Category Archives: Beach

4 Years

Lucy’s spring was jam-packed, as she took her first trip to Great Wolf Lodge near Charlotte with her friend Sam. She spent Mother’s Day picking strawberries (a Flinn family tradition).

A school year’s worth of Thursday night dance lessons culminated in her class’ recital at Rolesville High School. Her class danced one ballet number and one tap number and both were received with great applause. Lucy’s school classmate and neighbor Elizabeth came to show her support.

Just in time for summer Lucy got her first big girl haircut, getting several inches cut off. In lieu of visiting Chautauqua for the Fourth of July, Lucy spent the holiday with friends and family in Maryland swimming, celebrating, and making s’mores. In between trips we visited the sunflower fields and Dix Park. Her next trip came later in July during her first visit to Ocean Isle Beach, about three hours from home. Proximity to the beach was a big plus for Lucy, but her hands-down favorite part of the week was the golf cart that we used!

At the beach and at the Wendell Falls pool Lucy put into practice the swimming skills that she’s been learning at the lessons she takes every Sunday. By the end of the summer she was confident in jumping into the deep end of the pool, swimming out to touch the lane divider, and coming back to the wall.

Early August brought Lucy’s first day of school in the Dragonflies class at Central Baptist. She also began playing Tiny Basketball twice a week with friends and classmates at the Wendell Community Center and taking weekly gymnastics classes at Knightdale Gymnastics.

In the fall Lucy supported her dad playing music locally in Wendell, visited Hillridge Farms to buy “Choo-Choo” the pumpkin, and successfully made her first trip to the dentist. With October came the Flinns’ yearly trip to the mountains, this time to Blowing Rock and the famed Tweetsie Railroad. Lucy loved the steam-driven train ride, but her favorite part was the “Tweetsie Twister.”

As Lucy’s fourth birthday neared, she decided on a Star Wars-Frozen “mashup” theme for her party, with Elsa and Yoda on hand to delight her friends and family with stories, sing-a-longs, and face-painting. In lieu of gifts she collected food bank donations, collecting enough food for 65 meals! She also had a smaller party on her actual birthday at Wine and Beer 101 in downtown Wendell, this time with her best friends.

3 Years

Lucy had a very busy and exciting summer, as she moved into her new house in Wendell Falls. (Her one request was pink walls for her room.)Our annual Mother’s Day tradition continued with strawberry picking at Vollmer Farm, and Lucy again visited Coach and Grandma on Lake Chautauqua for the Fourth of July. She even got to ride a miniature horse!

Lucy spent the month of July with her daddy, and they spent lots of time at the community pool and the Wendell public library. She loves Wendell Falls’ community cafe and its specialty, grilled cheese and potato chips. At the end of July she got to spend a couple days at Wrightsville Beach before her first day at her new preschool, Central Baptist, in Wendell.

In August Lucy watched the eclipse at the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh and began taking two classes every Thursday–soccer at school and ballet/tap at Heather’s Dance in Knightdale. Unsurprisingly, she loves both!

September saw Lucy spending time with Mimi while her parents went to Charleston for a long weekend, and in October the whole family went to Mt. Airy in western North Carolina for mommy’s birthday weekend. As her third birthday neared, Lucy returned to Vollmer Farm’s pumpkin patch to play in the corn and catch an outdoor screening of The Lion King.

Bald Head Island 2016

Lucy spent the first week of August with her parents and grandparents on Bald Head Island, off the coast of North Carolina.She spent the week shuttling back-and-forth from the beach to the pool, and loved both–she built lots of “cakes” (sandcastles) and spent time in “the raining” (splash pad).

She saw her first live alligator, flew her first kite, and even drove a golf cart (although it wasn’t moving at the time).

LA Trip

Lucy flew across the country at the end of June to visit all her new friends in Los Angeles.

She stayed at Uncle Mitch’s house where she read lots of books and swam every day in what is now officially “Lucy’s Pool.”

She hung out in Santa Monica with Vanessa at her candy store A Real Treat Candy Boutique and dipped her toes in the Pacific Ocean (which was a little cold for her East Coast sensibilities). She preferred playing in the sand and on the playground.

Lucy finally met Rosie Shafran and Cary Pedante and had a lot of fun in Cary’s backyard. She especially loved the Pedantes’ hammock!

She also met Gia and Rocco Donatelli, and was only a little intimidated by her showbiz-famous friends.

Winter Break 2016

In February, Lucy escaped the cold and icy weather and took her first trip to Key Largo to visit her Grandma and Grandpa. Mimi came along too! She loved the sand, the sunsets, and especially the pool at Kawama. She dined at some of the Keys’ finest eateries (including Lorelei and Alabama Jack’s), took her first kayak ride, and got to see dolphins and fish at Island Dolphin Care.Lucy took full advantage of the playground outside Grandma and Grandpa’s condo and took great delight in watching fish swim under our feet at the Pilot House. She can’t wait to go back next winter!

Ten Months

As Lucy’s tenth month rolled around, she took a return trip to Wrightsville Beach, and this time it was a little warmer and she could play in the surf (and sand).

The end of July saw visits from lots of new people, as Lucy was introduced to a number of her parents’ friends.

She enjoys shopping, and has made her first forays to Barnes & Noble and Target (where she’s now big enough to ride in the cart!).

Now that Daddy is back to school Lucy spends her days sharing a nanny with her good friend Sam.

While her favorite storytime at the public library is on hiatus for the month, she still gets her daily allowance of bubbles, which she loves.

Four Months

This month Lucy celebrated her first Valentine’s Day and her four-month birthday in style. She’s 13 pounds, 2 ounces and 2 feet long!

She’s grown quite fond of her teething toy Sophie the giraffe, has begun noticing her reflection in the mirror, and has become quite the chatterbox, holding court for hours (about which topics we can only wonder).

She’s still not sure about her Bumbo, but she sits contently in it for at least a few minutes each day.

After Lucy’s first snow, actually more of a rain/snow mix (she didn’t make it outside) Lucy took her first trip to the beach as we spent a few days at Carolina Beach. While the ocean air was a bit chilly for her tastes, she enjoyed seeing sharks, jellyfish, and turtles up close and personal at the NC Aquarium.