BEACH!!!

Last weekend, Alex and I decided our little family was in need of a vacation - a quick getaway to the beach was in order!  So, we packed up the car, drove down to lovely NC, and enjoyed a long weekend of relaxing and spending time together as a family.

This included lots of music and dancing (Hannah's favorite pastime lately), digging in the sand, playing in the waves, and sleeping in (it's amazing what the beach can do to tire out a 1.5 year old!).  It was a fantastic trip - we weren't ready to come home! - and I'm so glad we took the chance to get away.

Hannah was a little tentative about the beach at first - unsure about walking on the sand, nervous about the moving water - but by the end, she was charging off into the ocean all by herself (under close supervision of course).  Couldn't be more proud to be this fearless girl's mama.

Rocking that beach hair blowing in the wind

We tried to tempt her to walk on the sand by putting the seashells just out of her reach...good parenting trick or just plain mean? 

Her hesitations didn't last long - by the afternoon, she was digging in the wet sand and showing off that diaper butt.

She still wasn't sure about walking on the sand, but crawling through it worked for short distances.

"Hey!  A seashell!"

Love those sweet curls

Day 2: walking down to the ocean to hunt for FISH (which is what she's saying in the picture)

Getting the hang of her sand tools

Loving the ocean!

The beach hair gets even better when you add water

Making her first forays into the sand on my lap was just fine with me!

Trusting her Dada to take her out into the waves

This beach bum can't wait to go back!

Going on a "neigh" hunt...

One of our favorite things to do here in town is explore Colonial Williamsburg.  Even though Hannah is too young to appreciate the history, she is the perfect age to appreciate all of the animals - sheep, cows, oxen, and her favorite - horses!  We love it because although she doesn't say the name of the animals, she does make the noises - "baaa" and "mooo" and "neigh" (oxen usually get a "moo" too).

While my parents were in town, we took Hannah down to CW for a "neigh" hunt and we were not disappointed!  We found some taking a break from giving carriage rides, and lots of others pulling visitors around the Governor's Lawn.  It was a great way to wrap up a very fun visit!

The horses can completely capture her attention.

Gotta watch them all the way around the lawn!

And if you wait a few minutes, another pair is bound to come by!

Found a pair taking a break so we went over to show them some love

Lovely ladies :)

Our whole crew!

Blueberry picking!

We've have had lots of  super fun visitors in town this summer, which has also kept us quite busy!  When my parents (Nana and Bapa as they are known to Hannah) came to town, we went on several adventures, including blueberry picking!

I may have mentioned that Hannah is capable of eating her weight in blueberries, and the trip to the patch was no exception - she ate LOTS.  The blueberry patch is across the river from where we live, so we had to take the ferry to get there, which might have been as much fun as the picking itself!  See for yourself...

I love making this sweet girl laugh - my favorite tiny person :)

I think Nana and Bapa are pretty smitten with her too!

I know her Dada certainly is :)

"Wait...all of these bushes are filled with blueberries??  That is AWESOME!!!"

At first she was a little lazy, just eating the ones we picked and put in the basket for her to carry.

Then she started helping, carrying the basket to the pickers to deposit their haul.

"Hmm which one should I eat next?"

Eventually, we had to take the basket away because it got too heavy and she couldn't balance it.  I think she hoped the bushes would just start feeding her directly.

Thankfully, we had some great helpers along to show her the ropes!  Nana took her to the best bushes...

Bapa showed her where to hunt for the ripe berries...

Nana showed her what they looked like once you pick them... 

And Bapa helped with the mechanics of actually picking one off a bush - by the time we left, she was a pro!

Summer fun photo catch up

My calendar tells me it's August already, which means I have officially skipped almost an entire summer of blogging - whoops!  It's only because we've been having so much fun that I haven't taken time to load photos and write about them, which is not a bad problem to have :)

So without further ado, some of my favorite phone photos of the summer!  Consider these a representation of what we've been up to for the past few months...

Snacks in the backyard (clearly the beginning of summer before the mosquitos got too bad)

Water fun in the backyard - Hannah loves to be sprayed by the hose!

Visiting a nearby "living museum", complete with a kids garden and play area

Eating extra yummy snacks - nutellea, in this case

Watching the occasional afternoon movie - Frozen and Finding Nemo are her favs

Grabbing lunch on the go - Hannah even "paid" once!

Loving the ice cream at Chik-fil-A

Hanging with her puppy brother

Generally making a mess of herself at meal time

Lots of sweet summer smiles

Family time watching fireworks on the 4th of July

Hunting for "neighs" and "moos" and "baas" in CW

We even did this every now and then...hey, it's hard to be baby.

Eating her weight in blueberries

Helping Mom make cookies!

Taking some spaghetti to the face

So there you have it!  I've got a few more "catch up" posts to do, and by then, it will be fall and we will have a whole new season of memories to capture with this sweet girl.  I swear she gets more fun every day.  How did we get so blessed??

Happy Memorial Day!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend relaxing, taking a day off of work, and hosting a BBQ with friends!  But before I talk about that, let me say thank you to our veterans, active duty service men and women, and all of their families.  We especially want to remember all of the families of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice, giving their life in the service of our country.  We are truly grateful.

On Memorial Day, we opened up the grill, dusted off the cornhole boards, and laid out the lawn chairs for a bunch of friends to come over for a BBQ!  We (meaning Alex) provided the hamburgers and hotdogs, and everyone else brought sides and desserts to share.

It was a fun afternoon of catching up and Hannah had a great time making the rounds in her red, white, and blue lady bug dress, courtesy of Grandma Heacock!

I did my motherly duty and tried to get her to wear this super cute hat...

...but she wasn't having any of it.  I guess I'm lucky I even got a picture with it on.

Her favorite activities in the yard are picking flowers...

...and all things involving the beach ball.

We tried to introduce her to the art of cornhole.

Dad deserved a high-five for all of his hard work!

When her friends arrived, she was anxious to share her toys!

Sweet Eleanor was looking too cool for school in her shades.

Turns out the beach ball was a hit with Amelia too!

Even with so many friends to play with, Dad was able to squeeze in some snuggle time.