GFR Day 3

As far as pictures go, Sunday was our busiest day. It started out with Anna and Brooke waking me up at 7 am. That's pretty early for us, because I have trained my kids to sleep a little later so I can get some sleep. But we all know that those things don't tend to work away from home ;) Anyway, I decided to take them to the beach since we were up. It was soooo hot the rest of the day, going early seemed to make the most sense.
As you can see, there was no one out this early, so we had the beach pretty much to ourselves. I tried to get Anna to go in the ocean. The storm must have blown some arctic waters in, because it was freeeeeezing. Anna walked out in it, and a wave (and by wave I mean like an inch of water) caused her to loose her balance, which then caused her to fall over, which THEN caused her to freak out. It was like Little John in Robin Hood Men in Tights (one of my favs, by the way. go ahead, mock me, but I think that movie is hilarious) when he falls into the "creek" and he yells "I'm drowning, Robin, I'm drowning!" He's not even underwater.

After that, she played in the sand and ran around all over the place. Then she got bored. That's when we left. I told Steven it was the most fun I've never had. We did get some great pictures and Anna got to experience the beach this year. So it was worth it. :)

This was the closest she got to the water after her "drowning" incident. I am standing in the water taking this picture, for a sense of distance. Go ahead. It's okay to laugh.













Enjoying the sand.


















Here is the extent of Brooke's tropical experience. I was protecting her excruciatingly white skin at all costs.














Anna DID enjoy the splash park! She and Daddy played for some time here. The went down the slides several hundred times, floated around the lazy river, and played with all the cool stuff.

Here they are go down the slide.














Here they are playing in the playground.













And here are the 3 of us posing for a picture. Like a dum dum I forgot my bathing suit--and I had to care for the Brookester--so that's why I'm dressed. A funny story, Steven had Anna on a balcony overlooking the ocean and the splash park. Steven said, "Anna, look at the ocean! You wanna go play out there?" She replies, "No, daddy, THAT one," pointing at the splash park. She knows what she likes. :)

After all the fun in the sun, we went out for a late lunch at Captain Nance's in Calabash, NC. Mike was kind enough to pay for all of our lunch. It was sooooo good. I had the shrimp/scallop/clam strip plate. Again, soooo good! Thanks, Mike!!! We love you, and it was great to see you!

After lunch, we did a family photo op. Below are the pictures we took.

Here (from left) is Eunice, Anna, and Hope walking together. She was calling them both "Gran-nanee." I think this pic is so precious.

Here is the generation photo that Mike requested. From the left is Chuck (Gen #2) holding Brooke (Gen #4), Deborah, Anna (Gen #4), Steven (Gen #3), Jonathan, and Hope (Gen #1). What a good-lookin' family :)













Here is everyone on this floating dock thing. I thought for sure we were all going to go crashing into the water. With every person that stepped on, the more it sank. It all worked out, obviously, because here is the picture. Sorry I am such a putz for having my sunglasses on. I wear them so much I forget they are on. My bad.
Mike, who paid for our awesome lunch, is that handsome devil right there in the front with the white shirt on.

Sunday evening Deborah was kind enough to take some family pictures for us.
Here is one of my favs...
As I'm sure any parent is aware, it is nearly impossible to get a pic with everyone smiling at the same time. Luckily we are also not obsessed with perfection. I'll have to post some of the "out takes" later.

Anna really dug her Uncle Jonathan. After we got done with "family picture time," they played together on the beach in the sand.













Here's my little cutie bear.













I got this pic right before we headed back in.

Another great day!