Beach Trip 2012

We have been lucky enough to spend the past week at Litchfield Beach in South Carolina with our little family and Gram and Gramps.  It has been a fabulous week filled with all sorts of beachy adventures in the sand, wind, rain, and beautiful sun.  I certainly can't put all of the pictures from the week in one post, so I'll have to divide them up. 

Here are some pictures from the first night.  The boys were itching to get down to the beach after a long drive in the car and so were we, so we put on the boys swim suits and headed down.  It's always great to dip your toes in the ocean for the first time.  Evan and Ben loved splashing in the waves too.  We could tell everyone was going to have a great week...

See for yourself!

(Ben and I soak in the waves.)

(Evan and I jump the waves.)

(Gram and Ben stomp in the waves.)

 (Playing at the beach)

 
(It's gonna be a great week!)

Happy Fathers Day

Ian and I have discovered that Mothers Day and Fathers Day weekends will always be very crowded and busy in our family.  With Ben's birthday on Mothers Day weekend and Evan's birthday on Fathers Day, there's always lots to do.  That's definitely how it was this Father's Day weekend. We celebrated Evan's birthday, had his party, went to a going away party, and then were completely exhausted.  However, never fear, of course we had time to celebrate our best dad on Daddy's day.

We started off the day with a breakfast in bed for dad of grits cakes and strawberry muffins.  We headed up to the bedroom probably before Ian was ready to get up, but he graciously rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as the boys pushed food and specially decorated cards in his face.  They were so excited to wish him a happy Father's Day.  Then, we headed to the pool and finished out the morning with a lunch out at a new pizza place in town.

We had a great time, and I hope we showed what a great dad Ian really is.  We love you Daddy!

 (Boys make breakfast!)

 (Ben and his Daddy-do)

(Daddy and his boys)

Fun in the Water

Since preschool has ended we've been having a busy summer.  We've been spending most of it at the pool.   Evan has had swim lessons every morning for two weeks, and while Evan was in swim lessons, Ben played on the steps of the pool.  Then, sometimes we would go again to our own neighborhood pool in the afternoon.  Some days we were a bit waterlogged, but we had a great time.  Both boys are much more comfortable with the water than they were at the beginning of the two weeks. 

Swim lessons were successful but not always enjoyed.  While Evan went into hysterics every time the teacher suggested that he stick head head under water, he would continually put his head under water with his goggles when we were playing later on in the water.  I think he just doesn't like to be told what to do.  At the end of swim lessons every time, they would get the chance to slide down a twisty slide at the pool where we were taking lessons.  He did really enjoy that part.

I spent most of the time while Evan was in lessons trying to keep Benny from falling in.  He loves nothing better than filling containers with water, so he would stand with his friend Anna on the edge of the pool and the first step and then lean over to get some water.  He only tipped over twice and had to be fished out by me. 

My little boys are definitely becoming little fishies.  By the end of the summer, I won't be able to get him out of the water!

 (Evan tries out his new goggles.)

(Ben the flirt enjoys this pool with our neighbor Isabelle.)

 (Evan kicks with his teacher Rachel during swim lessons.)

(The swim lesson crew sits in the steps during lessons.)

 

(Evan loved the slide!)

(How Ben and Anna occupied themselves during their big brothers' swim lessons.)

Someone Just Turned 4

Last weekend the long awaited day finally arrived...Evan turned 4!  He's been looking forward to this for a long time.  To celebrate Evan's birthday, we had a dinosaur party so everyone could celebrate with him.  

Before everyone arrived we showed Evan his present from his mom and dad that we had been working on all day.  We took him upstairs and showed him his new big boy bedroom.  He had a new big boy bed, new comforter, new dino and dragon posters on the wall, and dinos and dragons guarding the room from his dresser.  He loved it!  It was so cute because he just kept looking around and telling me "I didn't expect this!" even though we'd been telling him that we were going to do this for months.  His Aunt Candice and Uncle Reid contributed a fantastic dragon that we added to his dresser and he especially loved that part.

After the unveiling of the room, his friends started to arrive.  Of course, he had to take each friend upstairs to see his new room.  Then, they all got to play, make some dinosaur fossils, and go on a dinosaur fossil dig.  While each activity took about 3 seconds a piece, I think they had a good time.  Then, it was time for the movie.  They got to sit down and watch the movie while they ate some popcorn from our favorite local popcorn shop.  

