The Beach!!!

Mekonen's first visit to the beach was a blast!! My Mom & Dad brought us all to Topsail Island in North Carolina for a big family vacation. It was so much fun and the break with family was more than needed!

 Mekonen was hesitant about the waves at first and whenever he would go up to the water and the waves would come towards his feed he'd turn around and run! Haha. But by the end of the week he was loving it.

Mekonen's first dip in the water with Daddy! 

Checkin' this stuff out... not too sure about it.

Playin' in the water with Mommy!

Daddy teaching Mekonen how to boogie board. 

Aww... Daddy and his boy.

Mekonen LOVED to drink the water. Eww gross. I swear, we do give him a sippy cup, but he didn't want it. 

And apparently drinking gross things was funny. Mekonen crawled into this cooler we had on the deck where we all washed off our sandy feet before going into the house. He thought it was wildly hilarious that he was in the cooler AND drinking the nasty water in it. 

Me and my two best boys!! Mekonen and Manny.

As soon as I sat down in my beach chair to get a breather, Manny and Aderyn were back at my side, "Auntie come play in the water with us!" Or, "Auntie do you want to build a sand castle?" How can I refuse those little faces! 

Speaking of sand and playing, my Mom is the best Grandma ever! Truthfully, no adult likes to sit in the sand all day getting sand in places it shouldn't be, and running tirelessly in and out of the water with all the kids. But that was my Mom! Every time we turned around she had her small mob of five grandchildren sitting in the sand, and her covered with it! Or she was chasing after them in the water and bobbing through the waves with them. Such great memories for our kids. Thanks Mom!

Playin' in the sand!

We dug a hole for Mekonen and Jane to sit and play in. They absolutely loved it and stayed in there for the longest time filling up their buckets with sand and water. So cute. 

Uncle Meade made the greatest sand creations for the kids. Here's a huge pyramid he made. Mekonen loved following Manny up and over it. 

Grandma dug a huge hole that the kids climbed in and out of, about 100 times! They thought it was awesome. 

Mekonen, clearly on a serious mission. 

He loved sitting in this orange bucket for some reason. Haha. 

Daddy and Grandpa Jack fished every day. Mekonen wanted to join in on the fun! 

Lookin' cool in his red shades. 

My parents and aunt and uncle bought the kids a bunch of kites. We flew them every night on the beach and the kids loved it! This picture is one of my favorites! Daddy flying the kite and Mekonen in his diaper chasing after it. So cute.

Mekonen and I taking a nap after a long morning at the beach. He slept 3 1/2 to 4 hour naps every day, then woke up and went right back out to the beach! I love my little snuggler. 

Our little fam.

Grandma, Mekonen, and Grandpa Jack! 

My sister and I took the kids out to get some pictures of them, but we were missing Natalie and Jane who weren't able to come out right then. Boo. But here is Manny, Aderyn, and Mekonen. So cute. 

Some family pics of us. Look at that cutie smile in the middle! :)