N.C. Aquarium

Mike, Jen, Andrew, and I took the kids to the aquarium one morning for a little change of scenery. Ryder and Kendall really enjoyed all of the exhibits, and it was cute to see them point things out to each other. 

R: "Kendall, look at that big fish!" 

K: "I see it! Look at that big fish!"

R: "Wow!"

Besides fish, we got to see turtles, alligators, snakes, crabs, sea stars (apparently they're not called starfish anymore), and sharks. 

posing on the pretend alligator

Ryder even got to watch one of the employees, dressed in full scuba gear, swim around a tank to clean it. He was fascinated until she waved at him, and then he kind of backed away from the window. I think he was surprised that it was a real person!

This was our attempt at a group photo--oh well!

Ryder wanted no part of standing still, so I had to steal a quick hug.

wandering the deck of the pier

Ryder got elbow deep at the stingray petting station.

Even Harper was fascinated at the shark exhibit!

Thank goodness for the multiple layers of glass between Ryder and that shark!

dinner at the pier across the street

OBX 2013

When you live in the perfect tropical vacation spot, where do you actually go for vacation? Well, we headed north 13 hours to OBX where we vacation every summer. If it weren't for the fact that our beach house was paid for back in March before we even knew we were moving, we probably wouldn't have made such a trip. This time we decided to break the trip into 2 days so we wouldn't be exhausted when we got there. We drove about 7 hours the first day and spent the night in a hotel with the kids for the first time. It also happened to be our 10th wedding anniversary, so we can joke that we went out for dinner (to Wendy's) and got a hotel room (with 2 kids). :) Andrew and Ryder shared a bed, and we discovered that Ryder is a bed hog. He kept cuddling up to Andrew, and at one point Andrew woke up to find his head was actually on the nightstand because each time he moved, Ryder would snuggle closer. We were back on the road by 8 a.m. the next morning and at the beach house a little after 4 that afternoon. It was definitely a long couple of days, but we were excited to get there and see everyone!

Picture upload #1:

Kendall, Ryder, and Andrew flying a kite

Kendall loved digging for ice in the cooler.

got some!

more kite-flying

Zach and Jen

Harper snoozing with Aunt Ali 

Andrew went out early one morning for some sunrise pictures.

moonfish

the pier across the street from the house

taking a little breather

walking with Uncle Steve

another nap in the shade

Kendall was getting sleepy!

"first date"--a walk to the beach after dinner

"Dad, you're embarrassing me!"

queen of the mountain

splashing through a tidal pool

Can you guess what he was doing in this picture?

caught with wet pants!

(We asked him why he went potty on the sand castle, and he said he had to go reallllly bad).