Beaches n Cream Holden Beach Photographer | July Favorites

July Favorites

Beaches n Cream Holden Beach Photographer

P I N this to pinterestAlways a Summer Favorite, Beaches-n-Cream at Holden Beach | Styled by Little Apple Styles

There’s nothing like deep breaths after laughing that hard. Northing in the world like a sore stomach for the right reasons. -Stephen Chbosky.

    We just finished our Coastal Minis and had to finish our week at the beach with ice cream from Beaches-n-Cream, because they are the best. If you follow me, then you know I’m super strict about how much sugar I eat..but I can’t go to the beach without my ice cream. Their flavors are amazing, and I definitely try to get Krispy Kreme or Red Velvet Cheesecake while I’m there. (Red velvet is an absolute favorite of mine and then add in cheesecake..oh my, love.) On that note, I did hear that the Cheesecake Factory is having 1/2 price cheesecake at the end of the month if anyone else is a fan of their red velvet cheesecake. (National Cheesecake Day is July 30th) And now I’m not thinking about sugar and desserts or anything, ha!

Favorites in July

1.Peaches. Am I the only one that thinks Peaches are the best part of summer? My fridge is overflowing, and I just can’t eat enough of them. And the white ones, so so yum! The white peaches are just so sweet. I don’t need cobbler or extra sugar, etc, just give me the fruit!

2.Lazy 5 Ranch. We headed to the grandparents which aren’t too far from Lazy 5 ranch, and we headed out there to see all the animals. So my car is approaching 200,000 miles and is still cruising, but Michael’s car is a lot newer. Plus, the kids don’t ride in his as much so it’s always super clean. Driving his car probably wasn’t the best idea because the Watusi  (the largest horned cattle breed in the world) came like millimeters from his car with their huge horns. You can of course roll down the windows and feed the animals. The kids were more content to look at all the animals, but definitely rolled down the window and fed the Llamas. (because you know, we are big Llama Llama Red Pajamafans) and this version, too! ha! And we had just fed Llamas a week before at my sweet friend’s farm, so they have been quite attached to llamas lately. Lazy 5 Ranch is huge. I mean, it’s pretty much amazing how huge it is. You definitely have to block out a lot of time to go through it. (And you may get someone in front of you that stos at every single animal so could take longer. It’s just miles and miles of animals) fIt’s really beautiful, and there are a ton of animals. You have to watch out for the Zebras – they warn you a few times + there are several signs not to feed or pet them. (You can see all of the animals they have on their website here) You are not allowed to bring your pets + the ranch only takes cash so come prepared. It started raining during the last part of our ride through but we had seen so much at that point, it wasn’t a big deal, and the animals were acting like nothing was even going on. (Still coming up to cars to eat..a little rain wasn’t going to bother them!) It was really neat to see all the trees and the tree roots. It’s so easy to forget the huge roots that are under the ground, and Owen enjoyed seeing all of the roots. The giraffes were in a fenced in area with a barn, and it was fun to see them! There was a lot of cattle, cows, deers, and pigs everywhere. What a fun afternoon at the ranch.

P I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterestP I N this to pinterest

3. Speaking of Llamas…bottle feeding the baby lambs + also getting to feed the Llamas was such a treat for my boys. We’ve never gotten to bottle feed little lambs, the sweetest.

4.Electronic Battleship and Clue. We had a blast playing both of these at the beach July 4th, and so we came home and bought Electronic Battleship . The best part of it? You can play all by yourself against the computer, so it’s been very entertaining for Owen.

5.Southern Sugar Bakery. I just realized I hadn’t put them on the blog as a favorite before – if you need cookies, these girls are amazing. I recently bought some super cute keys/front door cookies for my new neighbor!

6.There is a steamer basketfor the Instant Pot . You know I’m a huge fan of the instapot and nom nom paleo is my favorite place for recipes. (Oh, and she has has a new book you can preorder.)

7.Bijou Southern – super cute stuff!

8.Magic tree house at the UNC Planetarium. Owen is in love with everything chapter books right now, and you know how hard it is to get Magic Tree House books at the library. He loves theIncreible Fact Book, and also that you can get the matching fictionand Nonfictionbooks. We have to request them or just see what three books they have on the shelf when we are there, ha! The Planetarium show truly was magical + the boys just loved it. It was thirty minutes long, and just perfect. They also did a ten minute show after to talk about what constellations you can see in the Chapel Hill sky. I don’t know if my boys could sit through another show after that. The history of the Planetarium is really neat, and they’ve actually trained astronauts there.

9.Having lots and lots of books everywhere. We go to the library, like all the time. I have this seriously long hold list and we are always getting notifications a book is ready. Sometimes Owen reads three chapter books a day. Thank you, library for the endless amounts of free books.

10.On that note, Audiobooks. My kids have really been into audiobooks lately. Owen is currently listening to Wonderand next on his list is My Father’s Dragon.

11. Sheet pan dinners. Why are these just showing up in my newsfeed? Anyone have any favorite recipes? I have been known to be addicted to roasting brussel sprouts seven days a week but I didn’t even think about a whole meal in a pan. I just don’t have enough of my brain to think of all the possibilities because this.

12. The size of this bookwas daunting, and it took me an entire week to read it. (I know you’re thinking thats not a long time, but I just read realllly fast. I was one of those kids teachers always told to slow down) I really enjoyed learning a lot about the history of New York. Super interesting book, I’ll definitely have to read more of his books!

13. Two things I have seen at newborn sessions that are awesome for new moms – the Boppy newborn lounger+ the Kiinde Storage and Bottles . Realllly great baby gear.

14. I finally finished 13 Reasons because I need netflix for editing. It just helps so much when I’m sitting sitting sitting at the computer forever. It was very interesting and such a reminder of how cruel high school can be…but now I’m at a loss as to what to watch next. Suggestions, PLEASE!

15. Loved this article so much. A good reason to limit my screen time for my kiddos so they can have more days making fake F.B.I. cards and sketching.

17. Do we have Laughter yoga in Raleigh? This looks like so much fun. Fake laughing totally makes me crack up.

18. SmartyPants Kids Vitamins. Love that they have B12, D3 and fish oil. This is not your normal run of the mill kids vitamin.

As Seen in People Magazine + The Bump

Raleigh Newborn and Family Photographer

Rebecca Keller is a Family and Maternity Photographer in Raleigh, North Carolina. Because we chat alot about our personal lives on the blog, we may receive commissions from affiliate links in articles.