Parents, a princess and a pirate

So, we went to the Outer Banks of N.C a few weeks ago. It was a great time. We met up with my parents, brother, grandmother, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Jack, Sara Roberts and her friend Claudia. We all rented a house in Corolla, about 200 yards from the beach. We flew out there, which was a challenge. You have to have so much stuff with two kids - 2 car seats, clothes, diapers, wipes, some toys, stroller, ect... We were lucky enough to give some of our stuff to my aunt and uncle and some to my parents to bring with them since they were driving (trailering their Harley's). We managed to get our luggage checked and all our carry-on items on. Kylie was great on the plane, she liked being next to the window in her car seat. Matthew just slept the whole time in either Brett or I's arms. We flew into Norfolk and had a 3 hour drive to the house. The house was very nice, plenty of room. We were put in the furthest room because no one wanted to hear Matthew crying in the middle of the night! Kylie stayed with my brother in another room. But after he woke her up getting into the top bunk, he stayed in another room. So little Kylie was the only one who got her own room!
The beach was great. Kylie loved it and had so much fun playing in the sand, waves, and looking for crabs and shells. There was another family with several kids a little older then her that she would watch. You could tell that she wanted to play too but they all seemed to hang out together and didn't notice her.
There were some rainy days but that's to be expected. We did take a Horse Safari to see the wild horses in Corolla. They are descendents of horses that were shipwrecked on the island 400 years ago. We all piled into a old Suburban and drove onto the beach where they are allowed to roam freely. There is too much traffic now for them to be completely free so they are fenced into about 10,000 acres. We saw 5 or 6 herds, which had between 3-6 horses in each. It was very cool to see them on the beach, right next to the water. I don't have pictures to post yet but I will include some later.

Kylie and Brett climbed the Currituck lighthouse, 214 stairs. He carried her up but she climbed all the way down herself. I stayed below to videotape with Matthew.

The whole reason we were on vacation was because Kylie had been asked to be the flowergirl at my cousins wedding on July 1st. So we drove up to Norfolk for the wedding on Saturday morning. Kylie had done ok at the rehearsal the night before (we drove back that night to help insure that she would nap in the car on Saturday, no nap = crabby toddler which no one wants at a wedding). We stressed to her that she would only get one chance to walk down the aisle in her beautiful dress. Once we got to the church, Kylie saw the bride, Alli, and seemed to "get" that this was a big deal. She did great with the pictures and then I took her out of her dress until the wedding. Kylie was a little hesitent to walk down the aisle when the doors opened, but the ring bearer, Henri, kinda pulled her and got her started. Then she did beautifully, even dropped the petals from her basket and everything. She did so well that I could rent her out as a flowergirl for some serious money!! I was so thrilled when she did it that I could have cried (I think I did a little bit). Brett told me that he was more nervous for Kylie then he was for some very big wrestling matches when he was young! So we both sighed in relief when she pulled it off.

The reception was lots of fun. The food was good and so was the music. Kylie was annouced with the rest of the bridal party and actually stood still on the dance floor with everyone while the bride and groom had their first dance. Then it was the bridal party dance and with a little encouragement, the ring bearer agreed to dance with Kylie. So cute!! Then we couldn't get her off the dance floor. At one point, I looked over and saw her sitting in the middle of the floor, pulling off her shoes and socks (what woman likes to keep on uncomfortable shoes??). Her feet were black by the end of the night. Kylie also had her first taste of champange. I had put her water in the champange glass because she thought it was so pretty. Later, the glasses were filled for the toast and I didn't know it. Kylie took her glass, took a big drink, spit it out and told me it was "nasty"! LOL! Matthew pretty much just slept the whole time, I don't think most people knew he was there. But we did get many comments on how adorable he is. Which he is. ;-)

That's about it for our vacation. We had a great time!