Our Summer

I already posted quite a few pictures on facebook of our little beach vacation we had this past weekend, but here's a couple more that I didn't add. The kids absolutely loved the water. Katie's favorite was jumping over each wave while holding our hands and building sand castles. The first day we spent on the beach, we got a bit burnt (even with loads of sunscreen), so the next day we didn't go out to the water until the sun was just setting. We ended up getting out there later than anticipated, and before we got there, Sophie fell asleep in the car. She slept in her stroller the whole 2 hours we were there. We were there until 10pm! There were so many other families out there so we felt safe. The hotel we stayed at was beautiful. Very historic and clean! The ride was a little over 5 hours each way, which wasn't as bad as we thought. Thank goodness of the dvd feature in the van, I don't know what we would've done with Sophie. I think we watched Barbie and the Nutcracker 5 times. Poor Katie was yelling, "I'm tired of Barbie!!". I didn't think I'd ever hear those words out of her mouth!

One of the best parts of the vacation was being able to spend time with just Katie. Since Sophie's been born, we haven't done anything really special with just Katie alone. Sure we go out running errands with just her, or Stu will take her to those home depot workshops...however, one special moment I wish I captured on camera was this....

Stu ended up taking Katie for a walk around the hotel while Sophie was napping. After about 30 minutes, I left my mom with Sophie and went around to look for them. Down from the balcony, I saw the two of them sitting at a table eating cheese and crackers, Katie having orange juice in a glass, Stu drinking beer, and both of them listening to the man playing the piano in the lobby. It was adorable. Katie just loved it. I know she felt special. Later that night, Stu and I planned on going to dinner by ourselves, but decided to take Katie with us. I'm so glad we did. It was such a memorable time, and the best part was that she was on her best behavior!

A little scared of the seagulls

Summer activities at home

She was proud of the little circles she made

Reading on the new beach towels grandma got them.

One thing I forgot to mention was, it was so great and relaxing not having the internet or talking on the phone for those days we were gone. I was surprised because I thought I'd be wanting to get online to check my sales, email, facebook. etc. But nope, I was fine without it and I was happy. However, once we got home, I had to check my emails and sales. I'm sure Stu would have loved to check on his orders, but he was a trooper without his computer.