Part III: Family Portraits

These are my absolute favorite pictures from the week. We did a little photo shoot (Andy was the photographer) and got some really great ones.

The favorite family photo of all of us will have to stay a surprise since it will be Mom and Dad's Christmas card, but I can assure you it will not be this picture:

Proud Grandparents!!

We then did a wardrobe change so Claire and Samara could wear their matching outfits. Once again, we used bribes to keep a certain someone happy.



Matching hats made by Mimi!

Part II: Beach Time!

As much as I love the beach at sunrise, I took advantage of Claire sleeping a little later and I chose to sleep late most mornings (well, late for me at least). I did go for a couple early morning walks and it was so beautiful!

Claire had a bit of a "love/hate" relationship with the beach. She said she couldn't wait to play on the beach, but then we'd get out there and she was pretty apprehensive. She was scared of the waves and worried that they were going to get her toys. The first afternoon I am not even sure she would leave the steps. The next couple days, she loved playing in the sand but refused to get anywhere near the water.

Check out Samara's "cabana" - it looked so cozy I would have loved a nap in there! As you can see, Samara didn't mind her toes in the sand and Claire certainly was not afraid of getting sandy!

Mid-week we started using bribes to get Claire closer to the water. (I'm pretty sure the parenting books don't recommend using M&M's to convince your child to have fun.) Aunt Tara even built a sand dog and a sand cat!

While Claire was avoiding the ocean, we were all having fun in it! The water was perfect - clear, mostly calm, and not too cold. The Hulchers came over one day - Sam tried out the kayak and Andy attempted surfing.

At some point, we convinced Claire to go in the water with me holding her and letting the water touch her feet. You can see in these pictures that she is keeping on eye on those waves at all times. And then, with bribes and Uncle Andy playing around in the surf she finally let me carry her into the water! As soon as we got past the breakers, she said "now that the waves are gone we can swim!"

By Friday afternoon, she was having the time of her life. I couldn't believe she was the same child that wouldn't even get close to the water at the beginning of the week! Of course, she figured out how much fun it was just in time for vacation to be over :-(

Here she is playing in the surf - I literally had to hold her back with the strap on her life jacket or she would have just kept on going! Andy and Tara had to leave Friday afternoon so they didn't witness this. Here are the pictures for proof!

Topsail, Part I

Despite all our drama over a supposed roof leak, a last-minute house change, and a shady realty company, we had the most wonderful week in Topsail! The Sea Hawk was "just what the doctor ordered!" (he he, a little inside joke there) We really had a fabulous week with great weather, fun on the beach, and many new memories made!

I have SO MANY pictures to sort through so let's start off with some photos of us in our home-away-from-home...
This was baby Samara's first trip to the beach! We ALL loved spending so much time with her!

Claire was a great helper with her cousin...

Here is Papa and Claire looking for dolphins while Samara checks out the latest news in the world of sailing.

We had great weather all week, but on a couple days some really beautiful storms rolled through. We sat out on the deck one afternoon watching the storm pass over. We even saw a funnel cloud way out over the water.

Thursday night was "Appetizer Night" with the Hulchers. We enjoyed sitting out on the deck with our food and cocktails....appropriately seated either in the "adult section" or "kids table."

The house had a great gazebo connected to the porch, but no picnic table. Andy, our ever resourceful Eagle scout built us a table out of wood he found in the garage of the house!

Claire loved playing around the house and making a huge mess with all the toys (especially the little animals Mimi brought). She also loved playing in Mimi and Papa's big bed! (Sorry about the sand Mimi and Papa.)

Last, but not least her favorite thing about the house was probably this poster hanging in her bedroom! Every morning she couldn't wait to turn the light on to "see the tigers better" and roar at them!