Junior-K Graduation Photos

I cannot believe my little man has graduated Pre-K!  Another milestone accomplished, and I am SO proud of this little dude.  He has had an amazing year, and I am so impressed with what he has learned in his class:




1) He can spell and write his first AND last name
2) He can write his numbers to at least 20
3) He can count to 100 (sometimes with a bit of help)
4) He is recognizing sight words very well
5) He can write his whole alphabet
6) He can write any word/number with an example
7) He can mostly name the letter of a word's beginning sound




We missed his actual graduation because we were at the beach, but I don't think he minded :) We used our last day at Ft. Fisher to grab some really cute "graduation" shots.

We ran down to the beach super early for a couple of shots...

...and he's off (to great things!)

One of my favorites

We found this rose and he did this without us telling him to - ha!

He wasn't sure why we told him to throw his cap, but he liked it!

My sweet precious child - Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Beach Trip Part 3

Sadly, Sunday rolled around and it was time to head home.  We had such a great time that it was honestly hard to leave!  We wanted to check out Ft. Fisher one more time before leaving, so we packed up the car and headed in there before heading home.


Holy cow, it was a really cool place, but the heat was almost too much!  We got pulled into a "Musket firing" presentation (which was really cool but could have been 20 minutes shorter), and I was surprised Nolan hung in there and listened as well as he did.

My little cutie.

Pretty neat place!

Once the presentation was done, our stomachs told us it was time to leave, so we headed to Bojangle's for some breakfast and then piled in the car home.  It was a pretty quick trip home, which was great because we missed Vegas and I had a LOT of laundry to do :)


I am pretty sure we have already booked our trip for next year, and we are counting down the days until we can go and have fun again!

Beach Trip Part 2

Saturday looked mostly like Friday, except for a bit of rain in the morning.  Nolan and I didn't mind though - we snuck out of the room before everyone was awake and drove around and just checked things out.  We made it to Fort Fisher and took a quick little walk to check out the sights.  The rain was tapering off so I was hopeful that the rest of the day wouldn't be a wash out.

We took this picture and then he promptly told me he had to "poop."

We scurried back to the hotel as soon as Nolan mentioned the above, and found the rest of the troops awake.  We ate breakfast in our room, and then hit up some putt putt and bowling on the property.  It was ridiculously hot, but nothing a quick dip in the pool couldn't fix!

My sweet Mom - SO thankful for her!

He got frustrated a few times, then got the hang of it!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the pool, and took one last run down to the beach before dinner.  We decided to head into Beaufort for dinner and it was so great.  The town is absolutely adorable - I wish we had more time to spend there.  I can't remember the name of the place where we ate for dinner, but it was delicious!  Nolan had some great macaroni and cheese and we all loved our food.  



It was so beautiful next to the water!

Once we got back, I had been planning on giving Nolan his "graduation gift" all weekend, and we decided to do it then.  I wanted to do a little something special since he was missing his graduation at home, so I put together a little gift basket and had a great friend at work make some adorable cookies.

Unfortunately, the slime I bought was a huge hit #lessonlearned

He loved his cookie...can you tell?!



We Like Pizza

So we have discovered our FAVORITE pizza place and seem to go there quite a bit!  Ok, more like once a week but still!


Sadly, it took us forever to go on a "slow" night there Nolan could make his own pizza and he was thrilled!  For some reason, the kids cheese pizza is so darn good and he will eat the WHOLE thing!


Here are some pics of our pizza love affair...taken on two separate nights - ha!

Silly boys...this was actually Daddy's best shot at getting a bite!

Beach Trip Part 1

We had SO much fun on our beach trip last week.  We went with Ollie and G, and honestly could not have stayed at a better place for families OR had better weather.  We went to Atlantic Beach Thursday through Sunday and we are so thankful we had this time together at the beach.  Even more special was the fact that Lexie was in town and she got to take a trip to the beach too!

My kid says this is his best side when I ask for a picture...



Ollie and G took Nolan down earlier in the day while I worked half a day and Anthony and Lexie packed and did some things around the house.  We left around 5:00 and made a really easy drive down there.  It was nice to just have some time with Lexie and hear some of her songs - she has an AMAZING voice!  We arrived and Nolan had just finished pizza and ice cream so he was thrilled (and hyper) to see us!

We spent the evening unpacking and then drove to get a later dinner for the three of us.  Our sleeping conditions were a bit cramped, but who cares about that when you are at the beach!  Nolan loved sleeping on his blow up mattress and did surprisingly well each night (also didn't hurt that he napped with me each day!)

THIS guy was excited to be at the beach!

Our first full day was Friday and we got up early and headed out to the beach. I was really eager to test out the beach gear I bought - tent, umbrellas, etc.  I had my perfect vampire setup ready to go - even though I didn't have much downtime since I am paranoid and wouldn't let Nolan more than 5 feet away from me - ha!  The waves weren't too bad so we spent time playing in the water, and looking for shells and just generally loving the weather.  Once it was closer to lunch we packed up and headed back to the room for lunch and a much needed nap.

It only rained one morning and he was so excited to get to use his new umbrella!

When your snack matches your towel :)

The place had an awesome pool.  Seriously, awesome.  There was one huge section that was only about 3-4 feet deep.  He still had to keep his floatie on the whole time, but it was really easy to maneuver around in and never got too terribly crowded.  Plus, the water slide was the hugest hit and Nolan had NO fear and seriously went down it 50 times!  We put him on our laps on the tube of course, but he was loving it.


Our afternoons were usually spent at the pool before dinner, and we all really liked hanging out there.  I think that would have to be his favorite part of the whole thing!

His morning "tea"

Friday night we headed out to a local dinner placed called "Shark Shack," and it was amazing!  You placed your order at a window and just ate your food at picnic tables in the yard.  There was a ton of food and the weather was perfect for eating outside.  We finished the night with another walk on the beach and were exhausted by the end of it!



My Cute Little Brave...

Because I just cannot get enough!  This was his last game and he got his medal and game ball that day.  I am so sad the season is over, but I can't wait for next year!

Those ears and that hat...I could eat him up!

My little slugger!