family beach vacation, 2016 edition

This past weekend we took our very last trip as a family of three.  Since I am approaching the final weeks of pregnancy we will be sticking pretty close to home now until this little one arrives.  For our family trip, we headed back to the same beach that Erik and I visited for our little solo vacation a couple weekends back.  We both agreed that while it's nice to get away for a little alone time, the beach is way more fun when the little man comes along.  To say that Arlo loved it would be an understatement, he had an absolute blast.  He had been talking about going to the beach for weeks and Friday morning when we woke up I asked him if he knew where we were going.  "The beach!" he excitedly replied.  We arrived Friday early afternoon at the motel we had booked for the weekend.  It was just a short two block walk to the beach so we loaded up all our gear into our little portable bike trailer and headed for the water immediately.  Arlo's face when we arrived was priceless, walking over the sand dune revealed the ocean right in front of us and he pointed wide-eyed and said "hey, that the ocean right there!"  ha, way too cute.

The whole afternoon was spent swimming in the water and playing in the sand.  I went a little overboard and bought a million sand toys before our trip but they worked well to keep Arlo entertained the entire time we were there.  The only downside to the whole day was the hot, hot, hot temperature.  We were under a heat advisory and even at the beach the heat index was 101.  I learned later in the day that pregnancy and heat advisories do not mix and ended up feeling quite ill, really weak and nauseated.  After dinner we took a short walk and then called it an early night so I could rest in the A/C and chew on ice cubes to try and cool myself off.

The next morning we headed to the beach right after breakfast so we could avoid the heat of the day.  Thankfully, I felt much better the rest of the trip when I stayed out of the sun when it was the hottest out.

belly is 33 + 2 in these photos

Being at the beach with a toddler allowed Erik and I to act like kids again ourselves.  I taught Arlo how to make those sand towers with the drippy wet sand (a favorite of mine as a kid) and at one point Erik dug a big hole in the sand which was quickly filled by the incoming tide.  The boys had fun playing in it together and the tide pools gave Arlo a chance to play in the water without having to wear his puddle jumper, which he always had on when we were out swimming in the ocean.

After spending all morning at the beach, we headed back to our room for lunch and to let Arlo nap.  When he woke up, we headed down the the aquarium at Fort Fisher.  Arlo is really into fish and sharks right now so we knew this would be right up his alley.  He enjoyed it as much as we thought he would and it was just as much fun for Erik and I to watch Arlo having such a good time.  When we left we went to the gift shop and decided to let him pick out a souvenir from the trip, and basically told him he could pick any toy he wanted.  I cringed at the $16 price tag on the stuffed animals which we actually kind of encouraged him to choose since they were so cute, but Arlo had little interest in those and we walked out with his choice of a small rubber fish that cost only $2, ha!

checking out a frog - but note the bald eagle right behind them!

After the aquarium we had Thai food for dinner and then walked to a little park near our motel.  We treated ourselves to a couple of vegan frozen bananas afterwards and then called it a night as it was already past the little mans bedtime.

 

We headed home the next day, so we spent the morning packing up before making a trip to our new favorite doughnut shop, Wake and Bake.  We grabbed a box of treats and then drove up to Wrightsville beach to visit our friends - including Arlo's little buddy T!  The boys are only a month apart in age and are so cute together.  That being said, they are also at the non-sharing, sand throwing age so there's that too, ha.  Our friends live only a block from the water so we spent part of the morning beach side again before driving back home.

when you can no longer reach all your parts - you employ an official sunscreen applier, ha.

I know this post was total photo overload but I fell in love with so many that we took and again, I'm just trying to remember all the little things about life right now because I know how much it's going to change in just a few short weeks when 2.0 arrives.  I like to think that we will still be able to take our annual fall trip to the mountains this year, but we are hesitant to plan anything right now not really knowing how life is going to look as a family of four.  The rest of the summer will be pretty low key as we finish up a few little projects and wait for this little mister or misses to make their appearance.  Speaking of which, 8 month pregnancy update is coming up next! 
 

DC + the beach

this post could also be appropriately titled "wanting to document and remember all the things we did right before we became a family of four" or "beginning of summer iPhone photo dump" so bear with me while I try and accomplish both...

Knowing that travel will be limited following the arrival of 2.0 later this summer, we have tried to squeeze in all of our summer travel plans in the span of about a months time.  Two weekends ago we drove up to DC to visit Erik's family and celebrate his Uncle's 70th birthday.  The trip up was probably the most uneventful travel with Arlo thus far - six hours in the car and he was so good we didn't even have to break out the iPad or DVD player we brought along in case things got rough.  Somehow he was completely entertained by a few toy trucks, books, and his open view out the back window of the new mom-mobile.  If the new view is enough to keep him that entertained on future road trips then that alone was worth the price of the new car, ha!

When we arrived on Friday we went immediately to the pool at his Grandparent's place.  Arlo has become quite the little fish and loves every opportunity he gets to go for a swim! 

probably saying "I not smile at camera mommy" or something like that, ha.

Saturday morning we took Arlo to the spash pad right down the street from his Grandparents.  It was a hit last year and equally as entertaining this time!

not a drinking fountain, Arlo!

fountain levitation!  also, he still fits into last years bathing suits!

Saturday afternoon was the birthday party.  Arlo napped for much of it, and Erik and I got to lounge poolside in the laziest way possible.  That evening, Memere and Papa watched Arlo while we went on a double date with Scott and Caitrin.  We ate at the most amazing restaurant in downtown DC, called Busboys and Poets.   I ate so much food I literally thought about pushing out the baby to make some extra room in my belly.  We will definitely be going back on a future trip!

Sunday was Father's day, and also the day we headed home.  We spent the morning in the city at the National Air & Space Museum and I don't know who enjoyed the planes and rocket ships more - Erik or Arlo!  This museum was one of Erik's favorites as a child and it was pretty neat that he can now share in the experience with his own son.

The following weekend my parents came to watch Arlo while Erik and I took a weekend beach trip.  It will be our last vacation as just the two of us for probably at least a year.  We went to Kure beach, which is a pretty short 2 1/2 hr drive from our house.  We had been looking forward to a quick getaway just the two of us, and while it was actually very relaxing and just what we needed, at the same time we spent an awful lot of time talking about how much we missed Arlo and how much he would love it there.  Good thing we have another trip planned to go back next week, this time bringing the little man along for the fun!

Erik taking pictures of me without me knowing.  no belly here...

but definitely a belly here!  31 + 1 weeks

Erik being silly when I told him to pose, haha

my view for most of the weekend

total beach bums.  this will surely not be happening during the next trip when we have a toddler in tow!

vegan hot dogs at Island Hots!!!  satisfying a very strange pregnancy craving.

vegan doughnuts at Wake and Bake!  also the best name ever for a doughnut shop.

While we were having fun at the beach, Arlo was having fun with "Nama" (Grandma) and "Dampa" (Grandpa), having back deck picnics and swimming in his little pool. 

...and when you are two years old and the Grandparents are in town, you can get away with pretty much anything - including swimming in your Micky Mouse undies and PJ shirt  ;D