Memorial Day Weekend

Daniel's parents came down from Richmond to visit Memorial Day weekend.  On Saturday we went to a park that I take the boys to, because I wanted them to see how much Atticus and Isaiah enjoy the swings.  We had a great time, even though it was slightly overcast.

Atticus

Isaiah

Swinging with the Grandparents

We went on a walk Saturday afternoon...Isaiah is in the back, Atticus is up front

Sunday afternoon my family came over and we all celebrated my birthday a week early.  It was a great time of food and festivities.  Unfortunately we did not get any pictures of the occasion....

However later Dan and Steve decided to jam...both of the boys really liked the music.  Here is Isaiah trying to get the guitar away from Steve:

Monday afternoon we went on a walk to the Brick Pond and spotted a baby alligator sunning on the bank.  For some reason Dan and Alisa really wanted to go touch the alligator...thankfully they decided to leave it alone.  

The baby gator sunning

We also walked along the Greeneway and stopped to take a picture with the Savannah River in the background.

Happy Memorial Day!

Hunting Island Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Friday we went into Beaufort to get some good seafood.  I had done my homework and read a few restaurant reviews...so we chose Barbara Jeans.  The food was awesome, the kids did amazingly well...other than the fact that they both kept trying to eat the vinyl tablecloth...gross!  We spent our afternoon at the beach and hiking on trails...which is how we spent most of our days.  Here are some pictures from Friday.

Here's a shot of our cabin

Walking along the beach after breakfast with Atticus

Isaiah with Daddy

Our fearless leader with his stick...it was very useful for getting spider webs out of the way

Atticus and Daddy consulting the map

Exploring with Mommy

Tasting the sand

On Saturday we went to the Nature Center and the Pier in the morning.  Dan was delighted when he spotted an exhibit of snakes.  

Daniel with the guys

See how interested Isaiah is in the snake?

Daniel on the pier with Isaiah

Me on the pier with Atticus

On Saturday the tide cooperated and we were able to use the beach that was right across from our cabin.  It was really great to have our own private beach on our last full day.  We stayed out most of the afternoon, trying to enjoy our vacation to the max.  The kids even ate their dinner at the beach...which was interesting.  They ended up wearing most of it, but they had a great time.  

We tried to sit with them on the sand with just a little bit of the wave touching our feet...that didn't work out so well.  See below.

They did really start to enjoy the sand.  They sat for a long time on the beach playing with the sand while we snapped photos.  Over vacation they really mastered sitting up by themselves...

Atticus and Isaiah...making sure we were still there

Isaiah

Atticus

We found out that sunscreen + fine baby hair = cool hair styles.  We had a lot of fun giving them different styles.  Isaiah's hair was long enough to give him a little mohawk.

Atticus going for the windblown look

Isaiah with his mohawk

This is one of my favorites, Atticus is giving Daniel a hug

Our family

We are really thankful that we were able to have a safe, relaxing family vacation.  As you can see we made a lot of fun memories!

Hunting Island Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday was our eventful day.  I woke up that morning with a puffy, swollen right eye.  Long story short I had been bitten by something on Sunday near my right eye.  It didn't look bad until we got to the island.  Tuesday it started to grow in size and by Wednesday morning it was big, red and swollen...clearly infected.  Nurses do not make good patients...we are also hard to convince when we need medical care.  Dan persuaded me to look for a prompt care place in Beaufort.  So at 8 am we headed to town to try to fix me.  We got into a traffic jam coming off the island.  I suggested that we turn around, that my eye wasn't that bad.  Thankfully Dan ignored me and drove on.  

He rode around town with the kids while I went to the prompt care. I was able to see someone fairly quickly, which was good.  It was decided that I would have to be numbed up with Lidocaine and the area would have to be lanced and drained, which was not good.  My pain tolerance is minimal, and despite the fact that I stick people with needles without blinking an eye, I do not like to be stuck myself.  So with Dan not there it was time for me to grow up a little.  Thankfully there was this really great nurse that let me hold her hand....but it still hurt pretty bad.  I got some oral antibiotics and we headed back to the island with the right side of my face throbbing.   

Thankfully by the time we made it back to our cabin I was feeling much better.  After the kids took a nap we headed for the beach, so the day was not a total waste.  And once Allison, Dan's sister, arrived the day got a lot better.  Allison lives in Hilton Head, so she was close enough to come visit for a day.  Wednesday night she tried to coach Dan in how to do a squat properly.  His technique needs a little work....

The next morning we went walking on the beach with the kids.  Thursday was a perfect day for the beach.  We put their feet in the ocean for the first time.  They both cried, loudly.  They also did not like the wet sand on their feet.  Over the next few days we got them used to the sand...but they still hated the water.  

