Books

Kara can't make it to Tyler's birthday party (it's coming up... can't believe he's almost one!), so she, Addison, and Mom made a visit the other day to see him and give him his presents.

He needed a little encouragement opening the presents

but quickly got the hang of it
(he is an expert paper-tearer, as we have unfortunately learned around the house...)

Tyler's favorite thing to do these days (other than eat) is to read books, so I was glad they gave him a book (he also got shoes, jeans, and an interactive toy that's like a car dashboard).  He immediately wanted someone to read to him:

Grandma to the rescue

"Mom, stop taking pictures and come read me this book!"

"Nevermind.  I'll read it myself."

And then hours later, he cornered Aunt Kara and made her read to him:

Upstairs, Addison wanted to play dinosaurs in Tyler's room.  She took all of them (and there are quite a few!), lined them up, and proceeded to ask Kara and Mama how each of them protected themselves.  She liked the show Dinosaur Train.  Can you tell?

Tyler, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with his dinosaurs.  What did he want to do?  Read books.

the part of "Wide-Mouthed Frog" where he puckers his lips; Kara must have known what was coming when she snapped this pic

Surf City

At the beginning of August, we went on vacation with all the Selfs to Surf City on Topsail Island.

We were going to be there Saturday-Tuesday.  The forecast did not look great:

Not great at all.  Oh well, they get the weather wrong all the time, right?  Um, not this time.  It rained the WHOOOOOOLE trip.

That said, it was a nice, relaxing time with family.  I actually decided to focus on relaxing rather than *brace yourself* taking photos.



That's right, you heard me.  I DIDN'T have a camera attached to my face the whole time!  In fact, I went nearly the whole trip without taking a single photo!  Instead, I played with Tyler and Sawyer.  I cooked dinner.  I rode around the island just to see what there was to see (which wasn't much...).  I watched old episodes of Hee Haw.  I went to lunch with Jason and Tyler to a place that overlooked the stormy, rainy ocean.  I relaxed.  And it was awesome.

The last night we were there, there was a break in the rain.  Jason and I had discovered a walkway earlier in the day that we thought might be a good place if there was a sunset to see that evening.  There was, and OH. MY. GOODNESS.

I mean... there are no words...

Just, just, .... no words.

As if this wasn't breathtaking enough, at one point Jason turned around and there was a RAINBOW behind us!  THIS kind of sunset AND a rainbow?  I couldn't help but say a prayer of praise to God for the beauty of His creation and for giving us this moment after a rain-logged vacation (sorry that Sara, Adam, Beth, and Jake all missed the sunset).  Incredible.

What a precious time with family.

I did take a few more photos that evening other than the sunset.

Tyler stealing Paw Paw's hat

Sawyer/Jake the Pirate/Ninja Turtle (it changed through the day) cared more about a tiny boat parked beside a store than the sunset that was captivating all of us.  Oh, and do you love his tank temporary tattoo?  Tough guy.