Renee's Visit

Tyler's mom came to visit at the beginning of November and we loved having her in town!  After she flew in, we grabbed lunch and walked around one of our favorite areas of Wilmington.  We decided to spend most of our time around our house so Renee could maximize her time playing with Meredith.  Meredith warmed up to her instantly and Grandma Nae was a trooper putting up with hair pulling and face attacks!

Sunday morning, we took Renee to our church and then to brunch at Boca Bay.  I had brunched there with some girlfriends a few weeks prior and it was SO good I thought I needed to take Tyler and his mom back for a second round. 

On Monday, Renee and I took Meredith to her little gym class.  Tyler was off on Tuesday so we spent the day in Wilmington before taking Renee to the airport.

We loved having Renee in town.  Meredith is so lucky to have her as a grandma :)

Alicia's Visit

Yay for Visitors!  One of my very best friends from college came to visit over Halloween weekend.  Alicia moved to Colorado a few years after college so it is so hard to find times to see each other.  I hadn't seen her since her wedding last summer (15 months!) but we didn't miss a beat.  We were so late coming home from DC so poor Alicia spent hours at a restaurant waiting for us on Friday night.

Saturday was gorgeous so we went straight to the beach and went on a long walk.  After we stopped at Quarter Moon Cafe for some good iced coffee drinks and Halloween candy on the patio.  That evening was Halloween so we passed out candy, walked Meredith around and grilled out.

Sunday we took Alicia to Wrightsville beach and brunched at Oceanic.  We had another gorgeous day! 

We spent the rest of the day in historical downtown Wilmington walking the riverfront and stopping for drinks and cupcakes.  We finished the night with sushi. 

 

Monday was a rainy day but we planned an indoor activity.  Surf City has a sea turtle hospital and my neighbor is a volunteer at it so she gave us an awesome private tour.

We went out to eat for a quick dinner before bringing Alicia to the airport.  When we were almost there Alicia got a call that her flight was canceled and then her new flight the next day ended up being delayed a few times.  Despite all the travel issues, we still had the best time.  We are so thankful for visitors.  We are hoping to meet up with Alicia back in Minnesota this spring and then eventually visit her in CO!

Pumpkin Patch

We enjoyed a fun family outing in October to Mike's Farm. We took a hay ride to a pumpkin patch, visited some animals and ate a good family style dinner. Holidays are so much more excited with a baby :) 

More August Recap in Pictures

As if our August wasn't packed full of enough adventures, here are a few more fun times:

We had a play date with Avery - Meredith has major hair envy ;)



We visited Tyler at work - Meredith's first trip to the dentist!

Our new floors were installed!



Lots of snuggles for this momma's girl!

Tyler was asked to be in a retirement ceremony.

Officer and a baby

I made my first pie from scratch and it was a huge hit!

We enjoyed the last few weekends of outdoor church at the beach.

We also started eating dinner outside and spent our first evening with books in the hammock. We are looking forward to doing a lot more of this once the fall weather comes!

Wrightsville Beach Staycation

We planned a short staycation at the end of August and it was just what we needed. We booked a room with an ocean view balcony on Wrightsville Beach.

Day 1:

We went straight to the pool for swimming, drinks and relaxing.

The weather was perfect! It was gorgeous out. Comfortable in the sun if you were in the water and a nice breeze in the shade.

Meredith enjoyed swimming again but she preferred to be held by one of us vs. staying in her floatie.

After a break from the sun and a nap (Mer) in our room, we enjoyed a long walk on the beach.

After we gave Meredith a bath and put her to bed, we ordered room service for dinner and enjoyed a bottle of wine on the balcony.

Day 2:

Our morning view.

Up early to catch the sunrise in our pjs.

We headed down the road for some Loops homemade donuts and coffee.  

 

Then it was back to the pool for the day.

GoPro family selfies with some water spots....and Meredith eating my shoulder.





We took full advantage of the poolside bar and $10 drinks. We were on vacation after all!



Our little water baby loved swimming. She even took a great nap in the shade so we could swim again before heading home.



We had the best time! We are planning to repeat this for the next two summers. There is nothing better than enjoying family and being outside with no distractions!