Boys Can Wear Tutus Too, Right??

My friend, Libby, has been figuring out how to make tutus and needed some "models" for sizing purposes.  Both myself and our friend, Kara, have boys and not girls (yet) but we were happy to let Libby try the tutus on our sons.  Ha Ha!  Jude is 14 months old and Rock is 3 months old, so Libby was able to get an idea of their differences in sizes.   While they were modeling their tutus we thought it would be funny to capture a few pictures of this rare occasion!  Here are our boys in all their tutu glory:

Back To The Beach

Jude, Ian, and I went back to the beach for a few more days this past week with some of our friends, Libby, Kara, and baby Rock!  While we were there we did a lot of the same activities we had done during our family beach trip, including a trip to the water park and eating out at the many restaurants the beach has to offer.  Something new and different we did this time at the beach was swimming in the neighbor's salt water pool!  My family has known our neighbors at the beach for years and have been invited to swim in their pool many times, but we usually spend our time down at the ocean.  Not this time!  We figured that with two babies in tow, it would be a lot easier to enjoy some sun and water play at the pool rather than getting all sandy and having to tote all of our things with us down to the beach.  We had a blast playing and spending time together at the pool and I really liked the concept of the salt water pool.  Here are some pictures from our pool extravaganza: 

A big thanks to the Lokey family for inviting us to use your pool- we really enjoyed it and had a wonderful time!  I'll end this post with a few cute pictures of Jude playing in the Lazy Boy at the beach house:

The Aquarium, Pizza, & Porter

Today we took Jude to the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores.  Jude was still a little too young to really interact much, but I think he really did enjoy all of the people and the whole experience of it all.  We got a few cute pictures of him at the aquarium:

 Our
 Little
"Crab"
Family

After the aquarium, we had lunch at my favorite little pizza place down here, Michaelangelo's Pizza.  It seems like we're always getting Jude to try new things, which I love, but pizza is something Jude hadn't tried yet... until today!  Jude's first slice of pizza had cheese, pepperoni, and mushrooms on it and he seemed to think it was an alright meal choice.  Here's a picture of Jude and his first slice of pizza:

In the evenings, we like to go for walks as a family along with our weimaraner, Porter.  Porter has been in heaven here at the beach this past week.  I decided to bring the camera along on our walk tonight to capture the relationship that Porter and Jude have.  Porter is very protective and gentle with Jude, however, we are very aware of their interactions.  Here are a few shots of us on our walk tonight:

Tomorrow we'll be heading back to Raleigh for a few days and then back here to the beach with some friends for round 2 of beach fun!  This has been an excellent family vacation and I look forward to next summer when we're down here with another Walker in tow! 

Steps On The Beach!

We Walkers have had a very laid back last few days here at the beach.  My parents left and headed back to Raleigh on Wednesday morning, and since then we've rested up a lot.  We've been back to the water slides and down to the beach a few times and today while on the beach Jude decided it was time for him to take his first steps!!  He wobbled a bit and took about 5 steps before plopping back down to his butt and crawling around some more.  He didn't seem especially proud of himself, instead he just acted like it was a normal part of his day and continued playing on the beach.  Ian and I were so proud and excited for him!  For lunch today Jude had an interesting meal:  a hommus sandwich!  (Hommus + Bread = Hommus Sandwich)  I wasn't sure if he would like it or hate it but he wolfed it down and seemed to think it was wonderful along with his sippy cup of milk.  Here he is happily eating his sandwich:

This afternoon we had planned to go to the aquarium, but when we got there we realized it closed a bit earlier than we had expected, so we decided to just go back tomorrow when we'll have more time to enjoy ourselves.  Instead of the aquarium, we took Jude to the Atlantic Beach Town Park and played with him there for a while before heading to dinner at Rucker Johns.  Here are a few pictures of Jude swinging and just having a ball playing at the park:

