Mom's Day

As much as we enjoyed our relaxing day away from the kids we were just as excited to spend our special day with them.  When the Dads had the kids for the day they decided to go to the park and then spend the afternoon at the pool.  By the time we got home for the day they were all but dancing around the kitchen like taking care of 8 rug rats was no big thing.  Of course that only fueled our competitive juices.  So we saw their day at the park and raised them a trip to the Aquarium…in Charleston!  That's right we were a smidge more ambitious than our grooms.  While our trip was also a success, I believe we came home nothing short of exhausted!  And if I'm being honest,  I'm not sure we were dancing around the kitchen either.  But it was worth it and I think the kids enjoyed both of their special days.

Here was an attempt at a group picture.  One problem, Connor is missing.  Seems his Mom has a small bladder and they went straight to the potty upon arrival.  No worries, we'll attempt a group shot again later I'm sure ;).

Our day even included a little education.  Top that boys. The kids all look pretty interested, Julia…not so much.

Nolan even got to feed a crab his lunch.  The little kids watched in amazement.

For some reason I find this next picture humorous.  It looks like that stingray is smiling at Nolan doesn't it?  Smile or not, Nolan bolted after he turned around and saw him.

Awww, he came back for a photo opportunity with Connor...sans stingray.

As we were leaving I attempted to get a picture with the boys.  The one on the left is nice but I really adore the one on the right because it shows more of their personalities.  Bennett happy because he's flying a helicopter on Nolan's head (annoying him) and Nolan tolerating his little brother's shenanigans, a true reflection of our lives.  

  

    

We Escaped!

While on vacation we had a deal with the boys.  They could spend a day golfing on the island, but we also got a day to go do girl stuff.  So we did just that!  We drove to Charleston for the day for a little exploring.  We did some shopping at a cool outdoor market, had some drinks and even had a very RELAXING and awesome lunch. Can you say perfection?  Did I mention we had no children with us?  Yep, perfection.  We enjoyed EVERY LAST SECOND of our little excursion and it was pretty difficult to head back to the chaos.  Good thing we love those kids…and the dads are okay too I guess.

Do we look like tourists or what?  Jessie and Lauren were attempting to navigate while Julia was attempting to "model".  I think only one was successful, I'll let you decide which one…

All of the buildings were beautiful and so detailed.  I can't even begin to describe it, they just looked...historical! Am I cultured or what?  I couldn't help but take just a few pictures of the architecture.  

Back to the Beach

I warned you this would get boring.  Second day at the beach looks a lot like the first day at the beach!  I did want to share our mode of transportation for the week…bikes!  Kiawah has awesome bike paths everywhere.  So awesome even Julia, who is an awful bike rider…sorry you are, was able to not hurt herself this time.  She might have been using a child size bike, but that's neither here nor there.  I'll apologize to you again Julia because I have no idea what you are doing in the background of this picture and it's none too attractive but it's the only picture of the bikes I had so you're taking one for the team here.   

Nolan was pretty much a beach bum.  He liked the sand and the water.  Truth be told, he had some mad wave riding skills.  Turns out swimming isn't the only thing he does better than Steve!

Bennett had some mad hoarding skills.  First with toys and then with these "pretty" shells!

Still not too keen on the water though...

And Donny had some mad sand castle building skills!  Which brought out the mad stomping skills in all of the little ones.  Good times for everyone I tell ya!

One Day at a Time

So if you haven't noticed I have been TOTALLY avoiding vacation pictures.  I am completely overwhelmed by them and I don't even know where to start so I just didn't start at all! I've now decided to tackle them the old fashioned way and just take it one day at a time.  So if you're not interested in seeing vacation pics for the next week of posts you might want to go ahead and tune out for a while!

Below you will find our first day of festivities.  Basically everyday went a little like this (with slight variations): beach in the morning, back to the house for lunch, naps for kids…happy hour for parents, pool time, dinner, bed for kids and games for parents.  We had quite the schedule and I can't lie to you it went ever so smoothly.  I'm not saying it wasn't chaotic, it was VERY chaotic ESPECIALLY around mealtime.  I'd like to think it was organized chaos if nothing else and everyone survived so that's a plus!

This was Bennett's first time at the beach and while he loved playing in the sand he could have cared less about the ocean…as in wouldn't get in it at all.  We'll get em next time, or perhaps we'll try the mountains!

Here is our invasion...

Back to the pool.  Bennett may not care for the ocean but he sure does love the pool…just like his big brother!

  

Celebrations

Nolan did it up right for his birthday this year.  On his actual birthday we went to the Cardinals game.  To make it even more awesome…we sat in the first row! You see, this was an extra special Cardinals game because we were celebrating Nolan's Fifth Birthday AND we were also celebrating Bennett's first Cardinals game.  We had very low expectations for this outing (except the fact that we really thought Nolan would get a baseball from the field…and he sure did!).  We figured we would go and stay for a few innings and then head home before Bennett completely lost it.  To our surprise Bennett was an excellent fan.  He clapped at the appropriate times, he watched intently, he ate a lot and he danced to the music.  Quite frankly I think he liked the game more than Nolan did.  We were shocked.  We were also shocked that we ended up staying for the entire game.  As it turns out it was a pretty good game and up until the last out the pitcher had thrown a no hitter, so apparently it would have been sinful to leave before the end.  I will say staying until the end has it's benefits.  We got to see Fredbird run the flag down the field and we also got to see some fireworks for a Cardinal win.  We had a perfect little evening enjoying Cardinal Nation.