Vacation 2012

WARNING!!  Long post with lots of pictures, but if you know me at all, you know I LOVE to take pictures.  :)

We left for vacation on Friday afternoon and drove half way.  On Saturday we left the hotel and were on our way.  Jason and I like to go through Wilmington so we stopped for lunch on the waterway.  

Once we were unpacked and had eaten some supper (some wonderful shrimp po-boys!!) we headed down to the beach for a little swim!  Raleigh was beyond excited and decided to give it a thumbs up (something she recently started doing).

 Garner however was not quite as excited about it as Raleigh was!

 The next day was beautiful and we all enjoyed the beach and pool!  The water was a little lot rough with the largest waves I've seen in the Atlantic in a long time.  I thought it would be fun to ride a wave in.  Well the wave won, I got knocked under and skinned my knee on the ocean floor.  Lesson learned...I'm not as young as I use to be!  We did see some surfers out which was fun to watch. 

 Jason is a pro at finding shells...especially little unique ones!  He found this little gem for Raleigh!

 Raleigh and Grandma in their "matching" housecoats!

 Once Garner got use to the water in his little pool he decided that it tasted good and sucked on every finger he had!

 Who teaches little girls to pose like this???

 Grandma and Papa went for a walk on the beach.  Raleigh was excited to see them coming back.  I feel like I need slow motion video of her running to Grandma like this!

 This was the most gorgeous day of the week!  The sky was as blue as it could be, the water was beautiful (still rough though), and there was no one on the beach (at 11:15)!!!

 Daddy was still attempting to ride a wave in...I gave up!

The next day it was cloudy when we woke up and was expected to rain, so we went for a walk first thing.

 Sweet boy enjoys a walk!

After the walk we spent a short amount of time in the pool to cool off.  Garner loved the pool (and his daddy)!

 When we're vacationing in NC and it rains, we head to the aquarium!  It's small, but still fun and we were there in time for the shark feeding!

 The baby turtles that were there were so cute!!

 The moray eel actually came out while we were there.  

 If you look carefully, this shark has a fish in his mouth.

 Raleigh also enjoyed watching a couple of movies and playing Zingo during the week!

 Garner is still not sure about the water coming up to him!

 Raleigh sure is cute lounging in her chair, but too bad it only lasted for about a minute!

 In case you're wondering, this is how we clean the sand off!  :)

 Raleigh still has the Olympics on her mind with her poses!  :)

 Her favorite thing to do...jump the waves as they break!

 And the finishing touch!

 Jason will kill me, but I had to include this one!  Raleigh making her daddy jump and showing him how to do it!

 This is how Raleigh writes her name in 2012!

 While on vacation we had a major accomplishment from the beginning of summer.  Raleigh finally decided that she was going to go all the way under.  Even better she was going to go under and get the diving stick.  If you notice she has it in her hand.  It was there when she went under and she held onto it until she came up.  Well, not quite how I told her to do it, but to her she was getting it.

 It wouldn't be a vacation if I didn't drag everyone down to the beach and try to get some family pictures.  I'm so glad I have a husband who puts up with me!  :)

 Garner was an excellent baby while we were at the beach!  He always found a place to sleep!

 The water this day was gorgeous!!

 Jason had fun catching little crabs

 More jumping!!

 We were spoiled earlier in the week having the beach to ourselves.  Saturday of Labor Day weekend and everyone came to the beach!  The "trailer park" knows how to throw a party because they had so many tents out for the weekend!

 Raleigh was a little sad because her new friend Gabriella was not out at the beach yet.

This day Garner fell asleep between daddy's legs!

 Last day at the beach and we soaked up every little moment!

 Jason thought he was funny taking this picture.  I really need help in learning to pack lightly!  Disclaimer:  Jason packed the car and the clothes on the hangers were at least clean.  I would have thought it could have all stacked a little neater!