After dinner at Rucker Johns we went to the Bogue Inlet Pier for a bit.  I think Jude had a good time people watching and just enjoying the atmosphere.  Tomorrow we'll try going to the aquarium again and will probably go back out on the beach or to the waterslides once more before we head back home on Sunday.  Unfortunately Bonnie wasn't able to join us for this trip like we had planned but hopefully she'll be able to come along next summer.  As for us, our beach trips aren't over for the summer just yet- we'll be back next week with friends for one more round of fun!  Here are a few pictures of Jude tonight at the Bogue Inlet Pier:

Busy Days At The Beach

Whew!  We've had a really busy last 2 days here at the beach!  We started yesterday off with a trip to the water slides that are right near my parents' beach house.  They have a kiddie pool with mini slides that Jude was able to play on.  The water was the perfect temperature and I think we all enjoyed ourselves.  Here are a few pictures of our water slide experience:



After the waterslides and Jude's afternoon nap, we spent more time on the beach!  We met another family who had children and Jude had a blast socializing and mingling with them.  I'm learning how much of an extrovert Jude seems to already be.  I love that Jude is outgoing and seems to really enjoy having new experiences. 

For dinner on Monday night we had great plans of cooking out flat iron steaks along with corn on the cob, potato salad, cold slaw, boiled shrimp, and fruit.... this didn't go as planned!  After Ian had marinated and cooked the steaks, we realized that the meat had gone bad and had a horrible odor.  We were able to return the bad steaks to Food Lion and we settled on having a dinner of the remaining sides we had originally planned.  So much for our nice steak dinner!  Ha ha!  On Tuesday we had another fun filled day!  We started the day off with a boat ride in Beaufort.  The scenery was great- Beaufort has many historic houses and accross the inlet is Carrot Island, where many wild horses live.  Jude did wonderfully on the boat; I think he enjoyed the wind in his hair and just sitting back with us while drinking ice water out of his sippy cup.  Here are a few pictures of our Beaufort boat ride:

After our boat ride we ate lunch at the Front Street Grill in Beaufort.  Once again Jude had a taste of a new food:  Clam Chowder!  Jude seemed really eager to eat Mommy's clam chowder and fussed when I didn't give him more quick enough.  Here's a picture of Jude slurping down some clam chowder at the Front Street Grill:

For dinner tonight we ate at The Duck Grill in Swansboro; the weather was perfect to sit out on the porch.  Jude had a tiny taste of yet another new food:  Seared Tuna!  I love seared tuna, and Jude was really interested in trying it.... I was a bit hesitant to give him meat that had only been seared, but he had a small taste and was eager for more.  I'm so glad that Jude is not picky and so happy to eat a large variety of foods. 


After dinner tonight we went out on a pier beside the restaurant and took a few pictures.  Jude was in such a good mood and I think we got some good shots!  Following these pictures we went for dessert at Dairy Queen and then headed back to the beach house for the night.  Tomorrow will be another day full of soaking up the sun on the beach!

10 Days At The Beach!

We're in the beginning stretch of our ten day family beach trip!  Ian, Jude, and I came down on Friday and my parents joined us today (Sunday) for a few days.  Bonnie (Ian's mom) will be joining us towards the end of the week.  So far we've been down to the beach a few times and we rode out to Fort Macon last night before dinner.  We had dinner at The Crab Shack in Salter Path last night.

Jude tried crab for the first time at The Crab Shack and he LOVED it!!!  Here's a picture of Jude enjoying the hush puppies at dinner last night:

My adorable husband thought that while on vacation would be the perfect time to play around with a razor and his beard to try out a new look!  I came upstairs to find this:

I think it looks ridiculous but he seems to be quite pleased with himself- Ha ha!  To each their own I guess!   

In other news, Jude's first experience getting to play on the beach was really successful.  He's a beach baby for sure!  Jude spends his time on the beach digging in the sand and crawling around on the surf.  He really enjoyed finding and playing with seaweed and he found that a water bottle makes a great toy too!  Here's a few pictures of Jude's beach experience today:

After about two hours of playing on the beach, Jude was pretty tired and very sandy- here's a picture of Ian helping Jude rinse off in the shower outside:

So far we're having a wonderful vacation and are looking forward to a lot more fun plans we've got for the remainder of the week.  I'm really enjoying myself soaking up the sun and time with my family- nothing beats that!