Summer Vacation Part 1: North Carolina

It has been a CRAZY two weeks. We started our trip in NC visiting family.  We landed at RDU pretty late, got our rental car, and headed straight to Mt. Gould to hang out with family.  Sweet Clayton was a TROOPER (that's actually a huge understatement).  Luckily our family had everything set up for us so we were able to go straight to bed when we arrived (at 1 am) instead of having to unload and set up a crib, etc.  That was AMAZING!  The first night was ok... but the second night... that was ugly. 

Our 6 month old was trying to adjust to a new place, in a different time zone, while teething and with an unexplained cough (maybe he picked up a little something from the airplane???).  Poor baby would not sleep.  We tried for hours but eventually handed him over to family and went to get some sleep.  God bless my family!  Mike and I were going on about 3-4 hours of sleep from the night before and just couldn't handle our screaming baby any longer.  It was rough.  I cried. 

My family took shifts rocking him in the recliner in the living room and basically, that's how he slept all night!  I have new respect for those parents who go through this every night.  I'm incredibly grateful for how well our baby usually sleeps.  Given the fact that he didn't sleep or nap well, he was surprisingly happy during our stay at the river. 

We had a WONDERFUL time at Mt. Gould, as always.  I'm so happy Clayton got to meet most of his extended family.  Now, here's the story in pictures:

HOW ELSE DO YOU TUMMY TIME ON AN AIRPLANE? 

HIS HAT IS STILL A LITTLE BIG. 
BUT IT GETS THE JOB DONE. 

HAPPY TO BE WITH HIS JUJU!

RIVER SHENANIGANS... JET SKIING... SWIMMING... ETC

GOTTA PROTECT THOSE BABY BLUE EYES!

WE LOVE THIS PLACE. 

CLAYTON'S FIRST TIME IN THE CHOWAN RIVER! 

As usual, I was having too much fun to think about taking pictures!  I wish I would've gotten a picture with the whole family!  Maybe I will remember next year! 

After 2 nights at Mt. Gould, we headed to Topsail Beach for a few days.  It was HOT at the river but the ocean breeze at Topsail was AMAZING! 

AS SOON AS WE GOT TO TOPSAIL WE WENT
STRAIGHT TO THE OCEAN!

CLAYTON'S FIRST TIME AT THE OCEAN! 

TOES IN THE ATLANTIC!  

NOT SURE WHAT TO THINK JUST YET. 

WE WERE SOOO HAPPY TO BE HERE!  

GETTING SOME LOVE FROM PA!

JUST HAVING A LITTLE SNACK ON THE BEACH! 

WHAT YOU LOOKING AT MOM? 

OUR FRIENDS DACIA AND NATHAN CAME TO VISIT! 

HE LOVED THE SAND!  IT DIDN'T EVEN BOTHER
HIM THAT IT WAS ALL IN HIS MOUTH (AND EVERY
OTHER CREVICE ON HIS BODY).
HAPPY LITTLE BABY!  

THANKS FOR COMING TO VISIT GUYS! 
WE LOVED SEEING YOU! 

WE VISITED GRANDPA MADDEN ON HIS BOAT
IN WRIGHTSVILLE (AFTER STOPPING FOR
TROLLEY STOP HOT DOGS)! 
THIS IS MOM'S OLD COLLEGE STOMPING GROUNDS!
IT FELT KINDA GOOD TO BE BACK! 

IT WAS A LITTLE TOO WINDY FOR A CRUISE
BUT GRANDPA LET HIM PRETEND TO DRIVE. 

 We had absolutely perfect weather the whole time we were at the beach.  We had one stormy/overcast day but honestly, we loved it!  It was so refreshing!  

JUST A PERFECT SUNRISE! 
(PHOTO CREDIT TO DACIA... I WAS STILL SLEEPING)

AWESOME STORM IN THE DISTANCE! 

NOT A BAD PLACE TO TAKE A NAP! 

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL EVENING WALK
ON THE BEACH! 

NO WORDS TO DESCRIBE THIS BEAUTY!

