Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.
We were invited to my friend’s wedding in Wilmington, NC over Labor Day Weekend this year and decided to turn it into an end-of-summer family vacation. We brought Nick’s mom, brother and sister-in-law with us. We played in the ocean, had a date night, went to the aquarium, and attended the wedding, and a great time was had by all!
It’s too dang hot out here.
We spent Saturday morning at the beach. It was Sebastian’s first time, but he loves sand and water so we figured he would have a blast. At first, he was not having it. You can see in the photo above that he thought it was just too damn hot outside. He’s very much like his father that way. He wasn’t sure what to think about the ocean or the waves, and he was a little afraid at first, especially when the tide would roll out and his feet would sink into the sand. He was not a fan of that at all. However, he liked the water when it wasn’t knocking him over, and of course he loved the sand. The beach is one giant sandbox, after all. Toward the end of the morning, he was feeling much more brave and started running toward the waves!
Saturday night was a cocktail event for the wedding so Nick and I turned it into date night. Sebastian stayed back at the AirBnB with his Gigi (grandma), aunt, and uncle while we ate a delicious seafood meal and then had drinks with our friends. It was so nice to have a night to ourselves to be grown ups and not have to worry about our little dude. We’re so grateful that our family is so willing and ready to spend time with him so we can have a few hours to relax.
Handsome couple
Sunday was not our best day! We tried to go to the aquarium before the wedding and, unfortunately, it was a total disaster! Sebastian wasn’t feeling well at that point, but all he wanted to do was run around inside. He wasn’t interested in any of the exhibits and didn’t want to sit in the stroller at all, so there were tantrums and meltdowns at every turn. To be honest, it was rough. I was questioning every decision I’d ever made as a parent at that point and was very disappointed that we couldn’t have a nice, relaxing time. We had to cut our visit short and leave our family behind so they could enjoy themselves.
This picture was about the only picture I was able to snap while he was behaving. We got him home and put him down for a nap and he seemed to feel better… until the wedding! Luckily the ceremony was short BUT beautiful, so Sebastian didn’t have to sit still for too long. However, the cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception was outside where it was still super hot and Sebastian ended up gagging on some strawberries and throwing them all up (several times!) in the courtyard where everyone was gathered with their hors d’oeuvres and cocktails.
Side note: a group of 20-somethings looked at us in disdain and mumbled sarcastically about how “that was real cute.” And you know what? I didn’t say anything to them then because I was cleaning up vomit and sweating my ass off, but what I’d like to say now is fuck off. It’s not easy being a parent at a fancy event when your kid is having a hard time. I don’t expect non-parents to understand that, but they could at least not make the situation harder with their stares and looks of contempt. Of course, these are probably the same 20-somethings who did, in fact, think it *was* really cute when Sebastian was tearing it up on the dance floor and to that I’d like to say that you don’t get to choose only the good parts in life! But I digress.
Anyway, as I alluded above, we made it through the cocktail hour and the reception, and when the music came on, Sebastian TORE. IT. UP. on the dance floor. If there’s anything this kid loves, it’s music and dancing. When we’re walking through the mall, he will stop in front of every store that’s playing music and break it down. It’s adorable. At the reception, he was a hit! Everyone wanted to dance with him, and at one point, they made a huge circle and he ran into the middle of it and broke it down. Everyone cheered for him. I’m not gonna lie, I was so proud of my little dude. Just check out these little dance moves!
Overall, we had a great weekend and I was sad to see it go. But I did get to stop by my favorite little boutique store and purchase a new dress and blouse so I will be sharing those with you soon.
I hope y’all also had a great unofficial-end-of-summer weekend. Now, excuse me while I go grab a pumpkin spice latte and warm blanket scarf and wait for fall!