Our morning stroll

Allison with Atticus

Isaiah and I looking for shells

After the kids woke up from their morning nap we went to the lighthouse to walk around and scout of the beach near the lighthouse.  We went on a bumpy trail near the lighthouse, that abruptly ended because of the erosion.  Here's Dan and Allison with the kids near the end of the trail.

Family shot in front of the lighthouse

While the kids took an afternoon nap Dan and Allison went up to the top of the Hunting Island Lighthouse.  Dan almost didn't make it to the top...Allison said that he got a little woozy.  They got some great shots of the island once they arrived at the top.

Dan finally remembers that he is awesome and not scared of heights

Allison at the top

The view

Dan at the top

After the kids nap we all went to the beach and set up camp.  Allison and I went out to the beach first and set up the tent.  Then Allison went back to help Dan bring the kids to the beach. 

Atticus and Isaiah really loved being outside, even though they didn't like the water.  One thing that they really enjoyed was their beach tent.  They would each get one of the flaps to the tent and shake the whole tent.   They played in it for a long time while the rest of us enjoyed the beach.  That tent was a lifesaver!  

Isaiah

Atticus

I love the face Atticus is making...

Hunting Island Monday and Tuesday

We are back from an exciting, adventurous and somewhat eventful vacation.  We rented a state cabin at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina, just outside of Beaufort.  It is a beautiful place with natural beaches, lush vegetation and no commercialization.  Incidentally Hunting Island was used in the filming of Forrest Gump (the Vietnam scenes) and G.I. Jane.  So if you have seen those movies than you know what I am talking about.  

We arrived at our rustic cabin on Monday afternoon in a hurried fashion.  The kids had been crying for the past 30 minutes off and on...they were hungry and cramped which is not a good combination.  There was a slow person who couldn't find their cabin in front of us...my husband being the aggressive, I mean defensive driver that he is passed them and floored it.  We had the kids out of the car and were headed into the cabin when the slow driver passed our cabin.  Being on vacation with kids is fun, but more complicated.  So I had to take care of the kids while Dan unpacked the car and rearranged the furniture in the cabin so that the kids would have a relatively safe place to play.  Here is the area that we made for the kids...the carpet was kind of sketchy, so we brought blankets to put on the floor.  

Since it was pretty busy when we first got there we decided to reward ourselves by taking a stroll to the beach to introduce the kids to the ocean.  

The cabin was rustic...meaning it was not very pretty or luxurious...meaning Dan was cringing. He really loves things that are ascetically pleasing.  We did know this prior to renting the cabin...but there are not a lot of options on Hunting Island.  It's either camping in tents or cabins.  We chose cabins.  So even though it was rustic the view was amazing.  We had a great screened in porch that faced the ocean.  It was awesome to be able to sit in rocking chairs, watching and listening to the ocean every evening.  

This is the view from our front porch

 

The kitchen had a great view of the lagoon out back. 

Since we were cramped for space I did not pack things that I didn't think that we would need...like warm clothes.  So we were pretty surprised on Tuesday morning when we woke up to a windy, cold day.  Dan had a rain jacket and I had a pair of jeans..so between the two of us we had semi warm clothes.  Thankfully I had longsleeved pjs for the kids.  So Tuesday was pajama day for them.   From our cabin we took a trail that went to the lagoon and hiked around there for some of the morning.  Dan had Atticus zipped up in his jacket for some of the trip.

 

Isaiah and I getting ready for our hike

We went to the beach that afternoon.  It was pretty windy and cold so we did not stay on the beach very long.  Isaiah loved the wind.  He kept sticking his tongue out like he wanted to taste it.  Here's a shot of Isaiah tasting the wind:

Here is Atticus and I on the beach:

We also went to a really neat March boardwalk where we saw tons of crabs.  Unfortunately we did not take our cameras, so just picture a really beautiful boardwalk out in the middle of a marsh.

Mother's Day Bash

Mother's Day was a lot of fun this year.  Dan made a clever card/comic from the kids and part of my Mother's Day gift was our trip to the beach.  After church we went to my parent's house to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom.  Ryan, Becky, Katherine and Thomas were also there, so we took pictures of the grandkids..which is always an adventure.   The pictures from Easter were so bad I didn't have a single good one to print.  They did much better this time.  

Isaiah, Thomas, Katherine and Atticus 

The kids found a ribbon to play with after presents were opened.  I love how Isaiah is studying the ribbon.  Shortly after this photo it turned into an exciting game of Tug-of-war.