High Five for Friday

Today I'm linking up with Lauren and Jennie to share some of my favorite stuff from the past week.

1)We took a day trip to the beach on Saturday and had so much fun together!

2) Sunday was just about as gorgeous as Saturday so I had some playtime outside with Grant. We went for a bike ride then played soccer & baseball.

Showing me where his home run was going :)

3) I love when packages from my sister come bearing bags of delightful coffee. I can't find get Green Mountain coffee in bags here so this is a treat but the golden french toast flavor is one of the few flavored coffees I'll drink. So yummy! If you're a coffee lover and have never had Green Mountain coffee...you're depriving yourself of greatness.

In one of my favorite mugs.

4) Grant wrote his name for the first time! He is a boy obsessed with practicing letters right now and last night he wrote Dad too :)

5) Today Grant will be participating in a trike-a-thon to benefit St. Jude at his school. We've been helping him fundraise for it and this morning I got to tell him that he met his goal - and since then exceeded it - of $200! He was so excited. I know he doesn't fully understand the concept of what they're doing, but he does know he's trying to help people and I'm so happy that that makes him happy. He's also super jazzed about getting ride his bike at school :)

Happy Friday!
Have a great weekend!

A Day at the Beach

Last weekend was gorgeous and Husband's aunt was still in town so we took a little day trip to the ocean. We talk about it a lot when ever she visits but never go. So the five of us (me, Husband, Grant, my mother-in-law, and Husband's aunt) packed into the truck and headed to the beach for the day. Grant could not have been more excited. 

For 2 1/2 hours (we drove a little further to a spot that is usually not too busy) Grant talked about he beach and even asked "Are we there yet?" a few times. Ever since our recent trips up to the mountains to see family, Grant has been obsessed with hotels. Once we got near the beach he happily pointed out every hotel he saw.

It turned out to be a good thing that there were so many of us...given what we packed. If you'd seen the back of the truck you would have thought we were camping out there. Perhaps because I brought a tent.

The medicine I take to keep my liver disrupting my life makes me sun burn super easy (as if I didn't do that already) so I bought a beach tent. And they made fun of me but it was awesome (and trust me, I was not the only one who ended up loving it)! It actually makes me want to go to the beach again to use it and I'm not such a beach person. 

So we got all set up and then...played. That's pretty much what you're supposed to do, eh?

Grant wanted to dig a big hole and make a mountain of sand

And then he wanted to jump on it.

Grant & Aunt Debbie fed the seagulls a couple times

Grant couldn't wait to play in the water! He loves to run up to the waves and run away like they're trying to catch him then stand there so the water could wash over his feet.

I know you can't see his face but you can still tell
how excited he is!

That was pretty much what we did all day. Play in the sand...play in the water...repeat. We had packed a lunch so we took a break from play time to eat (and then graze on chips and animal crackers when ever we needed a snack).

Break for lunch :)

At one point everyone but me had to use the bathroom so
I stayed behind to "watch our stuff"...

It turned out to be a pretty great day and Grant had a blast. I'm looking forward to next little day trip!

After he was buried in the sand once...that was all he wanted to
do! Bury him...dig him out...bury him again...you get it.

This is what a day full of fun and no nap looks like.

Spontaneous Beach Trip

Since having Grant, we haven't been able to be those parents that just pick up and go off for spontaneous over night trips. Because we had Brodie. We had to make arrangements for my mother-in-law to come stay with him because he freaked out in the car. So taking him somewhere to board was out of the question. We were limited to spontaneous day trips, which are nice too. But with Brodie's passing, we vowed to make trips that we haven't been able to take in the last 10 years.

The Thursday before Father's Day we had a storm that lasted maybe 10 minutes. It wasn't as bad as what the weather folks were making it sound like, in my opinion anyway. But it knocked out our power...and by Friday morning it was still out. And the power people weren't giving us hopes of having it that day either. So Husband made us reservations in Wilmington, NC with the promise of spending Saturday at the beach. When we got home from work Friday, the power was on. Who cares! We had plans :) 

Packed and ready to go!

Friday after work we packed up as quick as we could, ate a quick dinner and hit the road. We got there a little later than we wanted to and Grant was pumped about the promise of the beach. It was tough to get him calmed down for sleep. But we got there eventually.

Grant and Daddy relaxing at the hotel after our drive

Grant - too excited to sleep!

So after breakfast the next morning and packing up the car we head to Wrightsville Beach. Only to realize after over an HOUR of driving around that there was no place to park. Honestly, I was ready to go home. But Grant was too excited. "You gonna find a place for the car? We gonna park? Is this the beach?" So we left there and continued down the coast. Finding no where to park until almost 2 hours after leaving the hotel we got down to Kure Beach and were finally able to park and make our way to the beach. With me 110% irriated and vowing to either get a pool or find a lake near home because a day at the ocean in season is just not worth the hassle.

Except that it was.

Because Grant had probably his best summer day to date. He played in the sand and buried our feet. Made sand castles. Picked up sea shells (that are now in a little jar in his room and he loves them). Then made them closer to the water so he could watch the waves take them. We went out in the water. Then we just stayed close to the water because he loved it when the waves hit him. He had a blast. And we had a blast because of him and my irriation disappeared quickly. By the time we left I was talking about "next time". So it ended up being a really good little trip.

So happy :)

He loved burying our feet

Daddy showing him how to build a sand castle

His "sword" (very into pirates right now!)

Beachy feet

He loved being in the waves. He kept yelling "Here
comes a big one! And another big big one!"

Me and my happy guy!