Happy (Early) Birthday Cora!

We had a pre-birthday celebration for Cora during our vacation. She loved the mini slice of cake we gave her-- especially the frosting! She ate all of the frosting first, and then some cake bites, and then smeared the rest of the cake around her high-chair tray. She liked opening presents too--she got some cute gifts, thankyou! Though the whole thing, she looked a little awed-- everyone was taking pictures, she got to eat sweets, she was allowed to rip paper up... I think it was a bit of a different experience for her! Cora's official birthday in on Tuesday, so we'll probably have another mini-celebration then too.

Down to the Pier

We walked down to the pier a few times that week. Two passes came with the house, so it was fun to walk out and see the view of the coast and watch the fishermen. Our beach house that we rented was across the street from the beach and had pretty views of the sound the the ocean too.

First Steps

Cora took her first steps in North Carolina! She's been taking a few here and there ever since, but not more than 2 or 3 in a row yet. She also cut her 5th tooth (an upper) while we were on vacation, and the 6th one isn't far behind!

Hot-tubbing with Kissie

When she wasn't at the beach loving the sand and shells, Cora had spectacular times in the hot tub. Because the pool was a little on the cool side for the cooler weather, we turned down the heat in the hot tub, and Cora and Emeline had lots of quality water time with Kissie. Cora loved being in her little floatie and moving around by pushing herself off the seats where she could touch. Pretty fun!

Beach Time

Off to explore....

We had so much fun at the beach! Cora was in love with the sand. She only tried to eat it a few times, so that was a relief. But she loved exploring, finding shells, digging her hands in the sand, and wrecking sand castles. The first few days were high 70's, but then the last few days were a little bit cooler. We hit the cool week unluckily--the week before was all 80's, the week after was all 90's. Oh well! The water really wasn't too cold at all. We had lots of fun boogie boarding in the ocean too, besides the fun walks, flying kites, and hanging out on the beach.

Kites

Kevin brought his kite, and Shad bought a cool kite on our vacation. They were fun to fly on the beach! Although we did have to learn that it's best to fly them at low tide....

Cousins

New matching pj's from Kissie and Pata.
Cora had so much fun with her cousin Emeline. Cora thought everything Emeline did was hilarious and laughed around her all the time. Cora loved watching her and following around. The girls sat next to each other in their car seats for most of the rides, so they had some good bonding time.

Sight-seeing

We're back!

After a fun-filled week and a not-so-fun unexpected delay getting home, we're back! We had a great time in the Outer Banks of North Carolina with my family. Lots of beach time, games, eating, flying kites, hot-tubbing, sight-seeing, and so much more.

Cora had lots of fun on vacation, but she was very excited to be home. When we got to the house, she crawled around to all of her favorite toys and played with them for 3 minutes and made the circuit over and over again. She also slept 5 hours of naptime the next day! So we must have tuckered her out.

We went to Roanoke Island Festival Park. They had a little village set up from the 1500's and this recreated boat for that time period.
We took one afternoon to drive down through part of the Outer Banks. So pretty! We stopped at this lighthouse to play around. We wanted to take the ferry to continue the scenic drive, but it was a little bit of a stormy day, with high winds too. On the way back, we had to drive through ocean water that had come up someone's driveway and flooded the road! All the water had collected on the road, held in by the sandbags that were supposed to keep it out. Pretty crazy!
This is what a rest stop looks like in North Carolina! It was right on the beach. We hung out here for a while and Emeline looked for coins Pata was hiding in the sand. Although it might be a better activity for her next year, she didn't think the coins were all that neat.
Shad and Jen --lovebirds on the beach.
All the guys, wearing our official family vacation t-shirts.

We also went to the Wright Brothers Museum and the aquarium, but I don't have pics from thsoe yet... so they'll come later!

First Piggies

She didn't like them at first....

But after a minute, Cora did think Kissie's hair experiments were pretty cute!

(She was awfully tired, it was the night before our big trip!)

Another First

It's not dirt around that little mouth this time! Cora had her first fudgesicle on Saturday. She actually only got a few licks, but she loved it and was clamoring for more. But, I think she liked chewing on the popsicle stick just as well. It must have felt good on her two little gum bumps where more teeth are coming soon!

Discovery

Cora has discovered the TV! And now has enough coordination to turn it on and off, volume up and down, and channel up and down. I put one of our little ottomans in front of the TV to try to discourage her, but she's so fascinated with her new-found power to turn this big light on and off that she can't be deterred! Our new TV should come tomorrow or Monday, hopefully it doesn't have any low buttons.

I'm Everywhere She Wants To Be

Book Lover

When we went to wake Cora up to go to church yesterday, we found her head nestled on her books! She pulled them off of the table next to her crib and through the crib slats. What great lengths to go to to get another bedtime story!

Florida Video Clips

At the Beach



In the Pool

Orlando Pics

Kevin and Cora swimming in the pool at the rental house.

Kevin and I at Epcot.
Cora on her first safari (that's the back of an okapi in the background). We also saw hippos, rhinos, girrafes, elephants, and lots of other animals. It was a fun ride.
Cousin Kylee, also on her first safari, with a giraffe.
The whole gang at MGM Studios.

Where Dreams Come True

We spent last week at Disney World with Kevin's family. Cora did remarkably well, and loved all the colors, sounds, lights, and dancing from the street performers to the kiddie rides, the shows to the parades. What a trooper! She seemed to love it! And we had a great time as well.

Cora and Kevin at the afternoon parade in the Magic Kingdom. We saw this parade and the night spectro-magic parade, both were really cool!

Cora with the raptor at the Animal Kingdom.

Cora's first carousel ride.
Afternoon nap at Epcot. Kevin sat outside with her while I saw the film in France. More naptime! Cora has been taking much better naps at home than she used to, I think it must be because she learned how to sleep so well with so much going on around her at the theme parks. Or, she's still catching up!

Beach Time

In between our fun Disney World days, we took a trip to the Gulf to go to the beach. Cora loved playing in the sand.. and eating it too, so her sand time was cut short once she discovered this new texture in her mouth!
Cora also had a great time playing in the ocean too! Here she is with Dad, Grandma, and Cousin Sorayah.

We're Back!

We got back from Florida last night. We had a great time! We'll post more after we unpack..... but here's a clip of our adventures there.


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Notice how calmly Cora is taking our alien abduction!