Our month in the sun

Howdy!

I knew it had been a while since I last typed out my thoughts, but I didn't realize how long. Life is zipping along, stuffed with Fall fun.

Maybe you expected this disappearing act from me since I seem to pull it whenever the weather cools. We start cramming in end of season of beach days and beginning of season hikes. The garden needs attention again. School starts up.

I owe a catch up post. Here's a bit of where we've been...

We left off at the beach, a beautiful day to celebrate 30 years spinning on planet Earth.

And we end at the beach. And spend part of the middle at the beach.

Basically, we made up for the lost month after Brother was born. Now that October is near, the Ellises finally have freckled noses and sun-kissed hair, a couple pounds of sand and several empty cans of sunscreen in the trunk of the van.

The camera has been the chronologist. Snap shot of fun times when a pen is too cumbersome. So many pictures, and I'm not sure I narrowed it down enough. Oh well. I'm sharing them anyway.

First, a family photo shoot with my awesome SIL. She mostly shoots in Key West, but she's happy to travel to Virginia and stay with her nieces and nephew. Just saying.

courtesy of Megan Ellis Photography

courtesy of Megan Ellis Photography

 Speaking of my SIL, here she is...

courtesy of Megan Ellis Photography

And my bohemian princess. Ensemble compiled completely by herself...

courtesy of Megan Ellis Photography

In our tiny bit of down time, we nap...

and start school...

Then sis is back, with her husband this time, and we head to yet another beach, Kiptopeke State Park. The boys fish the reef while the girls {and Little Man} enjoy the sand.

 Wave goodbye and we're off to, where else, the beach!

 Afton chases seagulls {or flying rats}...

My sweet mommy and daddy...

 Ponies on the dunes...

 seashells that sing the sea...

Wait! Wait! What have you done with your son all this sunny time?

Big chillin' under the umbrella...

This little family needed a break. Carrick is 100% blessing, but the process around his arrival was a huge disruption. It took two months to feel like we were connecting as a family. The last couple weeks were a respite from the daily grind of wrangling disrupted preschoolers. It wasn't all smooth sailing {I left out the pictures of crying girls; there were many}, but it was an encouragement.

But now we're home. Back into the fray.