Beach Trip!

Earlier this month, we packed up the fam and met B's family in North Carolina for a week.  We spent our days enjoying the sand, water, and time with family.  The boys and I went out one night in search of ghost crabs and found a few tiny ones.  We also got to the pier where Andrew and Matthew tried fishing for the first time.  While no one slept all that much on the trip--the boys were up by 6am every morning (that's 4am SLC time!) and didn't nap at all--we loved the beach and are hoping to get back again sometime in the next few years!

The pictures:

On their way to the first beach sighting of the trip! 

Giddy!

OFF he goes!

Sand! Everywhere!  For the record, Matthew insisted on wearing his "round round hat" for most outings the whole trip.  We do fully expect him to get angry with us when he's older for taking him out in it.  Sorry in advance, bud.

The boys with Uncle Mick

Grandma's the only one who listened when I told them to look! 

Catherine--6 months old at the beach! Look at those rolls! 

Digging for water.

Snoozing with nature's noise machine.

Nearly the whole group

You'll find that I seem to like pictures of the backs of heads.

Crab shell (aka-dead crab)!

Cutie

Patootie

More digging in the never ending sandbox.

Night hike looking for ghost crabs.

Grandpa and Grandma with all 3 of their grandkids.

My 4 favorite people in the world. 

Just some rockin' chairs on a beach.  No biggie.

Checking out the Surf City pier (see--backs of heads)

Sunset over the Sound (more backs of heads)

Learning about pinfish.

Fishing off the Jolly Roger pier

Hi Matthew! 

Can I tell you how terrified I was of those wide openings in the pier?  Yikes.

Enjoying our last night at the sound.

Last Day at the Beach

Lovin' the offspring.

Well, we all know you can't leave a beach vacation without burying the kids.

Andrew loved it.  Matthew, not so much.

We wouldn't want her to feel left out, right?  :)

Father son bonding.

Trying real NC bbq in Wilmington before heading home.

I'm taking the picture and wearing Catherine, but this is how we travel these days: 3 carseats, 3 suitcases, 3 carry-ons, 3 kids, and 1 stroller.  It's not exhausting at all.

Almost home!  Photographer Andrew spotted the mountains! 

Happy Travelers!

Catherine's 7 months!

Not sure how it's already been a month, but Catherine turned 7 months old a couple days ago.  Here's what she's up to at 7 months: 

-SCOOTING!  She's all over the place and getting faster every day.  This is a major game-changer around here and I keep being surprised when I find her in unexpected places.  

-Teething--Catherine's still only sporting 2 teeth, but she has about 6 more that look like they are ready to pop through any day now.  

-Sitting--Catherine's completely stable and can sit unsupported now.  It's nice to be able to set her down and not worry about her falling over.

-Babbling--We've been a little excited to catch an occasional MAMA and DADA out of the babbles.  Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't mean anything, but it's still kinda fun.

-Eating--She's still not that into purees, but does seem interested in Cheerios.  I'm going to start moving toward more finger foods because I'm definitely happy to leave the messiness of purees behind us.

-Sleep--After my 6 month post about Catherine being an amazing sleeper, she decided to wake up at least once a night for the entire month.  I'm not sure if she was growing, teething, or what, but she hit 7 months old and decided to start sleeping again.  Now, let's just hope I'm not jinxing myself by making it public again!  Geez.  

Catherine's incredibly sweet and smiley most of the time.  We love this little one so much.

And, some of my favorite pictures from the month: 

Of course, got mobile and headed straight for the cords!

Caught!

Ugh! More cords!

Doesn't this picture just make you smile?

So big!