Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Ocracoke Vacation

The third week of June, Jason, Sims and I spent the week at our favorite summer destination - Ocracoke!  This was Sims first visit to the island, his first time on a ferry, and his first trip riding in the Jeep.  He seemed to love it all.  I was surprised how much he loved riding in the Jeep, but it ends up that he can see out much better than in our other cars.  I wasn't loving the long trip crammed in the back seat next to him, but at least it was only a 3 hour drive to the ferry!

This was also the first vacation with just the three of us!  We rented a house near Silver Lake, so we were able to walk to most of the restaurants and shops.  We ate at almost all of our favorite restaurants: The Back Porch, Jason's, The Jolly Roger, Thai Moon. We were disappointed that we didn't get to eat at S'MacNally's. Next year! 

Of course we drove on the beach.  (That is one of the best parts of going to Ocracoke, besides the ferry.)  We all loved hanging out on the beach in the afternoon and coming back home to clean up and go out to dinner.  After Sims went to bed, Jason and I would hang out on the screened porch and listen to the cicadas. Very relaxing.


We took a day trip over to Hatteras, mainly to try the Apple Uglies at Orange Blossom Bakery in Buxton.  We had heard how delicious they were, so we thought it would be a short morning trip.  Not exactly the case.  We got back to the house at 3 pm!  Oh, well, the Apple Ugly was worth it!  On the ferry back to Ocracoke, we couldn't believe the color of the water.  It looked like we were in the Caribbean!


Sims really seems to love playing in the sand.  He is becoming quite a little beach baby!


We took the windows out of the Jeep as soon as we got on the island.  There is nothing better than riding around with the windows out (except when the doors are off, too!)  Can't wait until next year!

Family Portraits

Yesterday evening, we braved the storms (and Jason's sudden illness) and had a photo session with the fabulous Tracy Turpen.  We decided to have our photo session at NC State University campus, which seemed to have a lot of variety, and was very fitting for us alums.  We were amazed at how she would see opportunities for photos at unexpected places around campus, instead of all the usual ones we were thinking of.  Her eye for photography is beyond any talent I could ever dream of having!  I cannot wait to see the pictures!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Ocean Isle Beach

The first weekend of June we went to visit my sister Ame and her family, while they were on vacation at Ocean Isle Beach.  We always love spending time with Ame, Mike and their 5 girls.  They are loads of fun!  It was great that my Dad and his wife could be there one night, then my brother Johnny and his family came on Sunday.  I rarely get to see Johnny and his fam, so that was an extra special treat.

The problem is we had so much fun that we didn't take that many pictures.  Here are a few.  If I can find some on our other camera (we brought down our SLR and the point-and-shoot), I may post more later. 

Here is my youngest niece with Sims:


My oldest 2 nieces are in college.  (Well, one starts in the fall.)  Man, am I old!

I had to post a couple of the view from the porch.  It was to die for!


Hopefully, we can do this again next year.  Maybe even Alex, Neely and Baby Pollard will be able to join us!

Sims' First Birthday

This has been a really busy summer for us already, and it's only the end of June!  It all started with Sims' first birthday party on Memorial Day weekend.  We had a wonderful celebration at our house with family who came into town just for the occasion.  I spent an exorbitant amount of time on making things like the banners, gift favors and labels for the bubbles and silverware buckets, but it was so much fun.  We really lucked out that the weather held out for us.  No rain, and the heat wasn't so bad either.

  
 Jason and I had decided to give Sims a wagon for his birthday gift, which evolved into the theme of this party.


We also made the wonderful decision to not cook any of the food for the party, which definitely kept the stress level more manageable.  We served eastern-NC BBQ from Ole Time Barbeque.  It was delicious!  We ate on the leftovers for days, and we loved it!  I was sad when the hushpuppies were gone.


Sims' cousin Z came to the party, and they had a great time playing with all the toys.  They always have a ball when they are together.   
  
Sims' party was actually the day before his birthday.  On his actual birthday, it was just the 3 of us.  We had a great day going to the park and playing with some of his new toys.

Happy birthday, my sweet baby!  It has been a fabulous year!

There's a first time for everything

Well, I've actually done it and started my own blog. I don't know what's gotten into me. I seem to be quite addicted to reading other people's blogs, so I figured, why not try it? So here I am. If nothing else, it should be a fun way to share some pictures of my little family.