Folkerts Family Fun: November 2012

We hadn't planned on it, but we spent Halloween this year back in Salem, VA with my parents. With hurricane Sandy coming in Sunday night/Monday prior, we decided to hit the road and go down that way, just in case we lost power and things got bad (they didn't...power stayed on here in MD). But it was nice being with extended family to experience Jackson's second Halloween...and really the first one that counted since last year he couldn't walk and had no clue what was going on!

I had a Giraffe costume planned but it was a little small and not nearly warm enough for the night. Luckily my grandmother had bought a pumpkin costume weeks prior for us. Turned out to be SUPER CUTE!

I wasn't sure how Jackson would react to this whole Halloween thing, but man did he catch on QUICK!

Trick or Treat!

Here you go!

I'll take that!

Put in my bag

Hi doggie!

Pumpkin meet Jack-O-Lanterns! (I love how he pressed his face up to the glass door...a little windex will get that right off, sorry!)

Jackson & Daddy

Happy but cold family!

Smile Jackson

Runaway Pumpkin!

Guess we'll have to carry you

Run away, Run away!

"The Take"

YUMMMMM!

You know what happens after your kids has been trick-or-treating all night and eat a bunch of candy - CRAZINESS! I leave you with this video that occurred just after we got back from the night's festivities...

Happy Halloween!!!

Ok, so he's not really a baby anymore. He's toddler through and through. But this was an exciting trip - his first ever beach trip!

My family hasn't been on a family beach trip in decades. So we were super excited to find out my parents had rented a house in Holden Beach, NC. We used to go to North Myrtle or Topsail back years ago. No one had ever been to Holden. But it was off season (September 15-22 - my parents retired from teaching this year so they could actually go in September), we could bring the dogs, and we had heard great things about Holden. So off we went with me and Jackson, my dogs (Marty & Virginia), my parents, my brother Aaron and wife Kendra, my grandmother that we call Nanu and her dog Mork. David had been in Alaska the prior week and we managed to find him a cheap flight from MD to Myrtle and picked him up the night we arrived.

(By the way, quick side note - one of the great benefits of being a stay-at-home mom is being able to up and go on trips like this anytime you want!)

We arrived at our beach home. Holden really doesn't have hotels, it's all these cute little houses, all named differently. Our's was named Xanadu (assuming an obsession with Olivia Newton John). It was a great house. Everything was set up so perfect for a family with kids and dogs! There were even toys as we walked in for Jackson to play with and a fenced rear yard so the dogs could be let out. We all decided this was probably the perfect beach house with one exception - there were 4 bedrooms and no separate room for Jackson. This meant we had to sleep in the same room which always means he doesn't sleep as well. But for some reason it's ok to get up earlier when your at the beach. It's somehow not near as depressing!

I was a little anxious/excited to see how Jackson would react to the beach. I know a lot of kids cry and get scared by the waves. He was a little timid for maybe 2 minutes and then it was over. He LOVED IT (And so did the dogs, well Marty mostly)! Here's the trip in pics...

Jackson getting splashed by some of his first waves with momma.

Eventually he got a little too bold and wanted to do it himself and
got rolled by a wave. He wasn't too happy.

Jackson looking at shells on the beach...there are tons of shells at Holden!

Shells are cool!

He LOVED digging holes with Nana!

And finding planes in the sky, "Plane! Plane!"

Splashing in the waves was the most fun ever!

I just like this one, he's so cute! It's also a reminder that even though you have a
waterproof camera, you may want to wipe the lens to prevent smudges! Somehow it doesn't
matter that much in this pic.