Ocean Isle Beach, NC
Our little bumblebee spent hours digging in the sand.
Pop Pop and James
sweet Colleen, always with her thumb in her mouth
My mom made beautiful (reversible!) sun bonnets for each grandchild.
I absolutely love this picture. Drunk on cold milk, napping on the beautiful beach quilt my mom made, listening to the sound of waves crashing, seagulls calling and Sophie laughing.
My parents watched all four children while Katy, Tom, Andy and I enjoyed the water.
the Rees family
Sophie, thrilled to be spending an entire week with Daddy.
Our brave Sophie—it took a lot of encouraging words to get her to venture into the water some days, and even then, we often had to hold her. “Swing me! Dip me! Swing me! Dip me!” Tired arms followed.
I love Sophie in pigtails. She hates them.
I could have spent hours, every day, at the beach with Sophie.
Sophie also loved making, what she called, mud puddles. Every day, we dug these for her. She’s quite particular in how they’re made, however—and how fast her construction workers worked.
My idea of beach heaven.
Sophie’s idea of beach heaven.
James tolerated sitting in the sand. Owen did not.
sunset
playground fun
We celebrated a belated Father’s Day with my dad.
Katy makes the best cards.
He’s excited about his Paul McCartney tickets.
The boys doing the thing they love most—standing on a couch and looking out a window.
The boys doing the second thing they love most—drinking milk.
a sweet nap
cousins conversing
beautiful Colleen
Andy “watching” the boys.
I love when a day simply requires a blanket, some towels, a chair, flip-flops and a kite.
Sophie
The kite flying was a bit anti-climatic—perhaps Sophie will enjoy it more when she’s older.
sandy shoes
Somehow Sophie always got the beach chair—and I always got the sand.
One hot afternoon, while the boys napped, Sophie and I went shopping and stopped for ice cream (this is her second scoop—there was an unfortunate mishap with the first).
We came back to find Katy and Colleen relaxing in the hammock.
Sophie fell asleep snuggled up with me—I can’t remember the last time this happened.
This was the view from our back deck.
Strawberry shortcake for dessert, which Sophie loved.
Sophie staying up late …
playing hide-and-go-seek with Dad.
This was the boys’ first time in a pool. Thank goodness for grandparents as we certainly needed an extra set of arms.
It was Colleen’s first time in a pool, too!
a Sophie-sized beach towel
James enjoying the pool deck more so than the pool.
Out of all the toys we brought, the kids loved the “pillow pile” the best.
Uncle Tom made a pretty cool fort for the kids—that was popular, too.
my dad
my mom
cousins and siblings
grandparents and grandchildren
Katy, Tom and Colleen
Mom and Dad
my kids
my family
“Find what brings you joy and go there.” —Jan Phillips