2nd Birthday!!

Fun on the tractor with daddy!
Papa lets me drive!
Loves riding in the back of the truck through the field to Granny's, Sue-Sue's, or to get the tractor.
Chloe taking a turn on the hot wheel.
Tiger teeing it up.
His feet almost reach the peddles, but don't worry he gets it to go by just using one foot to peddle. he really can ride just about any toy there is out there regardless of his size!
Loves the poloaris rides.
Favorite part...icing.
A truck of course!

With all the excitement of the beach trip I almost overlooked Hunter's 2nd birthday party! He had a big afternoon with family and of course he loved his cake and ice cream. I just can't believe he is 2 years old. Like I have mentioned several times before he is just a really shy kid. He takes awhile to warm up to any situation and his birthday party was no exception. By the end of the afternoon he was running around like crazy with Chloe.

He is talking more and more everyday. We are also working on our colors and shapes. He can't really say the shape, but he can pick them all out when asked. Colors have been a little more tricky. Right now everything is orange and sometimes blue. He can correctly identify orange, but then he says everything else is orange as well. We were very happy when he actually said blue, and I think he may have said green at some time or another. He has also picked up some pretty funny and annoying phrases. For example, when Abby barks, he runs up to her pointing his finger and yells, "Hush!" (funny) Or if he doesn't want something or somebody he whines, "I don't want to," or he says, "don't." (Annoying!) I really love listening to him talk.

Trip to Wrightsville Beach

These were the tide pools that we played in most of the time. Hunter loved looking for fish, digging holes and filling them up with water.
Swimming like his daddy. He would kick his legs and bring his arms up over his head like he was doing the freestyle. Too bad he never went any where!
Yep, David went surfing. I will have to post more pics of that when I get them from April. Hunter and I were napping. He did get up a few times!
He would do this funny little thing where he would walk a little bit, bend over and stick his hair in the water and then throw his head back and laugh and lick the saltwater!
Playing in the sand. We were burying our feet.
Must have at least one tractor at all times.
Dinner at Blue Water.
Wave jumper!
Okay Hunter, mommy thinks this is far enough!

I am going to have to go back and change the caption on the picture of David and Hunter at the beach to, BOTH daddy and Hunter love the beach! I don't know if he remembered what the beach was from our last trip to Amelia or if he just decided that the beach was a lot of fun. David and I were just floored and both said out loud that no one would believe that Hunter was actually out in the ocean jumping waves, so of course we sprinted for the camera!! Hunter started off swimming in the tide pools and then decided the waves looked like fun so we just followed him out into the water. He would kick the waves back, rush after them, hold our hands and jump over them, and his favorite was to let his feet go and 'ride' the waves in to the shore. He would jump up shouting, "again, again." This was a great trip for all of us!

I especially enjoyed the trip back to my old stomping grounds. It is always bittersweet to return to one of my most favorite places, but I am so thankful for our visit. We stayed for 5 really short days at the beautiful Shell Island Resort. When I was in school this hotel was about to fall into the coastal waterway. The only thing keeping the water out of the hotel was a few thousand sand bags. It is amazing to see it now. Some how they were able to redirect the water and add beach up to the hotel. Now the water line is a good 200 yards or so away from the hotel. It is truly unbelieable to see I just wonder how long mother nature will let it last. It was a nice suite that had a separate bedroom along with a kitchen and living/dining room. I have learned that having a suite is a real advantage when you travel with kids! Hunter did so well. He loved looking over the balcony and watching the surfers and boats.

One of my dearest friends still lives in Wilmington so we were able to spend lots of time with her and her husband. I also got to see my old roommate, Amanda. Her grandparents live at Carolina Beach and their family has a week vacation with them every year. We kind of planned our trip so I could see them both. We had a nice dinner the first night at a place called Romanelli's. Hunter was perfect. I guess this is the benefit of having a really shy child, but he sat through the entire dinner and never said a peep until the last 5 minutes, and then he said "I want to go!" He was super sweet and I think he just had fun listening to us talk and watching all the people in the restaurant. The rest of the trip was spent on the beach, running the loop (which I really miss the most) long naps in the afternoon, back to the beach in the afternoon, then a fun dinner and ice cream treat. It really was a great trip and I am so thankful that we were able to go and that Hunter had such a fun time at the ocean. I really thought we would be spending lots of time by the pool.

Lastly, our final dinner destination was on the deck of the Hayes's house in Snead's Ferry. We went up to see Amy and Billy and had a really nice time. They have a beautiful home and Hunter enjoyed sitting on the dock and watching people fish. He was exhausted by the time we made it back to Abingdon. I think he has taken 2-3 hour naps every day since we have gotten back!