I love both dresses, and you will look so fabulous in either one.

E is going to be 16 next month. Kids need to stop growing.

The first year we went to the beach with Tim's family, youngest niece was 8. We're headed back to the beach Saturday, and youngest niece, who is now a doctor working in a hospital, will be at the beach also, with her husband. The passage of time blows my tiny little mind.

This kids need to stop growing so fast. ltc will be 9 in a couple of weeks!

My nephew Negasi is 9. A super fun age. But yikes, so much energy. My 14 yo nephew has settled into the sleep late eat constantly phase. Less exhausting. He is going to the gym with me every day and is psyched about muscles.

One of my co-workers occasionally brings her son into the office. He's maybe 9? anyway, it's exhausting just having him around. Great kid, but high energy.

anyway, it's exhausting just having him around. Great kid, but high energy.

There's a cluster of our great-niecephews who are all under 10, and they are made entirely of energy. They could power a city.

ltc is awesome in every way, but she is also utterly exhausting sometimes. She can talk for HOURS.

I can relate... or, my relatives can, anyway. My "Aunt" Betty was watching me for my mom one day; she gave me a tape recorder, showed me how to use it, and let me do my thing... because I never stopped talking, and she just needed a damn break. I, meanwhile, had the time of my life with that thing. Guess whose parents bought her one post haste? Ha!

It’s been amazing since ltc has learned to read silently. There are whole hours where we don’t hear from her at all. She forgot to bring a book with her just now to moms and the whole ride was torture. I’m hoping they’ll have a book she wants at the store because I’ll pay anything for a quiet ride home.

There's a very cool used bookstore/tchotchke store/coffeeshop/bakery here in Topsail. Our nephew and I are going this afternoon to see how much we can buy. (We stopped in yesterday just for coffee but had to leave to get to the museum on time.) Amongst the tchotchkes, I saw at least 3 tiaras. And that is the story of how I may well be buying another tiara instead of a t-shirt on vacation.

Their Yelp page has pictures of how cool the store is: [link]

And this is my favorite Yelp review of the place: "Kind of a strange place, not sure what to call it. It's a bookstore primarily but they also sell (key lime) pies, jam, cured meats, and pretty good coffee too. Oh and a classic 1950s styled fridge draped in the American flag for $3500. It's weird but awesome. It gets even better if you go upstairs, it's like a treasure trove of books and random toys that you can just browse and try to pick out something unique. It ranges from children's books to Kurt Vonnegut so you can find just about anything. It's like that warehouse at the end of Indiana Jones where they stash the ark of the covenant except maybe it's smaller and nothing will melt your face off."