Let the Summer Begin!

Last weekend marked the unofficial beginning of the Summer of Norah, as she let us tag along with her down to Port Aransas, where Josh (and his generous parents) invited us to stay with the Browns and the Basdens over Memorial Day weekend.

Norah and I began the weekend by heading to San Antonio (in record time, I must add) on Thursday afternoon where we stayed with our friends the Cliftons. They were nice enough to take us out to a fun dinner at a great burger place, where Norah and her pal Henry enjoyed a nice dinner of french fries and, well, french fries. The following morning, the two of them enjoyed a romantic breakfast while being chaperoned by Piggy.

We then headed to Port Aransas (where we also arrived in record time), joining up with the Browns and Basdens for a weekend of beach- and toddler-inspired fun. In fact, this was pretty much the only picture of Katie, Josh and Norah staying relatively still long enough for a picture.

Unfortunately, Karen wasn't able to join us until Saturday morning, but Norah was sweet and refrained from showing off her most entertaining antics until after Karen arrived. Honestly, the weekend was a complete blur. Mornings were spent at the beach and/or pool, where the kids gradually grew more bold as the weekend went on. This was unfortunate for Karen and Alison, as Chris and I golfed on Sunday morning, and the ladies expected a laid back day under the beach canopy watching the kids shoveling sand. That actually failed on two fronts, as the canopy was gone when the girls arrived at the beach in the morning and the kids decided to get aggressive after recognizing the defense was playing man-on-man, and not zone. Thus, most of the pictures you will see below are from Sunday afternoon, not Sunday morning's crazy time. Thanks girls! And yes, that is a picture of Norah falling asleep while eating her lunch after Sunday morning's beach session. Perhaps that is the best evidence of just how much energy was expended while Chris and I were scouting out Newport Dunes Golf Club (which is spectacular, by the way).

Norah couldn't be happier than she is in this moment, stomping in the waves behind her man.

My favorite "How you doin'" picture ever.

Pure happiness.

Sunday night, we joined Mimi and Papa for dinner at the Olive Garden (which was lovely) while the Browns and Basdens ate at a fun restaurant on the water. Norah thoroughly enjoyed saying Mimi and Papa over and over. She enjoyed smelling the flowers outside of the Olive Garden with Mimi even more. I hope she never stops finding joy in everything around her.

After Alison generously prepared a wonderful pancake breakfast on Memorial Day, we all cleaned up and headed out. The 7.5 hour drive home wasn't too bad, though some traffic in Temple pushed us to take an alternate route. Happily for me, the alternate route took us through Crawford, Texas, where I got a massively dorky smile on my face when we passed the billboard with a picture of W. and Laura outside of town. Miss you Georgie!

The beach was a fabulous time. The schedules of the kids were almost perfectly in sync, the adults enjoyed playing Seinfeld Scene It and Wii Tennis, watching movies and opining on the major events going on in the world. Like, you know, celebrity gossip and stuff. And Norah loved the never-ending playtime with Josh and Katie, not to mention her favorite game of saying everyone's name over and over by the end of the trip (Owwwwlll = Alison; Kiss = Chris, JJJJooossss = Josh, Karen = Erin, Bint = Brent, Ka-gy = Katie). Thank you so very much, Browns, for making this weekend possible.

We have been catching our breath this week in anticipation of the summer ahead. Norah's last day of Mother's Day Out was Thursday, and I think everyone involved was sad to see that day come. Below are pictures of Norah from her first and last days of school. It just amazes me how much she has grown up in that time, both from a physical standpoint and in the way she behaves (and misbehaves), interacts with people, and seemingly wants to spread joy to everyone around her (unless you are another toddler competing with her for a go on the slide).

I look forward to updating you on our Summer adventures soon. Our first stop will be a family vacation in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina with the Tennessee Denneys next week.

Have a great weekend!