Beachin' It, Again!

In mid-August we had a fun playdate with some of our friends from church!  Jack was thrilled, Sam was such a good baby, and I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful beach day!

We've gotten so much use out of this little sun-shade tent thing that I bought for Sam at the beginning of the summer.  He seems to really enjoy it, too!

Jack immediately grabbed his sand toys and began digging in the sand... he loves playing in the sand!

Luke had only recently begun walking on solid ground, and he had so much fun learning how to walk on the uneven sand!

Austin really didn't want to go in the water, and as soon as he could get away he very adamantly signed "All Done!"

The rest of the kids had a blast with the water, though!

And of course, Jack still couldn't keep his feet under him!

Austin tried the water again... he was much more comfortable in the safety of his momma's arms, but he still was most definitely not a fan of the water!

He was much happier on dry land!

As I mentioned before, when we weren't down by the water Sam did great in his little tent... playing,


and napping!


He also enjoyed sitting in my beach chair


His favorite part, though, was chilling with McKenna!

Really, I'm not kidding when I say that those two love each other.  Seriously, we're not forcing their relationship at all!  They really do love each other!  See?

We did a pretty good job getting all the sand off before getting back in the car.  I had brought a change of clothes, and we made use of the shower, as well!  Doesn't he look like a total surfer-in-training here?

Although... I don't think the surfers actually try to drink the shower water, though!

 

Style Inspired By Amy's Sunglasses

Since we've had such an unusually cold summer I hadn't really wanted to put poor little Sam, who doesn't have a lot of fat on his body to keep him warm, in the water when we went swimming.  Finally in mid-August, though, I decided that it was time for Sam to get in the pool for the first time!  Okay, so technically I had let him dip his legs in the pool when we were in Las Vegas, but since I didn't have anyone to take a picture of it I didn't count that as his first time!

At first he wasn't quite sure of it.  After his initial gasp when the water touched his toes he stared at the water like he was wondering why it was so cold- not like bathtime, which he loves!

Finally, though, he started to splash and have fun "swimming" in the pool, so we got off the steps and joined Big Brother Jack Jack, Auntie Mimi, and Luke, who were also having a great time swimming!

Eventually, Sam got tired...

But he made sure to thank me for taking him swimming!

Thanks, mom, for taking pics for me!


 

Please, Sir, Can I Have Some More?

A couple days before Sam turned 6 months old we were ready to start Sam on solids!  I wasn't quite sure how I was going to feed him and get pics at the same time, so I called my mom to come help me.  Because of Sam's poop issues I was nervous as to how he'd handle the food, so for his first food I mixed his usual dose of prune juice with some baby oatmeal, and he did great!

(Note: 10 points to you if you noted that this is the second Charles Dickens reference I've made on my blog. 20 additional points if you can remember where the first reference is!)

A Nude Successful Playdate!

I don't know what he's doing here

 

Not really sure what Sam is doing, either

 

I think that Jack was telling Sam that his Little Baby Buttcrack was showing

But I'm pretty sure that Sam didn't care about that

Until he remembered that McKenna was there, that is!  Then he was a good little modest baby and put his buttcrack away.

Pippi was there, too, but she wasn't really concerned about modesty so Sam didn't have to worry.

Luke was mostly concerned about the lawnmower

But eventually he ended up having some modesty issues of his own!

Austin wasn't really sure what to make of all the nudity going on...

...but apparently Sam's modesty violation wasn't that bad, because Austin gave his official permission for Sam to court his baby sister!

Nudity aside, I think it was a pretty successful playdate!