WE STUMBLED ACROSS A TURTLE NEST EXCAVATION! 
THERE WERE A FEW EGGS THAT DIDN'T HATCH SO
THEY SHOWED THEM TO US BEFORE THEY MOVED THEM
TO ANOTHER NEST. 

THERE WERE 2 BABIES THAT HAD HATCHED BUT
COULDN'T MAKE THE CLIMB OUT...
THEY GOT RELEASED IN THE OCEAN THAT NIGHT! 

BEAUTIFUL CAROLINA SKY! 

COUNTING MY BLESSINGS IN THIS MOMENT! 

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE (THIS TIME, I WAS UP TO TAKE
THE PICTURE). 

We owe a HUGE thanks to Mike's Aunt Paula and her husband, John for letting us stay at their beautiful beach home!  My soul was so happy in this place!  It was likely the most restful part of our entire vacation.  Absolute perfection.  

We spent the last few nights of our time in NC at Pa and JuJu's house just relaxing, enjoying time with family, doing laundry and re-packing for week 2 of vacation.  

GOT LOTS OF FLOOR PLAYTIME

I LOVE WATCHING MY MOM WITH MY SON. 
IT'S A BEAUTIFUL THING. 

SWEET (WET) BABY KISSES

LAINEY IS THE BEST BABY ENTERTAINER EVER! 

THESE 2 HAD A GREAT TIME TOGETHER

SOMEBODY LOVES IT AT PA AND JUJU'S 

JUJU AND HER GRANDBABIES

THE WHOLE FAM! 
WE LOVE YOU GUYS AND MISS YOU SO MUCH ALREADY!
COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS UNTIL WE SEE YOU AGAIN! 

Well, that was our NC trip!  It was a whirlwind... it always is.  We had so much fun and even though it was a little difficult to bounce around from place to place with a 6 month old, I would do it again in a heartbeat.  After an AWESOME week in NC, we flew from RDU to Syracuse, NY for a week at the St. Lawrence River with Mike's family.  Separate blog on that trip coming soon!  Stay tuned!

34

Well, I am officially 34 years old (I've actually been 34 for a few weeks now but haven't had the time or motivation to blog about it until now).  And I feel pretty neutral about being 34.  I feel like I've done quite a bit in my 34 years on this earth.  But of course, there's still quite a bit I'd like to do.  A few years ago I made a list of 35 things I'd like to do before age 35.  It was a big list, with big adventurous activities because I had 3 years to get it all done.  Instead, I sit here on my 34th birthday, with one year left to accomplish that list, and I've only done 4!  Yikes!

To my defense, we've obviously been pretty busy over the past year.  But, there's a LOT on that list that I would still like to do!  So, I'm going to do my VERY best to tackle as many things as possible in this next year but I will likely have to modify a few things.

There are some things on the list that I've tried to do but I've been unsuccessful (for no fault of my own)... ex: we've applied for permits to hike Mt. Whitney for several years but never win the lottery.  That's really just an excuse I guess but still. 

I won't rewrite the whole 35 before 35 list on this blog... if you want to read it again, you can find it here.

If I can't get the list accomplished, I may turn it into a 40 before 40 list (I reserve the right to do that) OR I may just say: "I had a kid which pretty much trumps all the other things on that list."  We will see. 

So, here's what we've been up to lately...

CLAYTON IS TAKING NAPS IN HIS CRIB AGAIN!
YAY!  AND HE'S GETTING HIS LEGS UNDER HIM
(LOOK AT THAT BUTT UP IN THE AIR).

BUT SOMETIMES HE STILL NEEDS TO SNUGGLE
WITH MOMMY TO SLEEP. 

HE'S PUSHING UP ON HIS ARMS REALLY WELL! 

WE ARE TRYING TO SPEND SOME TIME OUTSIDE.

FIRST TIME IN THE POOL. 

2/3 OF MY SWEET BOYS.

EVENING TUMMY TIME BEFORE BATH/BED. 

