birthday at the beach (and memorial day)

we spent the long weekend at the beach for brett's mom's birthday. we got there at the same time as bill and katie on friday, unloaded, and went straight to the beach!

will was not into the water on friday. he was just content to throw sand. this was strange because the rest of the weekend he was literally trying to drown himself with how fearlessly he was attacking the waves and the pool.

emme is a beach baby! we weren't exactly planning on getting in the water, but she just couldn't help herself.

here she is telling short-legged little juancho to get in too!

we watched the sun set over the bay (literally in the blink of an eye it was there then all of the sudden it was gone!) from karen's back deck on the new chairs we brought for her birthday. surprisingly all four of these high stools fit in the accord. brett's a magician.

so pretty and relaxing. this was the first time i'd seen her deck. love it.

emme spent most of the weekend being a goof and hanging out in one of her many swim suits trying to convince us all it was time to go somewhere. (i spy a boogie! there was a lot of wiping little snotty noses all weekend too.)

cute little plumber beach baby.

this is what pure joy looks like. that little will sure loves his dada.

we brought all three dogs to the beach. newdog loves chasing frisbees/balls down the beach and into the surf. although swallowing all that sea water did catch up to her, yuck. the two little dogs went crazy and decided to stop being scared of the ocean and tried to swim out to sea. so hilarious looking. misty kept kicking even when brett scooped her up to stop her.

once both little dogs were safe on the shore, they both decided to rub their faces in the sand. weirdos.

we turned emme into a mermaid (for as long as her little three year old attention span could sit still).

after naps we went to the pool and brett went fishing at the cut. will was a wild man. jumping off the edge of the pool and trying to swim all by himself without floaties or help. i've never seen such a fearless little kid before. beach grandma babysat while the four of us went to dinner in appalach. we went to tamara's in appalach. it was crowded so we ate outside at a table for two. turned out to be the best seat in the house since it was cool and a band was playing across the street. i accidentally ordered way too much food. note to self, next time you order two sides as your entree, make sure the kitchen doesn't turn one of the sides into an entree portion.

brett made us mama bird burgers for lunch after church on sunday that were really good. (they're lentil/mushroom burgers that look a little too much like they've been chewed up by a bird when you're forming the patties. i'll post the recipe.)

we grilled out for karen's birthday dinner. lots of veggies, fresh grouper, and shrimp. and guess what.... brett and i ate a bit of the seafood too! we've been talking about occasionally eating fish for months. we finally decided to go for it since it doesn't get any better than grouper at his mama's house. then i really jumped off the deep end and had some of karebear's ice cream cake. i felt kinda gross afterwards. but it was delicious, there's no denying that!

i love all these shots of her blowing out the candles. happy birthday beach grandma! she got her wish by spending the weekend with all of us! and she almost got to keep bill and katie an extra day with all that tropical depression business going on around jax,

monday we went to the pool and packed up. poor little will passed out playing on the ipad. swallowing half a pool will do that to you.

beach grandma is so much fun! emme didn't want to leave her, but newdog ended up being the one to stay behind! bill and katie are letting her stay with karen to see how she likes it!

here's to birthdays, family, and summer! we'll be back again soon!