After "The Land Before Time" went on about half an hour we took a break to have pizza and cake.  Ian had outdone himself on the cake, as usual.  It was a T-Rex as requested, and Evan loved it.  He stressed that he wanted to to blow out the candles on his own so dad and I held back.  I can't say the same for some of his friends, but Evan didn't seem to notice.  After munching for a while everyone settled back in to watching the movie or playing.  After the movie the kids started prowling at the presents and opening a few with Evan.  Finally, it was time for everyone to head home.  

Everyone left and the boys were in bed before we knew it.  Evan had a great birthday, and a good time was had by all.  I have to say that I'm a little relieved that birthday season is over for another 10 months, but I'm so glad my boys had a good time.  I can't believe my little baby is 4!

(Evan scopes out his new room and big boy bed.)

(Thanks Uncle Reid and Aunt Candice for my new dragon!)

(Everyone watches the movie and enjoys their popcorn.)

(Making fossil imprints)

(digging for fossils)

(Evan blows out the candles-almost by himself.)

(Ian's T-Rex cake)

(Mmmmm....cake)

They're all Animals!

Last week the weather was beautiful, so we decided to head down to the zoo with our little boys playgroup before Nathaniel moved to Virginia.  The zoo has always been one of our favorite stops so we were really looking forward to it.  Plus, they have a new dinosaur exhibit, and everyone knows that we can't pass up anything dinosaur!

We met up with Nathaniel, Josiah, Quinn, and Jonas and all the boys were jazzed.  They really enjoyed watching the animals, of course, but I think they also enjoyed climbing and just being little monkeys themselves. 

The new dinosaur exhibit was great.  They had life-like dinosaur robots that moved.  This just entranced Evan.  He could have stayed there all day!  They even had a spitting dinosaur that shot water out at everyone.  It scared both of my boys a little, but both of them thought it was their favorite part of the day. 

After lunch, we decided to check out the Dino-4D movie.  We debated because some people said was a little scary, but they boys really wanted to see it, so we headed in to the little dark trailer where it was being shown.  It was filled with other elementary aged kids.  Now, remember that 4D is the kind of movie where the seats shake with you as 3D dinos pop out of the screen at you.  So, the minute the movie started with a boom, the elementary girls started to scream and the toddlers just lost it.  We took them all out sobbing a few minutes in.  Oh well, guess we better wait a few years to try that again.  Fortunately, a carousel ride and some ice cream fixed everything.

It was such a great day with great friends.  I know we will all stay close even though we may not live in the same city anymore!

 (The group watches the chimps.)

 

 (Josiah never gets to be in any of the pictures, so here's one with his mommy!)

 (A couple of monkeys)

 (watching the lemurs)

 (climbing Mt. Preschooler)

 (Benny meets an ostrich.)

 (All of the boys tame the T-Rex while Jonas examines his teeth.)

 

 (The boys are ready for the carousel.)

(Our attempt at a group shot...hey, we tried.)

Old Friends

I'm feeling a bit sad tonight.  We just had to say goodbye to some of our good friends.  The Hopkins Family has been a great part of our Durham life since we moved back.  Nathaniel and Evan met before they could walk when we all got together in the same playgroup.  Now, they are big four year olds and great friends.  I feel so lucky to have been a part of this group of friends, both adults and kids, and we will miss their family now as they move to Virginia.  That's okay, we will have to visit, and until then, we can look back on all of our great memories in pictures.

Friday, we tried to recreate one of our favorite pictures.  We headed to the mall play area where we've taken the boys' picture before.  It's become a tradition.  However, this time, the boys were all absolutely crazy.  We did manage to get some approximation of a picture.  Oh well, the boys were having fun, and they will definitely miss each other!

(2009 boys in the mall: Quinn, Nathaniel, Evan, Edward, and Carson-from left to right)

(2011 boys in the mall: Quinn, Evan, Carson, and Nathaniel-from left to right)

(2012 boys in the mall: Evan, Nathaniel, Jonas, Ben, and Quinn-from left to right)

A little taste of summer...

Here's just a little taste of some of the summer fun we've been having so far!  I hope this will hold you over until the next post...stay tuned!

Touring the Trains

This weekend we headed down to scenic Salisbury, NC.  So, what might you ask is in Salisbury, NC?  Well, we really didn't know what was there either, except for a sportscaster conference at the local conference hotel.  With that conference came my aunt and her fiance Wyatt to Salisbury, NC.  Since we had never met Wyatt and wanted to meet him and see my aunt Karen, we hopped in the car and headed down.

We had scoped out the local kid scene before we headed down and discovered the NC Transportation Museum.  We figured that cars and trains and other things that go would be a great way to entertain the boys while we got to see Wyatt and Karen.

