Just the 5 Of Us!: Visit to Hometown/Beach

The first weekend in June, we went to my home town for a visit. I got to see my new baby nephew and he is so adorable! His big brother was a lot of fun too, he's so much fun to watch and listen to, especially his current favorite word "wow". That Friday I got to stay at my brother's and spend the day w/ my nephews and my boys too. They all enjoyed playing together and I loved holding baby D and taking care of him. He is so sweet. J is now 2 1/2 and he is such a smart boy! He is already for the most part potty trained!! He sleeps in a big boy bed now! Time just flies by!
   On Saturday, we took the boys to get professional pictures made together. They came out really well! After getting pics made and a nice lunch at one of my favorite spots in town, we started getting ready for the beach. Aryel's best friend Catie & her family came w/ us and had a place down at the beach. Aryel had been with them the whole time so far and was having a blast. We all had gone to dinner together Friday night and it was a very nice time. We had made plans to go to the North End on Saturday with some of my relatives. The North End is a part of the beach that you have to drive onto and you find a spot and pull up and spend the day. They also have a part for people to camp out. It's a very beautiful part of the beach and a lot of fun to drive out. We have for years, with no problems! Well, everyone is packed and headed out and before we even got out of what is called the "SOUP" people were getting stuck! I had never seen anything like it. My uncle was able to get to a spot on the beach with my mom and the kids, but we ended up getting stuck as well and our friends got stuck. She quickly got out and decided to head back to the hotel and hang out at the beach there. We were having issues because the truck was also over-heating. My uncle came back and rescued us, but it was about 2 hours before we actually finally got to our spot on the beach! Once we did, we had a really great time and this part of the trip was Duke's favorite. Seeing all the people stuck and getting pulled out was really something else. Apparently it was due to the lack of rain and the sand being so soft.
    We had a surprise later that night too, my Dad and Step-mom drove down for the day and we were able to get together for dinner. That was a very nice surprise because I had not seen my Dad since he had open heart surgery. The visit was quick as they had to drive home, but it was nice getting to see them period!!
   It is always nice to go to my home-town and visit my relatives, my brother & sister in law and precious nephews! We had a great time with Uncle Buddy, Nicole & Family. I also spent some time (and stayed 2 nights) with my dear cousin Jess and got to see her beautiful daughter and her new (remodeled) home. She has done a super job on her house and it was so nice seeing her finished work! She worked very hard for 8 long months getting her house ready, while working full time, going to school full time and being a full time single parent. I am so proud of her!
    On another note, it was a bit emotional for me because the last time I had been to my hometown was when my aunt Char passed away very unexpectedly at the age of 54! Yesterday marked one year from the time she passed away. She was on my mind a lot during the trip. Typically, I would always see her. This was my first visit without her there and it wasn't easy. I miss her a lot.