Sandcastles and sunrises!

We just returned from our week at the beach.  We had an amazing time.  And although we took over 300 pictures, we did not get a family shot.  :( But we got a lot of amazing pictures to share and we had tons of fun, if not tons of sleep :)  A super thank you to Linda and Hal for letting us crash at both their houses and thanks to Nana for coming with us.  I cannot believe we are 2 weeks away from Sam starting Kindergarten!

Sam loved almost every second of the trip.

Zoey was a little more hesitant about the water, but loved playing in the sand and letting the waves come to her feet.

Look at that joy!

Sweet smile.

Pure joy!  Sam was a great boogie boarder.

Nick built a lot of sand castles.

We spotted a dolphin.

Bubble on the beach were hard with the wind, but Olivia tried.

Sisters playing in the sand.

We tried to catch some fish, but failed.  We did see a lot of minnows though.  They were just too fast.

Nana even came to the surf.

Another sandcastle.

Zoey being silly.

 Daddy and his girls.

Zoey also loved lying on her belly and wanted me to join in.

We did manage to catch a ghost crab.

And we saw a lot of sunrises.

Nick even stayed up for one moon rise.

He was not up for sunrise that morning, but both girls were.  And even though you cannot see the sun because of the clouds, I got a great picture of my sweet girls.

More sheer joy.

Until next year...

Atlanta visit

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to Atlanta to visit friends.  Zoey did better on the ride than many others.

We made better time than we suspected, so after the long ride we were able to drop by my parents neighbors, Mr. Reggie.  He was delighted to see Sammy and Zoey.

Since Zoey had not gotten a nap in the car, we tried an early bed time (7) in the sofa bed for both.  Zoey ended up wired and kept popping up or bothering Sam.  We eventually blew up our toddler air mattress and both were finally asleep about 8:30.  Sam has been allowed to read if she wakes up and it is daylight.  She work up at 2 and saw lights from outside, I told her to go back to bed, but she was up having to use the bathroom, feeling scared, etc until about 4:30.  I never got back to sleep either.  And then Zoey was up and ready to go at 6:10.

But even after all that, we were ready to tackle the zoo with my good friend Patty, who was a godsend on my masters project.  Unfortunately, I did not charge my camera before the trip, so some of the pictures are cell phone ones and we did not take as many as I would have wanted.

We bought Sam a visor and Nick modeled it.

We rode the carousel.

Brushed some goats.

Walked around.

Posed by statues.

Here Sam has on the visor.

Saw the pandas.

And rode the train.

That night we went to have dinner with the Stolovitz's, the family I babysat for in college and grad school.  We got to see 2 of their kids.

A group picture!

The next day we went to Ga Tech to visit staff still there.  Evidently no pictures.  After that we drove past our old Atlanta house, check out how big the Japanese cherry has grown.  And we took the girls to the 2 story Target.

Zoey thought socks should be on her hands.

We hung out in a park for a little bit.  Zoey had no fear of these high steps to a quick slide.

Sam almost mastered the rings.

Then to dinner with our good friends the Woods.  The guys and the littles.

Sally and me.

                                 

We ate at the Peachtree Mellow Mushroom in a train room.  Zoey loved the giant red button.

 All the kids.  I took about 5 shots and none were great.

On the ride home it was show time.

And after 3 days of no naps, our normally always awake in the car kid gave in and had s hort nap in the car.

 Hope everyone is having great summer adventures.  We have more to come, but school will be here before I know it!

Happy 75th Nana!

Today is my mom's birthday.  Many of you may know this because I asked many of you to send me cards.  Thanks so much for helping make her day special.  

Zoey was so tired from no nap and beach day yesterday.  Camp wore Sam out.  So lunch was a bit crazy and involved some crying.  But the girls enjoyed loving on nana.

And eating her free elephant ear at red elephant.

I am so blessed to have such an amazing mother and incredible Nana for my girls.  We plan on celebrating her for many years to come!

More cake and of course blowing out candles is all hands on deck.

Opening presents.

Happy birthday to the best Nana ever!  We love you!

The 4th continued!

For the actual 4th of July, we did sparklers and small fireworks at home.  There was no rain, so I got to play with my dslr some.

Nick drew a heart.

Sam drew some shapes.

Nick drew Kelling.

I like how you can see Sam on this one.

And a couple of shots of the fountains.

We grabbed lunch recently at a cafe near Hollis gardens.  I wanted a picture in front of the roses.  Sam was happy to pose.

She also posed on the concrete ball.

Zoey was a bit more active.

But finally, all three of us!

We played with the underwater feature again recently.  Sam snapped one of me.

And I took a bunch of her swimming.

Zoey loves the rocking snail by Dr. Engle.  Thanks again!

We also made a couple of beach trips.  We met friends at Bradonten/Anna Maria.

The girls had a ball, playing in the sand and water.  Zoey did much better after some initial issues.

Posing with little Nick.

And Zoey and I went back with PALS while Sam was in Science camp.  There was a chilly rain, so Zoey borrowed a towel.

And had a snack.

Chillin' with Nick.

Hope everyone is having a great summer.  Cannot believe it is half over!