Memorial Day at the lake

Once again, we had a great Memorial Day at the lake. This year, Reed is finally big enough to play in the water more and enjoy riding on the boat. We spent all weekend in the water, on the boat, on the dock and playing in the yard. Brian made awesome barbecue and we celebrated Grandma's birthday. We caught fireflies and ate popsicles outside. We swam with the ducks and ran on the big blue mat. Alex learned to do a cannonball and Reed got in the water off the boat for the first time. We ate way to much, spent too much time in the sun and had just the right amount of fun!

Splash Park and T-Ball

Today I was home with the boys all day, so we decided to hit the splash park this morning. Reed was not a huge fan of the sprinklers, but Alex ran in right away. Then we ran into some friends from school and had a blast! Rowan and Cassidy are Alex and Reed's ages, so it worked out perfectly. They splashed all morning and then we headed to the playground.

After naps, we went to Alex's first t-ball game of the season (since all the others have been rained out!). Alex had a lot of fun hitting and playing pitcher, first base and center field. A great day to start the summer!

Summer list

Today we made a list of fun things to do this summer as a family. Some of them are things we already do, some are things that we've never done, some are silly, some are messy, and some are probably impossible. But it makes me excited to look at all the things we can do when we have nothing to do. Can't wait to see what's checked off at the end of the summer!

PS - I stole this idea from another great blog!

First day of summer vacation

Grandma took Alex and Reed to My Big Backyard today to kick off their summer vacation. Looks like they had a blast!

Alex's preschool graduation

Alex is a preschool graduate! After three fantastic years at Christ the King, Alex graduated from 4K. He has had wonderful teachers and great classmates each year. This year, he has made lots of new friends and really excelled in school.

He was so super excited about graduation and did a great job singing songs, reciting a reading and bible verse and accepting his diploma. They had a little reception afterward and he got to hang out with his friends for a minute. Then, we headed back home and had some cake. Congratulations, Alex!

First sprinkler day

Summer's almost here! Today we ventured out into the sprinkler for the first time this year. Alex loved it - running through the water, making the water squirt up his swim trunks, sitting on the sprinkler - you get the picture. Reed wasn't much of a fan, but he thought Alex was really funny! I didn't get any actual sprinkler pictures, but I did get some cute post-sprinkler turtle racing pics.

T-Ball

Alex had his first t-ball practice today, and he loved it! As soon as I picked him up from school, he said, "I am SOOO excited about t-ball!" Two of his good friends, Sam and Ward, are on the team, too, and they had a blast. Alex caught the ball, threw it to first base and hit the ball really well. So far, a great start to the t-ball "season"!

Golf weekend

Alex and Reed had a fun weekend at Moz and Gramps' house again. And this weekend, they played some golf! Alex got some lessons from Gramps with the real golf clubs (cut down to his size, of course!), and Reed just whacked the ball really hard! My little golfers!

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day! We had both our moms over for a casual, fun dinner. The boys did super cute cards for me at school and got me a pedicure (thanks Brian!) and a plant. I also got some plants for the front flower bed, and I already have most of them in the ground! It was a great day, and I feel really, really blessed to have a great mom and mother-in-law. Oh, yeah, and to be mom to two sweet, wonderful boys.

PS - the pictures reflect the inability of all three boys (including Ollie) to stand still for a good picture.

Folly Beach

After a busy three days in the city, we moved on to Folly Beach to relax and play in the sand. We hit the beach right away and played in the sand, ran in the ocean and jumped in the pool. Alex and Reed really enjoyed sharing a room in the condo, and that night, after about a half hour of giggling and squealing, they finally fell asleep.

The next morning we ventured back into the city for the Farmer's Market, where Alex rode a pony (Reed didn't want to!) and they both jumped on inflatables and ate fresh-made mini donuts. That afternoon we were back to the beach for more sand and sun. The weather was perfect, and we spent all day on the beach and in the pool. That night we went for ice cream and walked out on the pier.

On our last day at the beach, Brian, Pops and Alex went back into Charleston to tour the aircraft carrier. Reed was too small to do it this time, but he had fun walking to the ice cream/candy store and eating skittles on the pier. That afternoon we hit the beach and pool again and had a great time building sand obstacle courses and playing in the tide pool. Finally, we packed up our stuff and got ready for the trip home.

We had a wonderful, perfect trip! I think the boys really enjoyed it, and Alex might even remember some of this trip. Overall, they were really great, enjoyed everything and were good travel buddies.

Charleston

We had a great vacation in Charleston! Alex and Reed both had their first plane ride on the way there, and they did great. They sat in their seats the whole time, looked out the window and even got a tour of the cockpit. Since it was Alex's birthday, the flight attendant announced his name - we just happened to be on row 5!

Once we arrived in Charleston, we headed to Cupcake to have another "party" for Alex. He got a huge cupcake and enjoyed every bite. We finally made it to our awesome hotel/condo on King Street and relaxed for a little bit. Then Alex and Reed joined us for wine/apple juice happy hour in the lobby, and Grandma and Pops treated them to pizza while Brian, Christie and I hit the town.

The next morning we enjoyed breakfast delivered to our door - the boys thought this was such a treat - and it was! Then we headed to the aquarium to see turtles, fish, sharks, divers and more. Alex got to hold a starfish and they both held hermit crabs. In the afternoon, Grandma and Pops took the boys to Waterfront Park, and we enjoyed sun time on the rooftop terrace.

On morning #2, we headed to Mount Pleasant (across the big bridge) to play in a really cool park modeled after the bridge. After that, we visited Sullivan's Island, saw Fort Moultrie and ate burgers at Poe's. Later that night, we went to a movie in the park at Marion Square and had yummy fish tacos, pizza and kettle corn. We played some football and soccer in the park and had a great time.

On our last morning in the city, we took a stroll through the market and toured the Children's Museum. Reed especially loved the grocery store and diner, and Alex loved the huge pirate ship. After the museum, we moved out to the beach for four more days of fun!