Happy Easter - 2014

We spent Easter this year at my parents house.  The kids had lots of funny dying eggs and hiding them...they are both really good about finding them!  All of my pictures of the kids hiding/hunting eggs came out really dark.  It didn't help that it was rainy and cool so we didn't get to spend much time outside hiding eggs!

Christmas 2013 Festivities

Yeah...I am WAY behind with the blog.  This post has been written for several months now but I was looking for a particular photo and have given up.  I must be dreaming that it ever existed...

As always, we had a very busy Christmas season this year.

We started by letting the kids help with the decorating the tree which is always fun for everyone!  Brayden understands how to put the ornaments on the tree (i.e. not all in one spot), but of course, Lilly has no idea.  Brayden was really good about helping Lilly get her ornaments on the tree without making her mad.

The following weekend was Matt's office party.  We always go to his office party because we don't ever have a chance otherwise to dress up and go out.  In the past, the parties have been at fancy places in downtown or fancy country clubs but this year it was at the office.  I have to say, the ladies who did the decorating did an AMAZING job!  We had a great time and look forward to next year's party!

One of Brayden's friends, Zach, his little sister Meredith, and mom came over and decorated gingerbread houses with us.  Meredith is a few months younger than Lilly so I made small gingerbread houses out of graham crackers for the girls.  The boys made full size houses out of the kids.  Everyone had a great time and ate way too much candy!!  Unfortunately, I was too busy helping the kids to take many pictures during the decorating, but the finished products turned out quite good!

Brayden was very detail oriented

Lilly was very focus on the task at hand.  She did eat about as much candy as she put on the gingerbread house!

Lilly's Gingerbread house

Another view of Lilly's

Then we had our traditional small group cookie decorating party for the kids on the 15th and then that night we all go sitters for the kids and the adults got together for a fun night. 

The weekend before Christmas, one of the other moms from daycare and I threw a party for 8 or 9 of the boys in their class.  This group of boys has been together for 4 years now and have gotten to be pretty good friends.  The theme of the party was "The Polar Express".  We planned on letting the boys watch the Polar Express movie, do a craft, have hot chocolate, do a "Who am I?" game, and do a gift exchange.  Of course, it was 70+ degrees on December 22, so all the boys wanted to do was play outside!!   We were able to get them inside long enough for an ornament craft, hot chocolate, and the gift exchange.  For the gift exchange, we did a Frosty the Snowman Pass the Gift Left/Right story.  Amazingly, our 5ish year old boys, get very confused with this and we ended up cutting the story very short!  Otherwise, the boys were running around outside having a blast!

 The same friend that took our family photos back in September came over one night and took pictures of the kids in the Christmas PJs in front of the tree.  Despite very uncooperative kids, I think the pictures came out really well!

When they were still cooperating :)

Note sure what Lilly was doing, but it looks like she is trying to dance!

I love this one of Brayden :)

Halloween 2013

As always, we spent Halloween with our small group from church.  The Westfalls have the perfect street for our kids age and we all had a blast hanging out together.    We tried to get some group photos, but I don't think any of us got a single photo with all of the kids looking!

Brayden chose to be Captain America this year (after saying consistently for several months he wanted to be Spiderman).  Lilly was a zebra (she is wearing the 12mo outfit my mom bought for her to wear LAST year when she was 1)!  It fit perfectly this year!

Happy Halloween!

The weekend before Halloween, we took a Saturday morning trip to the farmers market and got 2 pumpkins and enjoyed the fall weather.   We also got some local honey and the kids snacked on some apples :)

That night, in the comfort of our garage, we carved the pumpkins.  Brayden was in charge of what the pumpkins were going to look like this year.  While we cooked dinner, he very seriously drew out exactly what he wanted his pumpkins to look like and then after some "consulting" with Lilly, he drew what her pumpkin was to look like.   Brayden chose a "mean" face for his pumpkin and a "cat" face for Lilly's pumpkin.  Looking back, I think the carvers (ie Matt and I) could have probably done a bit better job to make the features a bit more exaggerated (especially the "mean" face that I did), but the kids were happy with the outcome of both pumpkins.   Didn't Brayden do a great job designing the pumpkins this year!  I was especially impressed with the cat face he drew!

