We had such a great time at the beach! It was definitely a huge help having Daniel's family down to help out with Samuel, and we even got a little time to ourselves down on the beach, at the hot tub, and out to dinner our last night. :)
Samuel loved getting to hang out with Mimzy and Aunt Carol, and Great Grandmother and Grumps were so entertaining! Grandmother had even planned a "Sip-n-See" just for Samuel. I had never heard of this type of get together before, but apparently it's an old southern tradition in which people come over to socialize, "sip" some beverages, ans "see" the new baby. Can't you just picture a bunch of well dressed people sitting around in rocking chairs on a huge front porch of some antebellum home drinking lemonade and cooing at a little baby? :) That's what I pictured anyway... It was very sweet though, and Grumps and Grandmother invited several of their couple friends that they have known for years over to see him. Emily and Aunt Carol made some delicious appetizers and we had such a wonderful time showing Samuel off. It was a fun evening and Sam behaved himself pretty well. ;)

Daniel brought his fancy camera and got some really great shots of Samuel down at the beach our last night. There were several beautiful sunsets during our trip, and it made for a very nice backdrop. He's so photogenic! :P

On a more sad note... I start back to work next Monday! I'm really not excited about it and I'm trying to soak up as much 'home' time as I can this week. Granted I'll still have 4 days off every week - working three days a week is very nice - but still! Daniel's mom is getting geared up to keep him and we're so thankful to have her nearby. My mom has also offered to come up some Fridays and help out or give Mimzy some relief, which is a BIG offer, since she lives 2 hours away! It's going to be pretty rough getting back into my work routine, getting up at 5 (and having to stay up!), leaving Samuel all day for 3 days a week, and still trying to keep him on a normal feeding/sleeping schedule - but change is good right? ...eek. Wish us luck.
I've been wanting to video Samuel's "baby talk" for a while. It's so rhythmic and you can tell he's really tired...pretty funny. Forgive the low-lighting, it was late, but I'm just glad to have captured some of the audio.