With the much anticipated arrival of our little boy in October, this Fall promises to be one spent cozying up indoors with calming rituals and pumpkin-spiced goodies and the dizzying, disorienting, amazing new addition in our lives. Therefore, one last Summer adventure was in order.
Last weekend, our friend, Craig, invited us to stay at a lovely beach house in Emerald Isle, NC, with his family, his parents, and his sister's family. Juniper finally got to meet Ella and baby Hayden, and Charlie and I had a wonderful time chatting with friends, watching our children play, and enjoying the last bit of Summer by the shore.
Juniper is fearless when it comes to her love of the water. The hurricanes in the Atlantic had churned up the surf quite a bit, resulting in huge waves, strong currents, and rather dangerous swimming conditions. Without warning, Juni would charge toward the waterline, utterly delighting in the waves washing over her face and the currents dragging at her feet. Given how long it took to hoist my very pregnant self up off the sand each time she strayed, we are lucky Gina and Jennifer were there to hang on to her or I'm afraid she would have most certainly been carried out to sea to live with the mer-people.
Our final day there, we visited an area with calm, shallow tidal pools - much safer for our little wanderer and much easier on this mama's water-phobic nerves. Since our return, Juni has been begging to go back to the beach, squealing with delight at any photo of the ocean or the shoreline. Next Summer, little one.