We spent Clayton's first July 4th being kinda un-patriotic.  Oops.  We sat around the house ALL day waiting on some new appliances to be delivered (yay).  But, they didn't get delivered until 8 pm and we spent the rest of the night getting them all set up... getting the food back in the fridge, etc.  So, no fireworks for us.  Nothing even remotely patriotic other than we ate hotdogs for lunch (that's pretty American, right?)  I wish we could've been at the beach but there are so many people in town that it's just not enjoyable.  And I hated missing the fireworks (we could hear them from our house but couldn't see them).  Oh well, there's always next year I guess.  

We have a lot of excitement coming up... big travel plans coming up soon.  Stay tuned!
    

Mike's First Father's Day!!!

Before I jump to Father's Day... here's a quick little glimpse at what we've been up to lately: 

THE WEATHER IS PERFECT AND OUR DECK IS
SHADY... WE SPEND MOST AFTERNOONS
LOUNGING OUTSIDE THESE DAYS.  

SWEET BROTHERS.  

CLAYTON IS GRABBING AT EVERYTHING LATELY.
HE IS GOOD AT GRABBING A FIST FULL OF Z'S
FUR... BUT SWEET ZEPHYR JUST LICKS HIM. 

BEST FRIENDS???

Z SNEAKING IN SOME LICKS 

THESE ARE GOOD DAYS. 

"MY BIG BROTHER IS A GOLDEN RETRIEVER."
AND HIS BIG BELLY IS FULL OF MILK...
THIS PIC WAS TAKEN SHORTLY AFTER EATING. 

We attempted a beach playdate with our friend but weren't able to stay long (notice the storm clouds in the background???).

It was still nice to get the boys together, and for us mom's to get together too! 

This was the first time they got to interact with each other... we usually just go for walks and they can't even see each other. 

We had one really fussy day; still not really sure why.  He wouldn't nap anywhere, even in the swing which is his FAVORITE!  In the morning we went for a long walk in the stroller around the neighborhood and in the afternoon he just snuggled on the couch with mom.  

THAT'S SOME GOOD SLEEP!
AND IT WAS COLD IN THE HOUSE BECAUSE WE HAVE A PORTABLE
AIR CONDITIONER SO WE DON'T HAVE TO HAVE THE WINDOWS
OPEN DURING POLLEN SEASON!  

All week we've been trying to show Mike how much we love and appreciate him.  We've given him little gifts (his favorite m&m's, a beer can piggy bank, a slice of chocolate cake, etc) each day.  Saturday we gave him a mug with Clayton's foot prints and Sunday, we gave him this: 

A FRAMED PICTURE OF CLAYTON IN MIKE'S
SKI PATROL GEAR!  

Sunday morning after opening his present, we went to a little diner down the street called The Red Hut for a delicious, greasy breakfast.  Then, we headed out to Emerald Bay to hike to Eagle Lake.  

This was Clayton's first hike and he was a TROOPER!  He did so great!  

ONE HAPPY BABY.
THE PACK IS STILL A BIT BIG FOR HIM SO WE
STUFFED A TOWEL AROUND HIM AND
CALLED IT GOOD ENOUGH.  

THE WATERFALLS WERE RIPPIN'!  

THAT'S A LOT OF FAST MOVING, ICY COLD WATER. 

EAGLE LAKE! 

HE DIDN'T LAST LONG WITH HIS FEET IN THE
WATER.  IT'S COLD. 

THIS LITTLE TROOPER WAS STILL HAPPY AS CAN BE! 

SO GOOD TO BE BACK OUT IN NATURE! 

IT'S A LITTLE DARK BUT I LOVE THIS PICTURE.
MIKE IS SUCH A WONDERFUL FATHER.
I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE MEMORIES THESE
TWO WILL HAVE. 

DAD HAD TO LET HIM TOUCH THE WATER! 

EMERALD BAY IS IN THE BACKGROUND. 

HE'S STILL SO HAPPY! 

WE ALL HAD A GREAT TIME. 

After the hike we headed to Ale Worx for a FREE Father's Day beer for Dad!  Then home to shower and relax.  It was a great day!

Mike, 

You are the absolute best.  Period.  I can't thank you enough for everything you do.  You will be a wonderful role model for Clayton and I am so grateful for you!  We love you!