After a quick pit stop at the hotel for some donuts and a chance for Ben to wake up from his car nap we headed over to the museum.  It was great to meet Wyatt and we immediately liked him.  We showed up at the museum, bought our tickets, and started to check out the trains.

The boys had a great time wandering around an looking at all of the planes, trains, and automobiles.  The only difficulties they encountered were with Benny's pants which, like most of his pants, were too big for him and ended up around his ankles many times as he was running through the museum. 

We rode a train, toured through some antique cars, walked through a train roundhouse with functional turn table and even saw a replica of the Wright brothers' flyer.  It was really nice to get a chance to spend some time with family and to see some really interesting things touring the museum.  I think the boys' favorite part was a little model train where you could press a button and watch it tour around a track.  My boys love any buttons you can press. 

After a fun afternoon we dropped Wyatt and Karen back off and the hotel and headed home.  It was great that Ian got a chance to meet Wyatt, and for the rest of us, we can't wait to head up to Kansas in a few weeks for their wedding!

(looking through the hole in our punched tickets)

(I can see you!)

(watching out the window)

(Benny at the roundhouse)

(Evan gets up close and personal with a train.)

(Happy boys)

 (Wyatt and Karen with the boys)

(Our happy family)

Easy Rider

Recently, Evan has been obsessed with all things that he can drive.  He keeps asking when he will be old enough to drive.  "Mom, will I be able to drive when I'm four?"  We have no idea how Evan got on to it, but recently he's been very in to driving motorcycles specifically. 

Our friends Margarette and Scott came over one night last week and Margarette was telling Evan stories at bedtime about how Scott actually owns  a motorcycle.  Evan was so excited.  He couldn't stop talking about it. 

That night Scott left his phone at our house.  The next morning he stopped by to pick it out on the way to work.  Evan couldn't believe it when he showed up to pick up his phone driving an actual motorcycle.  My little boys in their pj's had to run outside and check it out.  Ben was a little worried about the fact that it could make some loud noises, but Evan loved it. 

I think we're going to have to worry about this little daredevil in the years to come!

Memorial Day Fun

This Memorial Day weekend we were lucky enough to head down to Charlotte to have a nice relaxing weekend and spend a little time with family.  We headed down Friday evening, and the fun started Saturday.  The day began with a great lunchtime BBQ.   Uncle Reid and Aunt Candice came over to join in the fun and brought their new dog Harriet.  We were a little worried about how grumpy little Ripple was going to react to a new dog, but after a few very snarly minutes to start, they warmed up to each other and were actually playing with each other by the end of the day!

Gram had set up a few pools in the backyard, one for the dogs and one for the kiddos, and before long, Evan and Ben were in their swim suits and having a ball.  The adults were also able to sit back and relax, have some delicious food and some great conversation.  We hung out the rest of the day, and were just able to relax.  The next day was more of the same with some time just to sit on the back screened porch and a great dinner out.

It was a great weekend and a great way to start the summer!

 (Our little family on the porch)

 (Playing in the pool)

 (fun in the sun)

(stomping and splashing...summer is fun!)

One Last Hug

I couldn't wrap up Grandma and Grandpa's visit without one more post with some more pictures from the fabulous week.  By the end of the week, we were all a little tired and Ben had given everyone in the family a nice cold.  However, we still were able to have a bit of fun! 

On Sunday, we headed down to the Got to Be NC Festival.  It's like the NC State Fair except on a much smaller scale.  Evan had been talking about wanting to drive a car for days, so I wanted to make sure to get him to ride on some of the car rides.  We headed down and found some great rides that Evan was eager to hop on.  Fortunately, Ben was actually tall enough and able to join him (by about half an inch).  They got to drive a fancy convertible and a train.  They loved it.  Then, Grandma and Grandpa took Ben in the petting zoo.  Evan refused, his sensitive nose keeping him out.  Finally, we finished off the day by watching a BMX bike competition and eating some hot fresh cinnamon sugar donuts. 

(The boys do a little cruising.)

(choo-choo!)

 

(Benny meets the animals in the petting zoo.)

While we did have some great adventures, we did find some time to just hang out with Grandma and Grandpa.  There was an afternoon of slip and sliding and hanging out on the porch, a dinner out, and lots of hugs, stories, and playing at home.  We had a fabulous time and the car ride home from the airport when we dropped them off was full of tears from all involved. 

(Evan loves his new toy.)

(Ben finds the whole thing VERY exciting!)

(Mom and I relax and enjoy the slip and sliders.)

(Grandma and her boys)

We can't wait until we get to visit them this summer in Texas!

(We love Grandma!)

(We love Grandpa!)