Goodbye Summer! A perfect end to Aurora's first!

Perfect.

I mentioned yesterday that we had our last beach adventure of the season on Tuesday...  Summer has always been my favorite season and I often will have a last hurrah the week after labor day once the beaches are closed. I love to do this because the weather is still nice and warm but the beach is usually almost empty aside from some hardcore sunbathers. This was the case on Tuesday. I counted less than 12 people besides us... It was pretty amazing and peaceful and perfect. We had a blast! I couldn't have asked for a better end to Aurora's first summer. Here's some pictures... including a special surprise that she had in store for me!!

I guess squishing mud in her hands was hilarious. 

Looking out at the water

So I haven't said anything yet, because I thought maybe it was a fluke, but a few times in the last week or so Aurora has gotten into a squatting position and tried to stand up on her own. I always thought babies learned to stand by pulling up on something and letting go but I guess she wants to do things differently! Usually she stays hunched over like a little mini sumo wrestler and it only lasts a few seconds before she's on her bum. However she seemed very determined and wouldn't you know it we were at the beach about half and hour before she tried it....  and stayed up!!!

Standing!

I'm not sure if it was the sand that made her more stable or what but she was super confident about it... as a matter of fact a few minutes later she was doing it again and let me walk pretty far away from her. She was super steady on her little feet!

After some fun at the water we headed over to a giant grassy area and I let Aura do her thing and crawl all over the place. She loves exploring and already tries to be independent.

Right before I started packing us up to head home, I looked over and Aurora was standing again!!

Surprise!