OBX!

Last week we had an amazing trip to the OBX!  We stayed in our usual house on the water in Corolla.  It was an awesome week, probably one of my favorite trips ever!  It was so nice to have Cora and Josh be able to play on the beach and I could actually sit and relax!!  The kids absolutely loved the water and were so good all week.  We could not have asked for more perfect weather.  The Richters came for the end part of the week and spiced up the vacation!  It is always nice to have them around!  Cora loved to play with her cousins (especially Madelyn) in the ocean and Josh was content playing "bayball" on the beach.  Or he enjoyed a little golf too:)  Just give that boy a bat and ball and he is happy as can be!
Tom and Vera had a Christmas morning for us and surprised the kids with mini ipads!  It was so exciting for them, and especially exciting for the parents!!  What a great and generous gift from them:)  We are all ready for the big wedding to come next year!
What an amazing week and lots of memories were made for our family.  Until again next year.... :)

All ready to drive to the beach!

We have arrived!

"What's that?"

Serious about that sand!

Cora loved to build sand castles with her daddy!

Taking a minute to himself:)

They were both so fun on the beach!

Baseball with Dad!

Playing baseball with Uncle Bill

Loved getting thrown up in the air with Uncle  Bill

My beach beauty!

First day on the beach!

Cora with her bucket!

Painting a horse is always a must at the beach!

All done!

Posing with the bear...again and again:)

Love that smile!

More "bayball"

Sweet cousins!

My babies and I!

Love this in black and white!

Cora and Pop on the Ipad!

WaveRunner time!

The girls loved it!

So much fun!

Josh and his Dad;)

Love this picture of everyone!

Another day on the beach!

Snack time!

Taking a break!

We had a joint bday party for Sarah and Josh

Ready to party!

A little more serious picture:)

Opening presents!

Uncle Sam reading a book to everyone

Happy Birthday...again:)

A quiet moment with the boys...

Our family pic!

The grand finale....our group picture, always my fav!

Goodbye Summer!

Here are some pictures from our last weeks of summer (well of Cora!)...we were ready to go to the beach but sad the summer was passing us by.  Goodbye summer, hello fall!

Cora is so excited to take ballet and tap this fall!

What a beautiful face my girl has;)

All ready with their ballet bags from Nana!

My baby boy turns....2!

Hard to believe that my sweet Joshua Hudson is now 2 years old!!  Wow time has flown.  I have watched my little guy grow up into a sweet, curious, confident, and naughty at times little boy!  There is definitely truth to the phrase "Mama's boy!"  Before we went to the beach we celebrated with a pool party at our pool.  We invited the Pickels', Nolan's, and a few of Josh's closest friends.  It was a great gathering and we had great weather (considering it was storming the day before and had to change the date!)  Josh had a blast with his "Thomas the Train" theme party.  It was a great send off before the beach!
We love our little guy so much!  He is full of life, energy, and smiles.  And he is pretty athletic too!  I can't wait to see him play his little sports in the future;)  We love you Josh!!  What a joy you are to our lives!

Josh got his own little suitcase from Nana and Pop!

His birthday morning with his new train table!

He was so excited!!

What an amazing little boy my little man is turning in to!

Pool party!

He loved his cake!

Chaos of opening presents!

Madelyn always takes care of her little cousin:)

Cake time!

So happy and excited!

Every time you ask him what he did at his birthday party, he pretends to blow out his candles!

Cousin love!

His Aunt Sue Sue face!

Washington DC Zoo!

Cora, Josh and I took a little road trip to visit Auntie Linz this past week.  We had an awesome time and Cora and Josh loved the city.  We had so much fun visiting and we even had a successful night of all three of us sleeping in one room.  The zoo was HUGE, so it was quite and adventure we had.  Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day, but well worth it!  We saw a lot of animals and had a good time overall.  We can't wait to go visit again!!

At the Zoo!

Posing with Auntie Lindz!

We loved the elephant!

Looking on in amazement!

They loved the seals!

Baby bears...brother and sister born in December

They were so cute!

Our little golfer!

Josh has picked up a new hobby...golfing:)  It appears he is a lefty golfer like his Pop.  Nana and Pop took care of Josh this past weekend when Cora and Sam went up to New Jersey to visit family.  I had to work so Josh had a blast with his grandparents!  They even took him to the driving range..what a treat!!  He is actually pretty good at golfing, maybe one day he will be playing with Pop and Uncle Bill!  Here are some other random summer photos from our August days....

Josh and John Thomas on a pool date

The girls love to dress up!

Everyone watching Brave!

Our little golfer practicing in Nana and Pop's yard!

What form!

Pop helping out!

He kept hitting ball after ball after ball!

At the driving range!

So serious!

Tips from the professional golfer!

Love love love this picture of these two...

Playing doctor...

Love these eyes!

Swim Team Award Ceremony!

The Church Run swim team had an award ceremony the other week and Cora received a medal for the end of the season!  She was so excited and proud of herself.  A lot of her little friends were there to receive their medals, along with Madelyn!  It was a perfect ceremony and we are so excited that she will do swim team next year!!  It is such a great summer activity and Cora loved every second of it!!

Cousins and their medals!

 

My girls!

So proud of my little fish!

 

Busytown & End of Pre Swim Team!

The end of part of this past week included Nana taking the girls to see Busytown at Theater IV which has become a tradition with Nana and her girls!  They all love going especially when Nana gets them front row seats!  Josh and I spent some quality time together while everyone was at the play so it was a win win situation!  The girls love spending their quality time with Nana, and we have enough playbills to prove it!!
Yesterday was the last day of Pre Swim Team for Cora.  She was so disappointed when I told her it was her last practice!  She absolutely loved Coach Kasey and even drew her a picture for her.  We are so proud of her going three days a week at 8am!!  Aunt KK helped us a lot considering two of the practices during the week fell on the days I work.  She was our life saver!!

Hard to believe summer is half way over and we will be going to the beach soon!!  What an awesome summer, and we have more to come!

There's my girl swimming a lap all by herself!

End of the year swim team donut party!

Nana and her girls at Busytown!

Getting autographs!

The love this!

So proud of my little fish!