Our first adventure was driving to Missouri over Labor Day Weekend for the annual Car Show. Shawn's dad helped get this show started and this was the 10th anniversary. Behind us is the truck that Shawn's dad started restoring before he passed away.
My grandma and Aunt also came up to the show to visit with Laura. They had a good time looking at the old cars.
After we got home from Missouri, I took off for Alabama with some girlfriends for a mommy convention. Shawn and the other daddies took the girls to Disney on Ice. Laura was enthralled and is still talking about it 3 months later!
My parents also moved this fall, so we took a trip to visit them. Laura had a great time exploring their new community.
As if we weren't busy enough, Shawn was also training for a Sprint Triathlon. He did a great job and Laura and I had fun cheering for him every step of the way!
Our friends threw us a great going-away party. Laura also had a great time with all her friends.
We ventured out to the North Carolina State Fair the first weekend in our new community. Laura had fun feeding the goats...and always stuck her tongue out when the animals did...so cute!!
Laura really got into helping with the pumpkin carving this year. She even had her own small pumpkin that she cleaned out, picked out the face design, and helped mommy carve. It was a good time!
Laura told me all month that she wanted to be a pumpkin for Halloween. We walked in the store and saw the Strawberry Shortcake costume and that changed her mind for good. She was sure cute:)
Shawn's birthday was a pretty low-key event this year. Laura loves birthdays, though, so she had fun singing "Happy Birthday" over and over and over and over again!
We also did Christmas while we were in Missouri. The girls were thrilled with their new princess dress-up!
Laura got some really fun toys and had a great time playing with them all with MeMa.
A closing shot of the family (minus the kiddos)! We are modeling our new scarves/sweaters (for the ladies) and T-shirts (for the guys). What a good looking bunch!
As you can see, we have been super duper busy. And our December isn't much calmer. Check back after Christmas for another update!
We vacationed at Carolina Beach again this summer. We had a blast last year and decided to try our luck again this year. Laura had an even better time. As she gets older, things like vacation get so much easier on us and so much more fun for her. This is her first view of the ocean this year. She loved running away from the surf!
The first day on the beach, Laura wasn't so sure she liked the sand all over her hands and feet (thus all the buckets filled with water!). It didn't take long, though, for her to decide the sand wasn't so bad and the ocean was even more fun. She and Shawn spent a lot of time playing in the waves...it made mommy a little nervous - but the sound of her infectious laugh convinced me to keep my opinions to myself:)
Laura loved sitting right where the waves came in. She would sit there until she was absolutely covered in sand and then stand up, laugh, and do it again!
We all enjoyed getting dressed up and going out for dinner every night, followed by an evening walk on the beach.
Laura was so cool in her sunglasses! She wore them all week and pushed them up on her head (like she sees mommy do) when she got tired of having them resting on her nose. She's too cute for words sometimes!
We had a wonderful and relaxing time on vacation. We took way too many pictures to show everything we did, but suffice it to say we are already looking forward to Carolina Beach 2012!
We all just barely fit on the boat...especially since state law requires we have life jackets out and available for everyone on the boat. It made for a cluttered, but fun time out on the water!
Shawn's sister-in-law (Stephanie), his mom (Jan), and me floating around with Laura, Sydney, and Ava playing in the background. We all spent a lot of time down at the beach. The weather was a little hot, so if we were outside, we were mostly in the water!
A fun picture of Laura and Shawn...she loves to be thrown in the water. And I was so proud of myself to snap the picture when she was in mid-air! One of my proudest picture taking moments, ever:)
Baby Addie and 
Stephanie, Shawn's sister (Kelly), Shawn's brother (Jimmy), and Shawn's 
Shawn and his nephew Titus playing a game of 
Laura and Ava just happened to have the same shirt --they loved being twins! Laura had just recently watched a Dora about twins puppies and said to me, "Momma, we are like the 
Since it is so rare that all of us are together at once, we decided to do a large family photo as well. It is really hard to get this many people (especially the little kids) to look at the camera at the same time, but we are still pretty pleased with how they turned out.
We also got a great picture of the 3 of us! I'm just glad we don't have to try to take our family picture alone at the beach again. Propping a camera on a cooler and trying to get a good picture is a nightmare!
Laura's Gigi (great-grandma) came to visit for a few weeks at the beginning of the month. We had a great time...especially at the lake for the 4th of July.
We participated in the July 4th parade...well at least we tried to! We had the date wrong so we ended up walking around the neighborhood by ourselves singing patriotic songs. Laura looked at us like we were crazy half the time -- but we still had a lot of fun!
We all went out on the boat to watch the fireworks over the lake. The big display was beautiful -- and one of the most fun parts was watching all the smaller, individual fireworks displays all around the lake as we rode home. Laura said her favorite were the pink ones!
The last highlight of Gigi's visit was taking her for a ride on the jet ski (Laura just sat on the ski for the picture). She had never been on it before and really enjoyed it, I think:) We always get a 4 generations picture when Gigi is in town, and decided the jet ski would be a great place to do it this time!
Another big development in July is that Laura has finally (kinda!) learned how to ride her tricycle! We have been working on this for almost a year! She is thrilled and very proud of herself and told me after we went inside that she wants a "big-girl" bicycle now. I think we need to master the tricycle first!!
We have also spent the better part of the month at the pool. We joined the same pool as 3 of Laura's best friends and we have had a blast. Laura is a fish! And I have enjoyed chatting with my friends while the kids play.
Laura's swimming (or "fimming" as she calls it) was getting so good, we decided to enroll her in a week of swim lessons. She learned to swim underwater, get rings from the bottom of the pool, and started learning how to breath while swimming (using a kickboard). She was so excited to go every day and was very disappointed when the week was over. 
Laura, Nana, and Granddad blowing out the candles on Laura's "Dora da Efflorer (exlporer)" cake.
Opening Laura's present from Nana and Granddad...a really cool new bike.
The museum did a great job with the party...there were crafts, a big floor puzzle to work on, games like Simon Says and Musical Chairs, playing with a big parachute, and Laura's favorite...Ring Around the Rosy!
She had a good time at her party (but you wouldn't have really been able to tell because she was very somber the whole time)! When I asked her what her favorite part was, she replied "My Fweinds!!!" And her fwiends got her lots of great presents!
After the party was over, all the kids were able to go play in the museum...and boy did they all have fun! This is Laura and one her of her best buddies, Madi, driving the fruit and vegetable truck. Laura and Madi are going to be taking ballet together this summer and they are both VERY excited!
Here are Laura and Zain playing in the grocery store...always a fun part of the museum!
Laura and Ashlyn posing on the small slide...not sure why Laura is making such a funny face!
Once we got home (and after Laura took her nap), we pulled out all the toys and played. She had a great time and especially loved the Play-Doh Ice Cream Shop and her new jewelry. She made tons of "ice freem cones" for me and Shawn!
We got Laura a basketball hoop (an unusual choice from a girl wanting a princess party!), and she has had a blast shooting hoops on the deck. I think we have a little athlete in the making!
Overall, Laura has had a great birthday week...party with friends, party at school, and soon to have a party with family. And we are having a great time watching our little Laura grow and learn new things every day!