Sand and Smiles

I've been craving a beach trip with my little family. Sometimes I forget that I'm a grownup and if I want to do something, I can find a way to make it happen. That being said, about 6 weeks ago. I let Max know we were going to the beach on March 28 and put it in our shared calendar which is similar (or so I thought) to setting it in stone. As the trip got closer, it turned out that that day was the only day that Max would be able to help his parents with a big move and my beach trip got pushed aside. We are excited for his parents and their big move but in the original plan we weren't sure when they would actually be moving. Anyway, we ended up having some plans fall through last weekend and discussed driving off to the beach all morning, Max and I decided that we would just do it. That's about as spontaneous as we get.

The drive took a little longer than normal due to a pretty bad accident ahead of us. but the boys were good and we we got there eventually.

My original plan was to take 1 year old photos of Miles on our beach trip, and I did take a lot of Miles photos, he just isn't quite 1 year old yet...

 

I love that he has a bonk on his head, and sand in his teeth but he is still so so happy.

Charlie loves the beach so much and we love that he has so much open space to run.  

He kept playing this frisbee game where he would throw the frisbee into the wind and then he would chase it for a long long time because the wind kept taking it.

And Miles kept eating sand which led to some great faces.

And sometimes he stands for awhile before sinking to his knees.

 It eventually got cold enough that we had to dress him like a marshmallow.

Airplanes.

 Swords

Charlie was running around writing the letter "C" in the sand and saying "C for Charlie! C for Charlie"

I was pretty impressed with this one.

I love how you can tell exactly what's happening in this photo.

and then little brother smashes the sand castle.

It was windy

And I checked to see if I could still do a cartwheel. Still got it and I'm feeling stronger than ever.

  

And here are some photos from Max's phone. He made this crab....


This kid is growing up really really fast. I'm so glad we took the time to have a family adventure together.


My heart is so full knowing that these gentlemen are my forever family.

After we were tired and cold, (and we didn't even think about touching the freezing ocean water) we decided to clean up and go out to dinner. We decided on Pig 'n Pancake, I wanted seafood but Max and Charlie wanted Pancakes. overruled...haha! 

Miles was full of great expressions. 

 

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Potty breaks before departing and I'm pretty sure this is my first bathroom mirror selfie. 

We enjoyed our meal and even got some extra pancakes for free! We then loaded up in the car and drove home. 

Forest in the Springtime

I love spring and to celebrate the first day of spring this year we decided to go back to another one of our favorite places...Tryon Creek. Charlie loves to run through the forest and I love all the green and that I don't have to worry about being the "sharing police" that is inevitable at the children's museum or other play dates.

Our happy place!

He was practicing his expressions for me 

He took a break to get a pebble out of his shoe.

And then Charlie helped Miles walk...He'll be running through the forest in no time.  

And then we had to hike back up this big hill which was a lot harder with the stroller than I thought it would be. Charlie ran up it like a champ but then the next morning he told me his legs were sore.

And then we had a snack break!

And then Charlie realized that when he yelled out, his voice sounded pretty great in the forest. He would yell then laugh and laugh encouraging Miles to do the same thing. I'm sure all the forest goers enjoyed the screaming children.

Miles loved yelling too, and really doing anything that makes his big brother laugh.

Charlie was excited to find a couple of bird houses along the trail. It became a game and we were able to spot three!

And when his legs got tired he tried to climb in the stroller with Miles which backfired when Miles was constantly snatching Charlie's glasses.

And there you have it! Springtime is here and we are excited to have more and more adventures.