Grandma Left Today

And our house suddenly feels a bit too empty and a lot less fun.  

Most of the time I do OK with my family living across the country.  Most of the time.  But at the end of a nice visit with family, I always remember why I miss living close to them.  I usually slump into a depressed puddle of spontaneous tears for at least a few days after dropping them off at the airport.  Today, while I was crying on the way home from dropping Mom at RDU, Kaden kept telling me to turn around, so we could go with her to her house.  I sure wish it was that easy, buddy.

We had a fun-filled ten days with Grandma.  Pretty much right after her arrival, we headed to Wilmington for a weekend at the beach.  Everett loved taste testing the sand and dumping it all over his legs and feet.  

Is there anything better than a baby at the beach, I ask you?

Grandma and Kaden found a kite at Target that turned out to be a stellar flyer.

And my little heart was pretty thrilled that Kaden ran straight into the water this time.  I've always wanted to raise beach bums.

We ate fresh seafood and explored the charming waterfront of downtown Wilmington, while Kaden insisted on chauffeuring Everett the entire time.

We hit up the aquarium.

And on the way back we stopped at the famous Britt's Doughnuts.  We bought a dozen (fried to perfection and dipped in a glaze that begged to be licked from sticky fingers when the treat was gone).  While we chowed down on our doughnuts in the car, we watched this sweet little gaggle of geese cross the street.

We stopped by the beach on Saturday night after dinner to take some quick shots of the boys, before the light was completely gone.

My mother in law is a treasure hunter of children's clothing, and I found this darling romper hanging in a stash she had in a closet.  Even though it barely fit, I knew I had to get a portrait of Everett in it at the beach. Thanks, Joy, for the darling outfit!

Everett was super tired, the sun was fading fast, and it was pretty amazing we got any shots with smiles before he completely fell apart.

This is how I will always remember Evers as a baby--he is such a thumb sucking fiend.

Windblown family snapshots:

 





We had such a great time in Wilmington.  The place we stayed seriously had the most amazing staff.  Everyone was SO friendly.  Kaden loved swimming in the pool, getting to have "cherry juice" with his breakfast each morning (cranberry juice mixed with apple juice and water), jumping on the beds, and guessing which elevator was going to arrive first each time we went up or down.  He also developed a love for showers.  Up until this trip, he would never take a shower, but our hotel room didn't have a bathtub.  We told him if he wanted to swim in the pool, and especially if he wanted to go to the beach, he would have to take a shower afterwards.  He ended up loving the shower so much, that he has taken a shower every night since we got back.  Our water bill will definitely act as a testament of his new found obsession, since he wants to stay in there for twenty to thirty minutes.

While mom was visiting, we also did lots of fun things in Raleigh.

Kaden finished filling his marble jar so, as promised, we took him to Monkey Joe's to get his bounce on.

Poor Everett was such a trooper.

We went to Pullen Park and rode the train, boats, and carousel.

There was Chick fil A.  Twice.  In ten days.  Kaden was a pretty happy camper.

We swam in the neighborhood pool and made new friends.

Chad and I went out on a date and bravely tried the first beets we've eaten since we were kids.  

We made lots of yummy dinners.  Kaden helped Grandma make some biscuits to go with the ribs we cooked on the grill one night:

And, of course, we had lots of time to just hangout and play.

Kade became semi-obsessed with Superman while Grandma was here.  He's seriously had these jammies since Everett was born, but when he got some new Superman underwear to go with them, it was like a spark ignited.

Here, he is showing us how strong he is, after eating his cucumbers and carrots:

Everett started to cruise like a crazy man while Grandma was here.  The baby gate has become our new best friend.

We love you, Mom!  We are so glad you came to visit us!

Please, come back soon!