Great Wolf Lodge, Here We Come!

Riley is going to be sooooo excited. I just got off the phone with the reservation desk at Great Wolf Lodge. Kevin, Riley and I are headed there next weekend for two days of family fun in the water!

There is so much for a toddler to see and do there and I just cannot wait. Our little water baby can't get enough of the wet stuff, so she is just going to be in heaven! Better stock up on the Little Swimmers this weekend - I have a feeling she'll just about be living in them for 48 hours!

Memories, Milestones and More

Last week we took our first ever family vacation since becoming a "family of three".  We ventured down to our ultimate favorite vacation spot - the Outerbanks in North Carolina.  We specifically stayed in Nags Head.  This was our fourth trip down there - the first being back in August 2004 when Kevin proposed to me on the beach at sunset.  The proposal was in the same spot that he sat on the beach as a child during annual vacations to OBX.  And Riley sat in that same spot last week, which, as you can imagine, brought along with it a flurry of emotions. 

We returned for our second trip in June of 2006.  This was our first trip to OBX as a married couple - another nice memory.  Our third trip was in August 2008.  I was 23 weeks pregnant with Riley.  This year Riley was 9 1/2 months old at the time of our visit.  I couldn't help but dig up a picture from last year's vacation.  It was taken of Kevin and I standing out on the Nags Head Pier.  We took another picture this year in the same spot.  What a difference a year makes ...

We vacationed with two friends of ours - Kelly and Frank - and their daughter, Addison, who is just 6 weeks younger than Riley.  It was a fun-filled week for everyone and jam packed with memories that will last a lifetime.  Riley even hit some milestones while we were down there; clapping, waving bye bye, and saying "dada".  What a perfect, perfect week.

Enjoy some pictures from our week full of firsts, laughter, happy tears and hugs. 

Riley and daddy on the beach.  One of my favorite pictures.

Shoulder rides for Addison and Riley at the Sand Dunes.

Watching the love of our lives.

I had the ultimate pleasure of showing Riley the ocean and the sand for the first time in her life.  Her squeals and belly laughs for the waves told me she loved it.

It wouldn't be vacation without a walk to get some yummy ice cream!

 Riley and I, playing in the water.

"Riley 2009". 

Exploring the sand.  She loved to dig and quickly learned - after a handful to the mouth - that it tastes yucky.

She loves her shoulder rides from Daddy.

Precious, precious, precious.

Getting lots of laughs and smiles on the beach.