Lilly's cat pumpkin

Brayden's "mean" pumpkin

We spent Halloween with our friends from church again this year, which is always fun.  We have some quick food (pizza this year) and then head out.  The Westfalls live in a great neighborhood with just the right number of houses for our kids, especially the little girls.

After much debate in the store, Brayden chose to be Captain America!  He had been saying for a while that he wanted to be Batman, then once we were in the store, it was Superman, then Spiderman, the Captain America, then Batman...and on and on it went.  I finally said "You Have to Make a DECISION!!"  and he settled on Captain America. 

Brayden and John.... both as Captain America!  We were definitly safe trick or treating with these 2 boys!

Brayden, Brian, and John

Lilly was a Zebra this year.  Mainly, because my mom bought the outfit for her last year, but it was WAY too big last year (even though it was a 12 month outfit!)  This year, it fit perfectly :)  I doubt I can get away with dressing her as a cute, cuddly animal next year so I figured we had better take advantage of the time and go with the outfit this year!

Brayden, John, and Brian took off running this year.  Thankfully, Aunt Amy, Uncle Joe, and Daddy went with the boys so that the rest of us could take the little girls at a slightly slower pace.  Lilly was much more interested in looking at everything and everyone than at actually trick or treating, although she did start figuring it out by the end.  She was very polite and only took 1 piece of candy and always said "Thank you".

The kids left to right : Maddie (scarecrow), Grace (Minnie Mouse), Lilly, Brian (fireman), Jocelyn (Cinderella), John (Captain America), and Brayden

4th of July Fun

We headed to the beach for our annual family beach trip with all of Matt's extended family.  This year, we decided to rent a beach house that was actually on Sunset Beach rather than everyone stay at Matt's grandparents house (packed in like sardines I might add!) on the mainland.  I think everyone agreed that the extra space and nearness to the beach itself was well worth the money spent.  We will be renting from now on! 

The crew consisted of:  Matt's parents (Nana & BB), Uncle John & Aunt Dana, Aunt Lynn, cousins Ron, Mamie, & Sid (who is 5), cousins Will & Charity, and us.  Oma and Opa (Matt's grandparents) came and went throughout the week.  We were also able to visit with Papa (Matt's grandfather) two times while we were at the beach. 

The house was just about perfect for our group & had lots of space that we could spread out.  There was also lots of outdoor space that we could enjoy, including a big screened in porch, sun deck and an overlook deck on the very top of the house.  There was also plenty of space under the house for us to store all of our stuff (and this crew brings the stuff!)  I really think the only thing that we didn't have was an extra fridge (there was even an extra sink under the house for cleaning up outside along with a nice outdoor shower!)  We all took turns cooking dinner at night (each couple had a night) which worked out wonderfully for everyone!

Our view from the parch on top of the house.  The beach access was between the 2 houses on the right.

 And the very best thing about the house...we only had to walk across the street to get to the beach!!!  In the past, we have had to load up the cars with all our beach gear, drive about 1 mile, find a parking space (which isn't all that easy), unload, and then haul everything out to the beach.  It usually took about 1hr from start to finish every day to go & then come home from the beach.  EXHAUSTING!  This year, we could go and come as we pleased.  Hungry? A short walk and you could fix a sandwich.  Hot?  A short walk would put you back inside the nice, cool house.

We started the week (Saturday about 4pm) with a tornado warning while unpacking the cars.  The kids, Nana, Oma, and I hung out in the very hot, very stuffy storage closets under the house until the storm had past.  After the crazy storm passed, it continued to rain/storm throughout the rest of the night.  Brayden and Sid had a great time standing on the porch watching cars drive through the flooded road in front of the house!    Unfortunately, the rain continued on & off through Tuesday but we did get a little beach time in both days. 

