Emerald Isle, NC: Elwell Family Vacation

We just spent a beautiful week on the North Carolina coast (the city of Emerald Isle, to be exact). Unfortunately, I don't have a group shot--but here are some highlights. Email me if you want more pics!

1. The road trip: 7 hours to Chris & Evelyn's (Hardy, VA). Stayed overnight. Next day, a 6 hour drive to Emerald Isle, NC. Stayed in a beautiful beach house for 6 nights. Completed the week with a 14.5 hour road trip from NC back home! And, we did it all in our little Honda! Our only family pic--we're visiting Fort Macon.2. Colin learned the names of all of his cousins, aunties and uncles! He even started to ask for some of his cousins---"Ry" and "Mit" to be exact! Rylee was absolutely wonderful with Colin, and she even put him to bed one night! Colin adored Mitchell (3mo), and begged to hold him and help feed him. 3. The beach house held 19 of us! Although I didn't get any pictures of the full group, here are a couple of gatherings--at Fort Macon and poolside. Obviously, Colin was spoiled with love and attention all week! Special thanks to Aunt Dorothy and Grandma for taking him on morning walks--it surely gave us some downtime in the house. =)

• Chris & Evelyn with Ben (11), Rylee (7) and Mitchell (3 mo)
• Pete & Sandy with Sam (2.5) and Sarah (11 mo)
• Billy & Monica with Anthony (15 mo)
• Jack & Jamie with Colin (20 mo)
• Matt, Natalie, Grandma and Aunt Dorothy

4. We visited the NC Aquariam. Rylee, Ben and Colin touched sting rays and crabs!

5. Colin loved the water button on our fridge. I threatened a time out, so he stopped pressing the button, but stood by the fridge in this pose for about 3 minutes. Aunt Natalie tried to distract him so he would forget about the water, but Colin refused. In the end, he stopped playing with the water button!
6. We are lucky enough to have amazing chefs in the family. Aunt Evelyn, Grandma and Aunt Dorothy did the majority of our food prep and cooking (& Jack was grill master). We had crab, freshly caught shark, lamb, pork, tuna/steak/chicken kebabs (and my favorite--Evelyn's amazing chicken salad)--and tons of desserts. We can't thank you enough for shopping, planning, prepping and cooking for the whole family. Thank you!!! This is a pic of Evelyn and her cousin from Canada.7. Family--more family pics!




Thank you everyone for a wonderful trip!!!

not always glamorous...

Growing up isn't always picture perfect....

Jamie:

1. My dentist has informed me that i'm so stressed that I now grind my teeth.
2. I suffer from insomnia.

Colin:

1. He pooped and stuck his hand in his diaper. What happened next is too disgusting for words. Call if you are sick enough to want details! I'm more than willing to share. =)
2. Jack put Colin in timeout (on the pumpkin mat), and then proceeded to the bathroom. Next thing, Jack hears Colin knocking on the bathroom door. Jack opens the door to find Colin standing and holding his timeout mat in one arm. He followed Jack's directions--he never left his timeout mat. Jack learned not to go to the bathroom during timeouts, and Colin is learning to sit in one place while in timeout.
   
3. Learning language is a beautiful thing. But hearing "key door" for an hour could send someone to the looney bin.
4. Colin uses his middle finger as his pointer finger. At school, they have informed us that when counting, he flips his middle finger for "one."
5. He loves to run around naked after his baths. This time, he peed all over the foam mats. We gave them a thorough cleaning and said GOOD-BYE to them. We finally have our beautiful hardwood floors back!
   
6. Colin still cuddles, thank goodness.
   

Jack:

1. C'mon, has anyone seen him stressed out? (Except for the time when we had to buy beach towels in W.V....Matt and Natalie know what I'm talking about!) He doesn't stress out--he's our rock.
   

All part of life...and we're trying to laugh our way through it all! With that said, here are some of our week highlights:

We made Jack some birthday cupcakes. Colin loves to cook almost as much as he loves to eat.

Jack ran a 5 mile race this morning. Colin couldn't quite bend his knee in order to stretch just like Jack.
Surprise! Jack won 2nd place in his age group!!! 5 miles in 37:02. We are so proud. =) Colin had no problem turning the trophy into his next toy.

4th of July weekend (colin is 19 mo)

Our friend, Ed Tallos, is running for Judge in our area--and they invited us to walk with them in the 4th of July parade! Go Ed!

Colin tasting his first lollipop. It lasted him 45 minutes.After the parade, we hung out at Natalie's house....summer happiness.
And we finished our weekend with good fun at Grandma's house. Colin absolutely loves to drive..anything!Natalie turned the sprinklers on for the kids...Colin started out naked, but luckily Sam had an extra (girls) swim diaper for Colin to use...yes, we know he looks ridiculous. I love seeing these two boys grow up together. Sarah (Sam's sister) is going to be joining the fun soon too--she's already walking, and she's not even 10 months yet!!!
Happy early birthday to Jack! Here he is refusing to take a picture with his cake (surprise, surprise)...Colin missed his nap, but cuddling up with Grandma was just as good.
And 5 minutes after we left, this was Colin...asleep with eeyore, hanging from his mouth!