Beach Babes

Eeek long time, no blog. We went away for a glorious week at the beach with my family at Emerald Isle. I have to say, I think it was my favorite beach week ever. There was much rest and much food and it made my heart so joy-filled to see the boys enjoy the beach whole heartedly.
   Finley is a beach babe to the max. Give the boy some waves and some grains of sand and check back on him again in 10 hours, he's a happy camper.
    Cole loved the shells, throwing them in the water and the sand. He loved the water as it came in, hated it as it came out as he felt like he was being pulled backwards and would get a pinched look on his face and walked in slow motion. That never got old to see :o) He had his toddler moments throughout the week as he adjusted to new settings but whenever he got overstimulated I just stuck him in the Ergo front pack, we would just walk the beach together and he would sleep on my chest. And I loved that.
I'll let the rest of the 9890342 pictures do the talking...

                                               Cole was psyched about our new beach chairs.

Our car ride was AWESOME. 3 hours, no stops. First time Pat and I emerged from one of those with our sanity intact. Thank you ipad.

We snuck in a date night one night. Did I mention how much I loved having family members there to play with the boys?

When you see this face, you know he's up to no good.

4th of July morning Pops made the trek to Dunkin Doughnuts. We all loved the doughnuts, Cole loved stacking the coffee cups and creamers for an hour.

Fin and I made a red,white, and blue cake. He was so proud. We let Fin stay up for fireworks and he was a good sport until our next door neighbors started shooting off fireworks 5 feet from us and then homeboy was DONE. And by done, I mean he sprinted off towards the house with my mom trying to catch up so she could comfort him.

Uncle Will for a whole week to ourselves? Yes please. Fin enjoyed being his roomate, I don't know if I can say the same for Will as those 6 am wakeup calls came dang early :o)

On Thursday, a lot of family on my dads side came down to join us. We love hanging out with all of them, they're so fun. My cousin has a five year old girl Emily who Fin has a love affair with, and identical twin 3 year olds, one of which is my god daughter. The kids all had a blast together.

Sarah was the pide piper here.

Of course Nutella was involved in this beach vacay. Nicole and Rob brought it and one night they went back to their condo early b/c they weren't feeling well so we had to send this picture of us devouring their goods. Also, recipe for heaven=Ritz cracker, peanut butter,nutella. Amen.

Our front yard. Not too shabby.

The last two day there was a ridge of "cliffs" which the boys loved jumping off of. I may or may not have totally bit it standing on one when it collapsed, I can't rightly say.

Toesies in the water

Jumping waves with Nanny.

My little brown boy.

The men heading out into the waters.

He's grinning b/c he probably just killed a sand crab. He loved to hold them in his little hand like it was his friend until the poor victim wiggled no longer.

Digging to China

The twinsies. I'm an expert at telling them apart so I can say with certainty that Sydney's on the left, Ashley's on the right. Either that or Ashely's on the left and Sydneys on the right :o)

Last day at lunch, my dad made Papa Jack's famous hotdogs. It was loved by all.

Cole was a big fan.

Uncle Will eating so daintily.

My favorite thing was everyday we would put the boys down for naps and Pat and I would take a nap and we would all sleep for 2+ hours. Blisssssssss. The last day I let Fin nap with me in my big bed as a treat. We woke up nose to nose and he smiled so sleepily and cuddled into me. Sometimes I feel like I could burst with love for them.

Now we're settling into old routine of the boys not having everyone at their beck and call, I have to cook again, and Pat's back to work. Which is ok too because I love vacation, but I love my little nest as well. Laundry and all.