Lunch on the beach - Lilly and Sid

Brayden and Lilly

Monday night was fairly clear, so while dinner was being cooked, Mamie and I took a bike ride to get out of the LOUD house!  I had not been on a bike in about 20 yrs but I didn't fall at all.  We road down to the little market on the island and bought some much needed wine!  After Lilly was in bed, Matt and I took Brayden back over to the beach to fly a kite.  It was VERY windy so we had no problems getting the kite up in the air!  Shortly after we went on the beach, Mamie, Aunt Lynn, and Sid also come to fly another kite.  Then BB, Uncle John, and Aunt Dana showed up with a soccer ball and wiffle ball/bat.  Brayden quickly lost interest in the kite at that point :)

Kite flying

On Tuesday, Mamie and I decided to take the boys to the movies to see Monsters University.  Very cute movie!  This was Brayden's 1st time in a theater and I don't know that he really liked it.  I warned him that it would be loud, dark, and that the screen would be huge.  He says that he didn't like the movie, but now that a few weeks has passed, he talks about the movie some, so I think he actually enjoyed the movie, but maybe not the theater itself.  

Wednesday, after spending the morning/early afternoon on the beach, Matt and I were able to get away for a few hours & go to the outlets sans kids!  Thank you Nana, BB, Uncle John, Aunt Dana, and whoever else watched the kids for us to have this time away! We both bought some much needed new clothing for great prices!  The rest of the crew showed up at the outlets about 2hrs after we did and everyone did a bit more shopping.  

The coolest Uncle ever!  He "rode" in the plane and bus with them!

 We all then ate in the food court (because that is how we roll) and then went to a Myrtle Beach Pelicans baseball game.  This is now the 3rd year (I think) that we have gone to the baseball game.  It really is a lot of fun and something different for us to do together as a family.  Brayden was brave and went out on the field with Sid and had his program signed by 2 players!  He decided against running the bases however.  Maybe next year. 

My sweet boy in his new Pelicans baseball cap

Splash the Pelican

Silly girl - this is her "say cheese" face right now

Brayden enjoying some time with Aunt Dana

Being entertained with a ticket and pen

 Brayden and Uncle John

 Charity, Aunt Lynn, Mamie, and Sid

 Lilly found Aunt Lynn's sunglasses!

 

Thursday was another beautiful day!  We hung out on the beach all day, had hamburgers/hotdogs for dinner, went for a nice long walk/bike ride together, and watched fireworks!  When we went on our walk, Charity told us about an isolated part of the beach that she and Will had found at the end of the island.  The tide was fairly high so we didn't have a lot of sand to walk on for a while, but eventually the beach widened (even though it had been underwater at high tide) and we had lots of space for the boys to run.   Charity and the boys were on the look out for fish and/or crabs.  They were determined to catch some but the fish were always too fast!  I did find what I think is a large sharks tooth though. 

Beautiful sunset - sound side of Sunset Beach

Not sure what that face is all about... look at the wide, empty beach!  So wonderful!

Enjoying her wagon ride on our walk

 We spent another day on the beach Friday and then after dinner some of us went to play putt-putt.  Brayden, Sid, Aunt Lynn, Aunt Dana, Uncle John, Matt, Lilly, and I all played putt-putt at our favorite place.  Every one had a great time, even though Lilly was tired and grumpy most of the time.

Lilly was NOT happy about being in the stroller while the rest of us got to play

Crazy Sid

Aunt Lynn and Lilly

Brayden getting ready to put

Thanks for the wonderful memories, Sunset Beach!  We will be back again soon for more fun in the sun!!

It says "Brayden's Field"...he made a football/soccer field in the sand

Such a sweet picture...Daddy and his little girl hand in hand

Sound asleep.  She slept like this for about 2 hours on 2 different days!

Brayden asked for a deep tunnel, so Matt and I started digging

The tide pools were wonderful everyday!  One day, we built up these walls and made a deeper pool for the kids to play in.  They had a blast for several hours before the surf came along and destroyed out handy work. 

A new favorite picture of Brayden

Uncle John helping Brayden build a big sandcastle...again, greatest Uncle ever!

and she also sleeps on Daddy at the beach

Stolen from Aunt Dana's FB page...Sweet girl having a snack

Aunt Dana caught a crab...which then pinched her finger!

Aunt Dana and the boys

Aunt Dana and Sid...this photo totally captures both of their personalities :)