Last Beach Day...Part III

Just like when she took over Uncle Keith's chair...Sidney Kate joined me as we watched the boys play some beach football. She relaxed there for quite some time.

Of course! The last day there the pool temperature was warm enough to enjoy! This is a picture of her brief moment in her float. She wasn't a huge fan and I say it's because she felt safer in someone's arms. She did play on the steps for awhile-her two favorite things...haha (water and steps!)

Crazy Beach Happenings

There was this HUGE bee flying around us and Mitchell decided it should die. He grabbed the nearest toy that could be turned into a weapon and went for it. As you know, with boys, this soon became a sport. Next thing I knew, Kevin and Rylan were joining in. I think Kevin made contact with a paddle eventually...

While all this was going on, Sidney Kate was safely resting above the evil sand and under a towel. She had a snack and some juice to cool her down.

After the bee got whacked, Mitchell found another way to capture the evil creature...a little too late though (I'm sure this would have worked too!!)

Last Beach Visit

Sidney Kate's love for the sand improved, or so we thought. On our last trip to the shore we learned that she still hated the touch of it. Oh well, maybe next year!
Until then we found her a super cute new bathing suit!!

See what I mean? Pure hatred for the stuff! That and no one was holding her, which is apparently her new favorite NEED!

Brittany and Mitchell joined us for our last excursion to the beach.

and Rylan too! He was really having fun with the ocean on this day! He was running around as fast as he could, in and out of the water. I have videos and will post them soon.

Daddy and Sidney Kate taking a stroll down the beach.

Mommy and Sidney Kate enjoying a walk on the sand.

Family shot!

Our Last Day!

It's 10:30 on Friday night and Sidney Kate is fast asleep...I can hear her breathing as I type. Kevin and I are packing up for our trip home tomorrow. It's been a fun week, see the previous posts!

Everyone else ventured out to see Darius Rucker (spelling?) tonight. We knew Sidney Kate wouldn't do so well with a late concert, so we stayed around here and hung out with her and Rylan. You know we had fun!

I have several pictures of our last day but I'll wait till we get home to post them...I know you're on pins and needles-just waiting to see them!

Emily and Keith just returned from the concert and guess who was still awake...Rylan! The boy was lasting until they came home!

I'm off to help Kevin finish packing and folding clothes. See you all soon!

House Dinner-Black Pelican

Tonight was the first night that someone wasn't cooking so we all decided to go eat at the Black Pelican. The food was good but the service was horrible...I could go into great detail but I'll just say skip this eatery.

When we went to our table Rylan said he wanted to sit next to Sidney Kate. (I love seeing his interest in her!) So we rearranged so they could sit next to one another. Thanks to Rylan, Sidney Kate has started to color-this makes premeal moments a little easier.

Before the food came someone was a little fussy. Lemons did the trick! (Thanks Uncle Marty for sharing!)

Our bread, that was suppose to arrive before the meal, came after we were finished with our food...but Sidney Kate and Rylan had room for more. Sidney Kate is all about sharing... Family picture!

Horse Adventure

It's the week for adventures!

Today's adventure was a jeep ride to see wild horses. We rented two jeeps, piled in and hit the beach!

This is what we envisioned when we thought of the Outer Banks. Wide open beaches and no people! The Jeep is Marty, Liz, Keith, Emily and Rylan.

These are the first horses we saw. A small group of four. I took a video and will post it when I get home. These horses were BEAUTIFUL!! We were all ooing and ahhing. Rylan was especially excited about the one laying down. (not pictured)

The second group of horses we saw were off the beach. We did some off beach driving that took us through some amazing small beach communities. When we stopped to take pictures one horse ran up from behind us to join the group-scared us!
We saw horses in someone's front yard. How awesome would that be! This horse was just off by himself.

Just Playin' Around

Since we planned this trip we've been talking about how we hoped Sidney Kate would be able to chase Rylan. She's getting there! And he seems to be enjoying her company. Sidebar: He was playing Putt Putt behind the house today and asked if Sidney Kate had any golf clubs. When I told him she didn't he said he had some at his grandma's she could have. (He's really sweet with her!!)

Here he is showing her how to read a book. She wasn't reading left to right like you're suppose to.
Mitchell is here!

Rylan was kind enough to let Sidney Kate color with him. They were really cute next to one another. Rylan made sure to look out for her and tell me when she ate a crayon.

Number of Stairs...

Grandma Mary was the closest guess on the number of stairs it took for Sidney Kate to get those bumps...12 was the actual number. Grandma Mary will get an extra hug from SKV as her reward. Way to go Grandma Mary!!

Dolphin Tour

Wednesday the house went to do a Dolphin Tour. The weather was a little off that day, it definitely wasn't a beach or pool day. Sidney Kate was a little concerned about the big spaces between the wood on the deck. She walked carefully and tried to avoid walking directly on any spaces.

Sidney Kate is quick to make friends. She found a 3 year old and 5 year old (sisters) to talk to and touch. She wanted to give sugar and shake hands. We had both sets of parents taking pictures over this cute Kodak moment.


On the boat, Sidney Kate made another friend. This little boy was all about giving her high fives. He gave them high and low. She enjoyed it so much!

Here is what we paid to see! We saw a ton of dolphins! At first we spotted a few and then more came from another direction to join the small group. Next thing we know we had dolphins surrounding the boat. We got to see them swim, play with each other (which from above the water looked like some kind of attack) and eat.

Seeing all of the dolphins wore Sidney Kate out...and the fact we went during her naptime. She was super fussy-so falling asleep was a surprise and welcome.

She did get to see some dolphins though, she saw them and then held me closer. I guess she was afraid I'd feed her to them.

Roanake Island-Manteo

We took an afternoon trip to Roanoke Island to see what we could explore. Our goal was to visit the Elizabeth II, but it was closed by the time we got there. We had a fun time seeing this cute little town though!

After hitting a few fun shops we let Sidney Kate loose from her stroller. Of course she was happy to be free and wave to her fans.

Sidney Kate's in the House!

Sidney Kate has enjoyed exploring our house as much, if not more, than the beach and pool. Here she is enjoying an early morning swing with Rylan. If Rylan is doing it-she wants to do it. She has been his shadow all week.

Here's something she can't do at home! Well, two things...first she can't open our cabinets and second, there's no room at home for playing in them! Hamming it up on the chair. She was disappointed to find out that it didn't rock, but she had fun anyway.

This box has been a huge entertainment piece for Sidney Kate. She's either pushing it, crawling in it or climbing on top of it.

Someone has a new trick! She was quite amused with herself.

Charity, Wes and Nora Grace (Gracie) are also on vacation with us this week. Sidney Kate loves Gracie, who is 6 months old, and must touch her every time she sees her. She goes up to the person holding her with her arms wide open, as if to say, "I want to hold her!"

She is also a huge fan of Charity. She kisses her every time she enters the room. She is also enjoying the act of shaking Charity or Gracie's hands.

Jockey's Ridge

After her morning nap we took Sidney Kate to see Jockey's Ridge. She didn't seem as impressed by the sand as we were. But she did enjoy seeing the people and gliders.Here we are on top of the world! Or the tallest sand dune...

Kevin and I decided we were too old to run down the sand dune like the teenagers before us, but walking down it was still really neat. Your feet went into the sand a good ways before it stopped you. Maybe next year Sidney Kate will be more interested in the sand.