We spent July 4th at Sunset Beach this year. We have been going for the holiday ever since Matt & I have been together. It is so much fun to spend time with his family! They are all just a little crazy! This is the view from Matt's grandparents house...how can you beat this?
Brayden's cousin, Sid, is 1 year older and this is the 1st time that they really spent any time together & interacted. The boys played for hours together with very minimal interference from the adults. It was so nice to see them playing together! I hope it continues for many years!
This year we packed in lots of fun activities including a baseball game, putt putt, fishing, swimming, and time on the beach.
Learning to swim with Aunt Dana. After a few minutes, Brayden really loved the pool! By the 2nd day, he was starting to stick his face in the water & blow bubbles. I think swimming lessons are in store for us this fall :)
Enjoying the baseball game and goofing off with Sid
Cousins
It is not the best picture of either one of them, but Brayden enjoyed spending some quality time at the baseball game with his Papa (Matt's grandfather).
Playing on the beach with Sid. They buried ALL of their toys under PILES & PILES of sand...it took us a while to dig eveything out when it was time to go home for the day!
I think this is Sid going for his Hole in One!
I just like John's expression in this photo.
Brayden was also really scared of the big volcano at the putt putt that went off every 15 minutes or so. He would totally freeze and then freak out so he didn't play the entire course, but I think he enjoyed the parts that he actually played on. Maybe next year will be a little better.
Getting some help from Aunt Dana
We were "inside" the volcano at the point. He couldn't see it and so he wasn't scared of it!
He also got really upset on the last hole when his ball disappeared...Where did it go??
so I let him putt my ball in on the last hole as well. He was amazed that it just "went away".
After 4 straight days of playing hard all day and no nap, this is what happens...He was TOTALLY passed out on Aunt Dana at 6pm Monday evening! It didn't last long though! As soon as we started changing him into PJs, he was up and off to the races again!
Learning the delicate process of "preparing to fish" from BB
Helping Daddy fish
My mom made the dust ruffle, curtains, and throw pillows for the bed (which I am currently LOVING at story time)! I picked a comforter that is navy/red so that it will grow with Brayden...I didn't want something that he was going to outgrow in just a few years. Currently, he has "Cars" sheets on the bed but he also has a set of sports/ball sheets that match the lamp and wall clings. Again, something that we could fairly easily (and cheaply) change out as he grows older. The lamp was really the starting spot for the room! I saw it at Target & immediatly knew that was what we needed for Brayden's big boy room!
Aunt Dana painted the letters and did an incredible job! I was blown away by how they turned out!
The animals on the shelf (rhino, lion, and elephant) are all hand made of beads. They are incredible pieces of art! One of the Drs that I work with at Duke brought them back for Brayden from South Africa and Brayden really likes them a lot!
