Back from the beach

We were in Nags Head last week with my parents and our friends Clare and Charlotte. We had a beautiful week with temps in the mid 80's and big fluffy clouds in the sky. It was awesome and Cedar absolutely loved the ocean and digging in the sand. We stopped off at my aunt Liz's house in Smithfield to break up the drive on the way down. She lives on the water and has a dock where you can find oodles of crabs. Cedar enjoyed pointing them out and watching them retreat to the sandy bank at sunset.Todd pulled this guy out of a crab pot and that didn't go over so well, especially when he pinched his finger. Cedar did not like that. :) My cousin Hunter was kind enough to give up his room for the night so we could all sleep in there. We got to meet his lovely girlfriend Holly. They are a really sweet couple. I took alot of photos at the beach, too many to post on here. These are some of my favorites. You can see the rest in our flickr account (look over to the right side bar). I had every intention of using my SLR but I just kept going back to the Iphone and the ever addicting Camera+ app. I am in love with it. So here's the beach and I miss it already. Cedar is definitely daddy's girl. We are seriously going to miss him this week when he's back at work.We went to Tortugas and the Brewing Station a couple times each. Yum! Todd stocked up on Tortugas' hot sauce. We even saw a double rainbow walking out of the brewery.We played putt-putt and hiked up to Jockey's Ridge. I have fond memories of running down the big dunes with Logan when we were young. Eli did great at the beach. He's so smiley now and I love his gummy grin. He would fight his naps on the beach but slept great at night. And of course there were birds....lots of birds to share the beach with and watch fly overhead.I was glad we were able to go with my parents because I don't know how many more years mom will be able to go with her Alzheimers. I was surprised by how she struggles with things that are so easy, like pouring a bowl of cereal or buttoning her shorts after using the bathroom. Something about this trip was eye-opening to how bad it's getting. She was by my dad's side every waking moment and anxious without him. I love the photo below of Cedar with her Mimi and Pop.We bid farewell to the beach one last time and said good-bye to friends we made. I can't wait until we go again....I think Eli wants to go back too!