Norah at the beach

This was Norah’s 4th beach trip (5th if you count when Bryan and I spent Thanksgiving in Corlloa NC with Cornell friends) but she really doesn’t remember her previous trips so it once again felt like her first time seeing the ocean. It was so much fun to see her excitement. The first day we took her to the water she must have spent a half hour just jumping up and down in the water and hitting the waves with a shovel. Norah was such a good swimmer this year that she didn’t need to wear a floaty. She loved diving under the waves with her goggles on. She did plenty of boogie boarding Norah was determined to learn to play paddle ball Shell collecting with Mimi At the top of the Currituck Lighthouse – We went to the lighthouse especially for Norah. She really really wanted to go inside. We told her that we had taken her when she was a baby but of course she didn’t feel that counted since she had no memory of it.

Alice at the Beach

Alice had so much fun at the beach. She was so cheerful and made the most of every day. I asked Alice every morning what she wanted to do most that day and she always said “build sand castles with you” and we did. I had so much fun playing in the sand with her. We also spent a lot of time collecting sea shells together and I think just about everyone got to enjoy helping this little girl boogie board. We lathered up those girls with sunscreen like it was our job. Alice still managed to tan. Too tired to smile Alice skinned her knee running to the beach and had to have some first aid So nice to have a sister to play with at the beachAlice was a boogie boarding queen on this trip. Who knew she had such stamina?!Alice loved playing with Baby Guy. She would do anything to make him laugh and he seemed to like the attention. A few days into the trip he started hugging her. Climbing Currituck lighthouse

Freya at the Beach

There is just something about a baby on a beach. Freya loved her first trip to the sea side. She spent a good part of the first morning tasting sand and then moved on to picking up sea shells, licking them and then chucking them over her shoulder. She loved walking into the water and waiting for the gentle waves to hit her. Freya also greatly enjoyed being held in the water and feeling bigger waves lift her up and down. Another favorite pass time was petting dogs. There were so many adorable dogs this trip! And Freya petted them all. A baby with gogglesA close up of babyBaby with goggles reprised. I know these pictures are nearly identical but I couldn’t decide which to choose. Freya, being the perfect baby she is, napped every day at the beach.My favorite photo of Freya from the weekEvery year it seems like Bryan and I run into a few families over and over again at the beach. We talked to the family of this little dog almost every day. They had two teenaged daughters and reminisced about when their girls were little at the beach. I told Bryan someday we would be a family with teenaged daughters and a fluffy little hypoallergenic dog. He said “We are never getting a dog” Actually I think this is my favorite picture of Freya from the week

Hicks Beach Week

We had lots of fun with Bryan’s family at the Outer Banks. This was my 5th time to the beach with them and some traditions have emerged over the years. We took turns cooking dinner each night, we had a pool party and went out for ice cream and there were some highly competitive card games. We had flawless weather all week long and the water was a warm 78 degrees.

Susan, Taylor and Hannah Hannah, Kelsey, Kimball+Guy, Susan, Taylor The card players   Uncle Taylor and Uncle Greg taking it easy Guy surprised us with a Reggae themed pool party I think this is the best photo I took on the trip. Guy is such a cutieKelsey and GuyGranny B’s ice cream Grandpa Guy sharing his cone with Baby GuyAlice, me and Norah This was one of the highlights of the trip for me – Norah, Alice and Freya all fell asleep at the same time! They were out long enough for me to take a power nap and still have time to play in the waves with Bryan, Courtney, Hannah and Kimball. It was a wonderful break. Courtney, Hannah, me and Kelsey Courtney and Hannah

Snow Mountain Ranch

We had a three day Brooks family reunion at the YMCA’s Snow Mountain Ranch. We were all there and it was a so much fun. I really appreciate all the planning my mom did to make it such a success. My mom did an excellent job of providing the cousins with the all the best elements of our childhood Lake Powell trips. The 4 oldest kids bunked together in one room and it reminded me of sleeping on top of the houseboat at Lake Powell. At one point Norah and Evelyn were telling Louis and Alice to be quiet when they wanted to sleep – as one of the younger cousins it just really resonated with me. Ok – here is a sampling of photos from the trip

The cousins in birth order: Evelyn, Norah, Louis, Alice, Andrew, Freya. Seeing them hang out at the table waiting for food also brought back memories of Lake Powell meals with my cousins The kids went on hour long pony rides and loved it so much we did it again the next day. These ponies were named Spirit and Utah Louis and Alice – photo courtesy of Matt or AshelyEvelyn and Norah on Spirit and Jet – I just asked Norah what the ponies were named and she described each one to me Freya was too little to ride but she enjoyed getting to the know the ponies from the safety of Grandma Lorraine’s arms We celebrated Ashley’s birthdayWe cooked meals together, stayed up late talking and let the kids run around wild There were lots of fun activities to keep us busy at Snow Mountain Ranch. We played Hungry Hungry Hippos with laundry baskets and scooters. It was hilarious. Here is Evelyn getting ready to catch some balls We went canoeing The Watts crew We went tubing! This was so much fun. I was sooooo scared that I tried to get out of it by offering to stay home with Drew and Freya but my mom made me go. I’m so glad she did because it was my favorite activity. It was also Louis’s favorite activity. He told us so many many times.We also played mini golf and did some climbing  Another highlight was an impromptu hike we took. We felt we hadn’t sufficiently exhausted the kids so we decided to take them for a walk – Matt was just in flip flops – it ended up being a hike. Some of the little ones struggled a bit but we all made it to see these pretty falls. The rest of these photos are courtesy of Matt I think Ashley snapped this picture of Freya asleep in Mom’s arms. Last year when we were at YMCA of the Rockies I took a similar picture of Drew asleep in her arms