Vacation on the Outer Banks

We took our first official family trip to the beach with JD jr recently and had a wonderful time! JD's Nana and Paw-Paw came with us, and it was very nice to have them there as well. We shared a beach house on the Outer Banks in Kill Devil Hills, and we were less than 2 minutes from the ocean, which was great!

Before we left for our trip, JD jr told me every night before bed that he was going to look for a crab at the beach...literally EVERY night. Well the first day that we were there, JD Sr caught a crab and JD was thrilled. I was glad that he accomplished his goal.

JD wasn't too sure about the cold waves crashing into his legs initially, and he gripped his Daddy's hand very tightly to keep from losing his footing. He took long walks up and down the shore with JD Sr and collected a few shells along the way.

While we were there, we visited the Cape Hatteras lighthouse, and JD Sr ventured to the top. He has an extreme fear of heights, so I was quite impressed with his bravery. He managed to get a picture from the top of the lighthouse, as you can see, but rest assured that he was plastered to the wall when he took it. According to him, I probably would have been too!

We took JD to play putt-putt, of course, and he got his very first hole-in-one! He was SO proud of himself! We also went bowling, which was another first for JD, and he bowled a handful of strikes right from the start (with bumper lanes, of course).

JD Sr and Paw-Paw decided to give hang-gliding a try at Jockey's Ridge, and they really seemed to enjoy it...in spite of the blazing heat that they had to endure while standing atop the sand dunes between flights.

Oh, if you're wondering what JD jr is doing in the photo in which it appears that he is performing some sort of tribal rain dance, well perhaps he was! There was an outdoor shower at our beach house, and each evening when we returned from a day out on the Banks, he couldn't wait to get out of the car, strip down to his birthday suit, and well, dance around in the shower.

We had a great week, and JD seemed to thoroughly enjoy his first visit to the ocean. He put in a full day each day and more or less passed out each night as soon as his head hit the pillow. The final picture is a perfect glimpse at how wiped out he was from all of the activity. We grown-ups slept just as soundly each night as well.

We look forward to our next vacation already!

Happy 4th of July!

We had a nice and relaxing 4th of July holiday. Since I was finally able to get out of the house for a while after having surgery, we started the day with a trip to the local putt-putt golf course. JD jr always has such a good time when we go, and this time was no different. After he finished all 18 holes, we took him inside to the arcade where he played skee-ball and a couple of other games and then got to pick out a couple of prizes with the tickets that he won (or I should say with the tickets that his Daddy helped him to win).

Later that day after lunch and naptime, we took JD to play at the McDonald's playground and then stopped to buy an assortment of fireworks to shoot in the backyard. As soon as we returned home, JD Sr went inside and returned with a lighter, and he and JD jr began launching one loud and smokey thing into the air after another.

Check out the picture in which both JD's are making a mad dash away from the sizzling rocket they had just ignited. By the way they ran in two different directions, you would have thought that they were working with TNT! Ha Ha!

JD jr was obviously delighted by the excitement of helping his daddy light the fireworks and then watching them explode overhead.

We hope you all had a great 4th of July as well, and we promise that no one, including animals, was injured in our backyard extravaganza!

Slip-n-Slide!

A few weeks ago now, JD's Nana came to stay with us while I recovered from my surgery (for those of you that may not have known, I had to have a cerclage, or stitch placed in my cervix, to prevent preterm labor like we encountered during my pregnancy with JD), and she bought a slip-n-slide for JD while she was here.

I think JD Sr was just as excited about the gift as he couldn't wait to try it out. I watched and took pictures from the deck in my pajamas since I couldn't do much else, and the two of them had a blast!

As you can see from the series of pictures, JD Sr would launch JD down the slip-n-slide at warp speed, and JD would reach the pool at the end in nano-seconds. Sometimes he would travel right through the pool of water and straight into the grass.

Later, JD's good friend Hank came to join in the fun. As if the slip-n-slide wasn't enough entertainment, JD Sr decided to bring out the slide to give the boys an extra boost at the beginning. Well, if THAT wasn't enough, he then requested a bottle of cooking oil to grease the slide! I was sure we were going to find the boys in the neighbors yard as they were sent into orbit covered in vegetable oil! Ha Ha

It was great fun, and a perfect excuse for me to get to come outside for a little while and enjoy some sunshine.

By the way, my surgery was almost a month ago now (I'm a little late in posting updates) and everything is going great! We will find out on August 1st if we're having a boy or a girl, as I will be 18 weeks along by then.