Back to reality after a great week at the beach...

We're a beach family for sure.  I love the beach because it can entertain the kids for hours at a time day after day.  We always have activities to do like bocce ball, flying kites, playing frisbee, catching fish and crabs, collecting shells, building sand castles, digging giant holes, and endless hours of boogie boarding.

We had a great week.  We had a constant flow of visitors.  The kids always had playmates whether it was other kids, cousins, or grandparents.

**Excuse the crappy, pixilated pictures here and there.  I took a few pictures with the photo option on the video camera.  I had no idea they would be so terrible.  Won't be using that ever again.**

Hunter has become quite the boogie boarder this year.  It's by far his favorite beach activity.  He's gotten to the point where he can catch his own waves.

My nephew and his girlfriend came over one day.  They brought their surf boards and I decided to give surfing a try.  Unfortunately, there is no photo or video evidence (I can't do everything!), but I got up on my second try!  It was fun!

She wasn't about to get to close :)

Lots of fish!

Hurricane Irene blowing by the coast.  We're so glad she stayed far enough away.

Peyton had some cake her birthday.

Pretty sure she liked it.

We practiced some cheerleading stunts in the pool.

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby Girl!

Today you are TWO.  You are the prettiest, spunkiest, funniest, feistiest little girl I know.  You are so independent with a mind of your own.  You're growing up even faster than Hunter did simply because you want to do everything he does so a lot of milestones are happening much earlier.

You adore your brother.  His name is the first word you say when you wake up.  If he is not around you are quick to realize and ask, "Where's Hunter?".  It's a requirement that you give him a hug and kiss before nap time and bed time.  You copy everything he does....hence the growing up so quickly.  I'm not sure what you're going to think of him going off to school four days a week.

After the six torturous weeks of swim lessons you have really come to love swimming.  You fell into the pool one day after swim lessons were done.  You did exactly what you learned and floated on your back.  It was such a proud moment for me and confirmed why we make you kids endure those lessons.  You are now jumping off the top step and swimming to your target (Mommy or Daddy) and then back to the step.

I'm pretty sure you will be some form of a tom boy.  You're a tough girl, that's for sure.  You can hold your own in a crowd of boys.  You have no interest in baby dolls yet.  You do enjoy dressing up and wearing jewelry and would love nothing more than to paint your entire face with makeup.  You like to have your toes painted like Mommy.

We had a quick photo shoot before we left for the beach.  You love the camera.  You are full of personality which is completely evident in these pictures.

You are so precious to us and we are enjoying every minute of watching you grow.

Love,
Mommy

The almost birthday girl.

This girl will be TWO in seven days!  How is that even possible?!

She gets to celebrate her birthday on vacation at the beach.  Lucky girl!

She cracks me up daily.  Bird bath?

Pool Time

I'm so thankful for our pool.  Heath and I both grew up with pools in our backyards so it was a no brainer for us.  The kids love it and it's the best non-structured summer activity out there.  We invite friends over and it's lunch time/nap time before you know it.

We had a pool day with our friends from Jacksonville.  We had so much fun that all four kids took a nap!  Hunter doesn't even nap anymore!

Silly jumps!

Who wants to jump and catch the ball?  ME!!!!

Surprise!

We had a little surprise birthday lunch at Dedi's office last week.

She was definitely surprised!

It will continue to be light posting until school starts (still 3 weeks to go!)  

We have our summer beach vacation yet to enjoy.

Hoping to get back into a routine here soon.

random phone pics

Sadly, I've barely used my camera lately.  Well, on my kids that is.  It's been really busy taking pictures of other people this last week.  I've taken a few camera phone pics though.

Our godson, Jack turned three and happened to be visiting us around his birthday.  His momma made an awesome dinosaur cake for him.

Heath has been busy turning our front room into my photography studio.  First on the list was to put four can lights in.  Those are now finished.  Next up is painting.

I got attacked by ants during a photo shoot the other night.  I guess it's only fair since I stuck my knee right into their home.  Ouch.  There's at least 75 bites.  No one told me this job was dangerous!

Peyton is really loving swimming.  I'll have to load some video.  

She's now jumping and swimming to us.

While we were over at the beach I had forgotten to pack socks for Hunter.  Socks are a requirement for sleeping.  We managed to find a pair of mens tube socks and he slept in them every night.

About Me

While building my new photography website I decided I needed a good 'head shot' of me for my About Me page.  If you've gone to the new website then you've seen this first picture.

One evening Heath and I went out and had a little photo shoot while location scouting.

I have to say that he did a really good job.  There are quite a few that I like.