Happy Birthday, Quads!!

Jonathan, Thomas, Zachary, and Reagan

We would like to wish a very happy 2nd birthday to the Harris quads. We can't wait until our next playdate. We love you and hope that you and your wonderful parents have a great day! (Sorry that I had to steal their picture from their blog! I didn't have a recent one of all four of them. I promise to do better!)

Gone to See the Sea

Our trip to Holden Beach, NC has drawn to a close. We are mostly unpacked and resting from our vacation. We love Holden because it is more family oriented and private, so we can enjoy the beach and not worry about crowds.We enjoyed the sun, sand, and surf, but we enjoyed the company of our family most. Lauren, Megan, and Abby had a blast playing together. We hope to see them again really soon!

Here are just a few of the fun times we had this past week:

Although it wasn't Abby's very first experience with the waves, it was one OF her first. Gramps and I decided to take her for a walk after dinner as the tide was going back out. (Please excuse me in these two videos. I would tell you to turn your volume off, but you can really hear the ocean in them. )

( I love her face in this one as she waits for the wave.)



I'm not sure we will ever get the sand out of our stuff,
but it was so fun to watch her play in it!


She even got a little boy to share his
shovel and truck. (Already learning
to use those blue eyes... we're in trouble.)


Lauren and Megan out shelling!


Abby wanted to help Lauren, too!


Daddy and Granny got in some kite flying.
(Our house is the one just t over Steve's left shoulder.)


Roughin' it! Here is how Abby took her
morning naps this past week.


"Helping" Mommy and Daddy pack.

She was packed and ready to go. Here she is on her way
up to check on Grammy's progress.
She loved climbing the stairs in the beach house.


Looking for shells with Daddy on our last night.


Getting sleepy. (Hence the pacie)
Trying to get a pictures with Mommy.



Trying to catch some zzz's on the long ride home!
I think it worked. :)

Some of the things we saw:

This is a shrimp/fishing boat that is docked
in the intracoastal waterway
beside our favorite lunch place, The
Provision Company. We recommend the steamed
shrimp w/ lots of napkins!

A small plane, flying pretty low, zoomed by. We also
saw 2 helicopters, a parasailer, and
plenty of kites in the air during the week.


Abby and I got to see the our first real crab at the same time!
He was a trooper and posed for this picture for us before
hurrying back to his hole in the sand.


One of our favorite things about this island is that they
are working to protect the sea turtles.
Here, the Holden Beach Turtle Watch Program members
recreate a nest of eggs laid the night before.
The original nest was too close to the pier and
would have been destroyed.


Here is the new nest. In about 60 days, the
eggs will hatch and the sweet things will make their
way to the ocean.

We had a wonderful time. Now, we are going to try to get back to normal, whatever that is.

Beach Bummin'

As I write, Abby is in her crib snoring. Bless her heart, she has had quite the adventure the past three days. We left out early Friday morning with Grammy and Gramps, picked up Granny Stone in Bristol, and made it to Archdale, NC in time for her afternoon nap (which never happened BTW). The next day, we loaded up the van again and completed our journey to Holden Beach. Today, we introduced Abby to the ocean. She LOVES it. Her favorite is the waves. I am pretty tired, but wanted to share a couple of quick pictures of her big adventure thus far to save you from a massive post later.

First night in a hotel. Here, she and Daddy make sure
we brought the memory card.


Believe it or not, First bath in a big tub.
She thought this was pretty cool. I think she wanted to
swim laps.
(I still use her infant tub since we don't have
treads in our bathtub yet.)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Megan! We celebrated with
cake and pizza on first night at the beach!

Ready for some fun in the sun.
She loved the sand!

She loves the beach!

Building a sandcastle. (too bad she tore it down before
it was completed.)

"Bye, Mommy... We're going to catch some waves."


Searching for shells during low tide. . . .


With Megan and Lauren.


She was so happy to have found the wading
pools! She really didn't want to get up.