Nathan's 1st Beach Trip

We have been so excited about taking Nathan to the beach this summer!  Our stay at Point Loma presented the perfect opportunity.  We headed to Mission Beach and Nathan wasted no getting to work and playing in the sand!

Ivy and her family are here in San Diego with us!  This was her first beach trip too!

Daddy teaching Nathan how to build a sand castle.

Ivy's interested in learning too.

Nathan enjoyed knocking the castle down each time Daddy built a new one.

No, Nathan's hair is not turning gray.  That would be sand!  I should have taken a picture of all the sand left behind in the tub after his bath.  And most of it was in his hair!

Going down to the water with Daddy.

Isn't this the sweetest pic?!  Love this family sooo much!

Ivy was super excited to splash around in the ocean!

Nathan on the other hand wasn't quite too sure what to think.

He liked pointing at the waves--but he did not like going in them!

If I stand right here maybe the waves can't get me...

Ivy plopped right down and waited for the waves to come!

Love these sand covered toes!

Family Pic!  Nathan is practicing his blank stare/scowl.

Watch out Mom, there's sand in this fist!  (We had to repeatedly tell him to NOT throw sand!)

Getting as dirty as possible!

Seagull hunting time!  It was hilarious watching Nate trying to sneak up on them!

Talking to the birds.

Swim Lessons

Nathan took swim lessons for the first time from a sweet young lady at our church this week.  He did great!  

Each day he started out next to the pool and helped put all the toys in.

Then he put his feet in and got to splash around.

He never actually went in the water willingly but did fine once he was in.  Here he's playing, "Motorboat".  When they finish spinning he is supposed to put his mouth in the water and blow bubbles.  However he preferred watching Carly blow bubbles instead of attempting to make his own!

Practicing kicking with his legs.

Using his arms to take strokes.

Trying to kick and use his arms at the same time proved to be a challenge.

Swim Lessons are almost done so it's time to put the toys away!

Getting out of the pool by himself.

All Done!

Enjoying his first Otter Pop to celebrate the end of swim lessons!

Carly's house was a fun place to go and not just because there was a pool to swim in!  Nathan loved visiting Fred, Carly's turtle.

Lola, Carly's pug, also kept him entertained.  I loved listening him try so hard to make the "L" sound correctly in Lola's name!  His tongue would stick out and it came out sounding more like "WoWa".  Soooo cute!

Phoenix Zoo

While Nathan and I were visiting in Arizona we decided to brave the zoo.  We went early to avoid the heat! Luckily Crystal and Ivy have passes and were able to share with us!

Ready for the Zoo!

Sometimes I look at Nathan and can't believe how fast he is growing.  I love how little he still looks in this picture atop a tractor!

The cow came in for a closer look.

Nathan's asking where the Mommy Cow went.

Where are the animals Mom?

Aren't they supposed to be in this cage somewhere?

Checking out the Elephants!

Time for the splash pad!  Nathan hung back at first while Ivy went to check things out.

Is this where the water goes?

Splash!

An Alligator came to visit us in the splash pad.  He was even kind enough to take the kids for a ride. ;)

Nathan loved sticking his face in the water as it sprayed.  Ivy had to cover her ears at the sound of Nathan's screams.

Look Ivy, you can take a drink like this!

AZ Trip

Nathan and I flew out to Arizona to witness this event:

We are so excited that Ivy is officially a member of the Dean Family!

It was so fun to see our kiddos play together!  They even went on their first date in a remote control car!  (Ivy's Daddy was in charge of the remote and served as a chaperone)

Nathan wasn't sure what to think when the car started moving!

And they're off!

We had some car trouble, so good thing a chaperone was close by!

Ivy even has her own custom wagon!  She was gracious enough to share it with Nathan for a ride to the park.