A Week at the Beach

We just got home from a week at Ocean Isle Beach with Russell's family. We stayed in a big house a few blocks off the shore, with Russell's mom Jo Ann and his brothers Colie and Nick, and their girlfriends Laura and Susie (respectively). Jo Ann's brother Phil, his wife Gail, and their kids Michael, Christopher, and Natalie were the next street over with a bunch of Gail's family. Russell's grandparents Betty and Vito also came down for the Fourth of July, so it was quite a family event! Everybody was excited to meet Orion (or just get more QT with him).
We spent as much time as we could by the water, though with the baby we were pretty limited by the heat and only got a few hours in here and there. I was happy to be by the shore, regardless. We also played some beach games, including bacci, cornhole, and croquet. The real winner for beach fun was the Life is Good aqua ball that Russell and I brought; it's so much fun to throw and bounce pass in the waves! We liked it so much that I bought a second one and passed it on to Colie, because we just needed more of them in the family! I also knew Colie would get good use out of one, as he lives in Wilmington and has major beach access.
Otherwise we really just relaxed. We shared good meals together, did a puzzle, watched some movies, and experienced a really excellent thunderstorm that rocked the neighborhood and flooded everything.
Orion did really well for the most part; it took him a day or so to acclimate to the new surroundings, but he was a happy beach baby. He enjoys rides in his Ergo carrier, so he often snoozed through any walks we took.
Jo Ann was very kind to do this for all of us and we really appreciated the vacation! It was nice for me, especially, to have Russell around for a whole week - no days alone at home with baby for me! Orion got tons of love from everyone too, so it turned out to be a good thing for everyone.
It's good to be back home now, unpacked and relaxing on the couch.
And a shout out must go to our good friend Daniel, who totally rocked the house sitting gig and left us with a clean and happy homestead to return to. That was really the best finish we could have asked for!
Here's to a good week!