an after-nap stop at DQ.

Raleigh Days 1 & 2

We spent Friday morning at Marbles, a Children's Museum in downtown Raleigh that is easily the coolest children's museum we've been to. He loved it, of course, but wanted to stay longer and we made him leave in time to take a nap (darn parents!). True to form, his favorite things were the fake food (actually a play grocery store) which he did not want to share with the other kids (regardless of how great a kid he is, he is also 2!), and the outdoor garden where he could have watered plants all day. I guess I better do some more gardening next year.

On Saturday we had lunch at Uncle Chris & Aunt Fran's along with a whole bunch of relatives, but I forgot to take a photo! We had our hands full since Connor was ready to nap and the excitement was just beginning. Next time we need to plan more time to visit because it felt like we were rushing off all too soon.

North Carolina here we come!

This summer has been filled with lots of weekend trips, but this week we embarked on the grand-daddy of all road trips (at least in my mind). In fact, anything longer and I would completely veto it. But, Brian has family in North Carolina that we wanted to see, so we figured to attempt the journey again, even with a 2 year old who hates being strapped in a car seat. Crazy? Yes, maybe. But we also wanted him to be able to see the ocean, so we figured make a stop in NC, continue on the Virginia Beach, and then make our way home about 8 days later. Our first day we went the whole way to Raleigh, which meant a 12 hour day including the multiple stops we made on Connor's behalf. He was actually a total trooper and only complained a few times. Looking back now I realize I hardly took any pictures at all. I think I was too focused on survival!

Playing at a Children's Museum in Richmond (stop #3)

Crossing his legs like Daddy and avoiding getting back into the car - I didn't blame him

Late night arrival at our Raleigh hotel means permission to stay up late and play in the pool with Daddy! It also apparently means that I was no longer capable of taking an in focus photograph, but its cute nonetheless.

DelGrosso's Amusement Park

We continued the family weekend with a trip to DelGrosso's amusement part with Aunt Stacy, Uncle Beej, & Livvy. First stop, waterpark (or as Connor calls it, the "park pool"), followed by some amusement park rides. Unfortunately nothing opens until 11 and Connor is ready for a nap by 12:30, so we had a pretty tired/cranky boy for parts of the trip, but it was still worth it.

Getting ready to ride the helicopter together. Although Livvy looks a little unsure, no one was as nervous as us parents!

Way up in the sky! They both did great.

Carousel with Mommy

S'mores

After a great dinner with Aunt Stacy, Uncle Beej, and cousin Livvy tonight, we capped it off with making some s'mores - Connor's first ever! He much preferred the chocolate and marshmallows directly out of the package, though.

And of course some more hammock time, although this pic may look familiar...

One year ago, in the same spot...

Summertime = Hammock time

I may have mentioned this at some point before, but we have a hammock in the backyard that has made quite a journey. I bought it from a man in Honduras when I was volunteering there in an extremely rural village near the border with El Salvador. He showed up at the clinic with several of these massive hammocks he made and I had to have one. It was before the crazy luggage restrictions and charges (ahhh... the good old days) and took up an entire suitcase to get it home. But, it made it and is a great place to relax (although I've almost forgotten about those days) as well as some terrific toddler entertainment (which came in handy while grilling our dinner tonight). Hope you're all enjoying the beautiful summer days!