ocean isle 2013 (part one)

Our family vacationed with Patrick's family earlier this month in North Carolina. We had a great time visiting with all the family (except for Anna :( who is studying abroad). The house was just off the beach. It was great.

This, being our first beach vacation with children, was a little different than any other time at the beach but we still enjoyed it.

Lydia was a little timid (or a lot timid) but by the end of our time she was jumping in the waves and digging in the sand like a champ! It helped if we distracted her from whatever she was afraid of. So in the sand when was screaming and wanting to be held we distracted her with digging or searching for sea shells. In the water we played ring around the rosie or dug holes in the sand (really close to the water) and hoped the tide would come in and she'd gradually get used to the water. Another tactic was collecting shells in a bucket while wading through the water. It was fun watching her overcome some fears!
Kesid is not so timid. She did great. I was a little worried that she wouldn't like the texture of the sand (she usually doesn't care for grass) but she didn't mind at all. She did try to eat the sand or a shell a few times but eventually figured out that it wasn't food.

It was especially sweet getting to share all our time with all the family. With everyone not living in the same town or even State (or soon country), these times are special!

Brace yourself... picture overload is about to happen!

I was really nervous about our 12 hour drive to the beach but the girls rocked it. They really did amazing! We had lots of toys and movies and snacks :).

 On our way out we stopped in TN for lunch at a beautiful park (Cove Lake State Park).

 We were thankful for this opportunity to get some fresh air and stretch our legs!

 After driving all those hours we pulled up right to the beach! I love this picture of Lydia's face. She was so excited to see the beach!!

 First thing the next morning...no wasting time...we got ready for the beach!

 And then came back and did some reading.

 Ahh pink lemonade!!

 Love her! Love him!

 Uncle John gave Sam a toy gun. He loved it!

 Shooting some birds.

Our family all shared a room. It had its hard times but also its perks (getting to see this sweet sleeping face!)

 Sweet girl cousins!

 An attempt at all 4 cousins.

 One of Kesid's favorite things right now is to hand you a book and say "buuuu, buuch"

 Beach time!

 What are we looking at??

 Just a double rainbow! (funniest youtube video right here)

 After getting the kids cleaned up we thought we'd take them to a park to let them play without getting all sandy... Then we got to the park and found that it was all sand! So much for being clean.

 Sweet girls with silly faces!

 Sweet chubby sandy baby hands!

 Kesid was cracking us up on the slides. NO FEAR! Head first!

 I mean, you take what you can get right?!

Alright...that was part one.