Looking back, I now realize how excited Laina was to go to the beach this year. We told her 3 days before we were leaving that we were going to the beach with our family, and she continuously talked about the beach…she would say: going to beach, digging in da sand, fishies swimming, see Grammy and Granddad, etc. AND, for those three days, she woke up earlier in the morning and took shorter naps than usual. Most the of the time when she woke up, she immediately said, “Going to beach!” So, yes, someone was very excited.
I guess she knew how much fun she was going to have! She absolutely loved hanging out with everyone: Grammy, Granddad, Nana, Aunt Pam, Uncle Tom, Bob, Christine and Patrick (and Pumpkin and Smoky of course!) She made herself right at home soon after we got here, and enjoyed every moment she had exploring the beach house, playing with family, digging in the sand, collecting shells, and even getting in the water. After a few days of being there, Laina was ready to venture into the ocean with Pam and Christine. It was awesome to watch her brave the waves, and giggle as they came crashing around her.
As always, we had a great time in Hatteras….the only drawback that Sam and I agreed on was that Laina was so excited to hang out with everyone else, that she wanted very little to do with her lame-o parents;). I guess we can take that as a preview of her teenage years. Good for her though. We love being able to spend time with her, but it is equally as fun to watch with create relationships with other people. She does however, sometimes choose who she is going to be more reserved (and sometimes flirtatious!) with. She’ll decide when you’ve earned the right to interact with her as Tom, Bob, and Patrick all learned ;). It’s really fun to watch actually.
Sam experienced some serious beer this trip thanks to Bob’s new found appreciation for high alcohol content beers. It didn’t seem like he was up to the challenge that Bob threw down. On top of that this trip marked a giant landmark in the culinary world. Now, Grammy is a wonderful cook. She’s always treating us with new recipes she finds in Taste Of Home cookbooks and we’re endlessly thankful. But white wine + grammy + shrimp has been something we give her a hard time about. Well this year Grammy knocked it out of the park and made us all “Alabama Shrimp” which we agreed was absolutely scrumptious.
All in all, it was a great trip and would like to thank Pam and Tom for having us again this year! I think Laina was thankful that we went on our “road twip.”
