Nice surprise

As a follow up to today's post about our sad news... We had a wonderful surprise waiting for us when we returned Sunday night. Great Uncle Richie painted my room while we were away. He's not finished, but it's wonderful. See the tree growing over the closet. You can't even tell that Daddy put a hole in the wall, can you? He's going to come in and paint flowers and a picket fence so it looks like an English garden. Wonderful, huh? It's a very cool room and I was excited to see it when we got home late Sunday night. Thank you Uncle Richie. Thank you, Granny too, for looking after the house and buying us groceries so I could have milk in the morning. We appreciate all the love, support and prayers in this busy and sad time.

Saying Goodbye

We cut our vacation to Nags Head, N.C., short because Pap wasn't feeling well. So we returned to Morgantown so Grandma & Grandpa, Mommy & Daddy and Aunt Sara could say goodbye to Pap. I really wasn't aware of what happened, but I know there were a lot of sad people. I did my best to entertain them in the waiting room with games of Peek-a-Boo and asking for "bapple" (apple). Pap went home to be with Jesus Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, I visited with relatives and met some new friends (a puppy named Jersey). That's me with Jersey, my second cousin Hannah and cousin-in-law Jamie. The other photo is from my birthday when Pap and Mamaw came to visit. We return to Morgantown on Wednesday so Mommy can go to his funeral. I'll be visiting with The Bott family then. We don't see much of Great Grandpa Bott so this will be a treat.

More adventures

Yesterday, we visited the North Carolina Aquariums on Roanoke Island. It was a lot of fun. I met a lot of new friends, including sharks, turtles, sea fish and all kinds of tropical fish. I also made a friend named, Elijah. He's 2. He actually talked to me in the aquarium and we kept running into each other at the exhibits.

Later we went to eat at Tortugas Lie and I ate a lot of new veggies, including zucchini. I also ate corn on the cob -- right off the cob! I just picked it up off the plate and started eating it. We decided to wait to visit the beach until after dinner because it was so hot yesterday. Someone carved out a large hole on the beach and I played in it for awhile and then ran into the ocean. I have discovered the ocean is salty so I like to suck on my fingers after I've played in the water. Course, I also thought the sand tasted salty and kept picking it up to put in my mouth, but Aunt Sara and Grandma wouldn't let me eat it.

Making friends

There are a lot of people at the beach to make friends with. So far, I've met a couple of little people around my age. The girl, Marley, is just three months older than me. She doesn't talk much. I don't really care what age young people are. I just want to hang out with them. I know no strangers and will approach anyone who I see around us. Grandma & Grandpa have a hard time keeping up with me as I run down the beach to see a new friend. Today, it's supposed to be 98 degrees so we're going to the place where there are a lot of fish on Roanoke Island. Mommy said it would be too hot for her and me at the beach during the day. So we're going to play in the sand in the evening after dinner tonight. I think we're going out to eat tonight, but Dr. Skaff said I'm not allowed to have seafood.

Fearless of the ocean!

We're staying at Kill Devil Hills, NC., for the week. I am enthralled with the ocean. I love it. No fears here. In fact, the family has to keep a close eye on me so I don't go running in on my own. I like walking along the beach on my own. You know me, Miss Independent. More updates later.

Streaker

I'm starting to take after my great Aunt Jane. I prefer to be "au naturel." Any time Mommy dresses me in an outfit that has straps of any kind, I figure out a way to get it off (as you can see in the photograph). I hear that Grandpa Bott could track his little sister, great Aunt Jane, when they were outside playing because there would be a trail of clothes.

She tried on my new bathing suit, which features fun fish on it, to make sure it fits before we head to the beach. Before she realized it, I had both of my arms out of the straps and the bathing suit was hanging around my waist.

I'm not sure what this place called the "beach" is, but Mommy & Daddy sure are looking forward to going there. Daddy said he can't wait to take me into the water. Great Aunt Barb gave me a life jacket to wear. And I they keep talking about something called sand. I'm sure wherever it is, it will be a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I hear we have a long trip in the car to get there. I can only sit in that car seat for a couple of hours before I start getting ansy. I overheard Daddy saying something to Mommy about giving me Benedryll before we go. They said I need to sleep because I've been keeping them up too much lately. I woke at 3 a.m. today and kept Mommy up until 5 a.m.

I believe we'll have access to a computer at the beach so we'll try to keep you posted on our daily adventures. If not, we'll have lots to share when we return.

Holiday weekend

What fun we've had over the holiday. Since it was a national holiday, I got to hang out with Mommy during the middle of the week. That was a special treat.

On Monday, we visited with Uncle Richie, Aunt Grace and Johan and Ethan. We celebrated Jonah's birthday and hung out with family (Aunt KaKa entertained me quite a bit.) We waited until real late to see something called fireworks, but the whole lights we saw were from the storm that poured down on us as we traveled home.

Tuesday after Daddy got home from work we drove to Ripley to the Arts & Crafts fair. Daddy and I fed some geese. It rained again for a bit so we had to hang out in a tent.

I even helped Mommy with some cleaning around the house. That Swiffer is like pushing my lawn mower!