Beach Fun-Part One

We are on vacation this week at the beach! Due to my mom asking to keep Jack (and me being outvoted by the rest of my family) we didn't bring Jack along, so he won't be in any pictures:-(. I have been having fun, but I have to be honest, I miss him so much and wish he was here so badly!! When you are used to holding a baby, snuggling him and caring for him so much day in and day out, it feels empty to be without him. It's made me realize how my life will be when Jesse is a little older if we don't have anymore and I'm not sure I'm ready for that part to be over yet. I realize I enjoy caring for and having a "baby" so much and to think of it being over is too difficult to be a reality for me at this point. Thankfully, I won't have to worry about that for awhile. Now, for what we've been up to the last few days!

Our first day was spent just settling in, buying groceries and going out to dinner. After that we went to the aquarium. The kids had fun and Hanna enjoyed trying to touch the crabs and stingrays. Joe wasn't brave enough to try, but he enjoyed watching Hanna and going through the "shark" tunnel. His favorite was the sea turtle.

We had a really nice, yummy dinner at a place called High Hammock (a sister restauraunt to my favorite, SNOB, in Charleston). Of course, we had to go to River Street Sweets to get some pralines! We went for a walk on the beach after dinner. Jamie and the kids tried out his new metal detector and I just enjoyed walking and looking. That wrapped up our first day. I was missing Jack so much and so tired that I passed out when the kids did around 9:30 and didn't even wake up until 9am!! Much needed rest for me, and much enjoyed too!!

Today we slept in and took our time getting ready for the day. We went to MagiQuest. If you ever have the chance to go to this place you should! It is so much fun!! You pretend to be a magi and go on different quests and adventures solving riddles and finding items that you take to certain people and places to advance to new levels. You get a working wand and everything. The wand has a memory so you can go year after year, as it takes this long to complete all the different quests and adventures. We discovered this place when Hanna was 5 years old and have gone each summer since. This was Joe's first visit and he had a blast!! I thought it would be over his head, but he caught on after only 5 or 10 minutes and was able to do 75% on his own with just guidance from me now and then. I was really impressed!! Jamie went off with Hanna since she was on a totally different level than Joe. We all had so much fun at MagiQuest today!

We stayed at MagiQuest for a long time. Afterward it was already supper time so we ate supper and then went for another walk on the beach. On this evening's walk we were looking for shells. Jamie saw a "shell" sticking up out of the sand a bit and started to dig it out. The kids were eagerly watching to see what kind of shell he would find and all of a sudden a crab jumped up! It was funny to see them all jump back and scream. We saw quite a few crabs. I got some good pictures of them too. I thoroughly enjoyed our beach walk, we all did!! We are having a great time so far and can't wait to hit the beach each day the rest of the time we are here!

Our Busy Week and Weekend Fun at the Beach

This has been a very busy week for all of us! Jamie has been very busy with work, thankfully, no complaints there!! He's had lots of orders to fill and new things he has been working on. Blessings we are very thankful for on a daily basis.

At home, I have been very busy as well. Hanna began homeschool this week. You can read all about that on our Homeschool Blog. It has been absolutely wonderful and so fulfilling feeling like an "official" homeschool mom this week! Even with it being really hectic and super busy trying to figure out how to juggle Joe's school time (who needs me almost every second of his learning time!), Hanna's school time (who, thank goodness!, can work independently most of the time), housework, meals, errands, Jack and on and on and on--it has been 100% worth every second, and I can't put into words how much I am enjoying and am thankful for being able to homeschool.

After a very busy week we decided to take day trip to the beach today. It was Jack's first time at the beach. He wasn't crazy about being in the water because he wanted to be able to get down in it on his own and when he tried he couldn't just stay near the water's edge, he had to try and run out and keep running:-). So, of course, the water became too deep for him very quickly and he would get knocked down by the waves. Funny to watch, but he wasn't amused. He did learn to stay near the water's edge and ended up having lots of fun digging, playing in the sand and running around.

Hanna had her usual fun jumping waves, digging, and learning to use her boogie board from last summer. She stayed in the water almost the entire time we were there. She loved it!! She played with Joe a whole lot! With her occupying Joe, and Jack being satisfied digging, Jamie and I were actually able to sit in our chairs for a lot of the time and relax, watch the kids and take pictures!! I couldn't believe it--so exciting:-)!!

Joe had as much fun as Hanna and Jack. He stayed in the water alot too. Jumping what he calls "waves", he spent time digging too. He took his chair and put it in the water and just sat in it for the longest time. Just digging his feet in the sand and letting the waves crash around him as they washed up on shore. He had some of the sweetest smiles and looks of satisfaction and enjoyment on his face while he did this. He is really in a whole new "phase" right now. Growing older, but still so very child/baby like in some ways. So sweet and fun to experience. I remember this time with Hanna, and it, too, was one of my favorites.

We all had a really good time together today. I'm sure we will make several more beach trips this summer--we had such fun today! The beach is one of my favorite places and favorite things about summer here in the south. I am glad my children are enjoying it so that we can make these memories together each year as a family. At the end of this day and at the end of this week I realize I have so much to be thankful for. How blessed I am, and I owe it all to my Heavenly Father.

More Sprinkler Fun

We went to my mom's today and the kids played outside in the sprinkler. They had lots of fun and just like last week at the park, I was roasting!! It was 94 degrees today and very humid:-)!! Gotta wonder what kids like about running in an ordinary garden sprinkler so much, but they do--mine at least.

Just like last week Joe spent the most time in the sprinkler. His favorite things to do in it were pick it up and shower Hanna and Jack with it:-) and bury his plastic dinosaur in the dirt pile and then go wash him off. He did this over and over again!!

Jack did his usual--running from one thing to the other, keeping himself plenty busy.

Hanna did her usual--spent some time in the sprinkler and lots of time looking for lizards, butterflies and roly polies. This has been her thing since she was about 3, I can't believe she still enjoys this at almost 10, but am so glad she still has this childlike quality and hope it continues even if it changes and grows into a more in depth love of nature. This is one of her qualities I have always appreciated and been thankful for--her love of nature and animal life.

My dad built an enclosed area (like a sandbox) this past weekend and filled it with dirt, mostly for Joe (he loves to dig and hoe when we are there) and the kids got into that at the end of their outdoor playtime. OK, when you mix dirt and water from the sprinkler what do you get? MUD--and they got into plenty of it:-)!! Joe and Jack went from the sprinkler to the dirt box over and over again filling buckets, making mud "stuff" and washing plastic dinos. Hanna has really been into giving herself "pedicures" lately and she covered her feet in mud and reminded me about how "mud masks" are supposed to be good for your skin:-).

The kids had lots of fun playing outside today. I've got to get a wading pool so when we are outdoors playing I can at least get a little relief:-). Even though it was really hot, I enjoyed watching them play. I am so very thankful I get to stay home with my kids each day and make so many special memories with them. It is a blessing I thank Heavenly Father for each and every day.

Room Redo Pics

Since we were home this weekend Jamie figured he should spend his time doing some damage to the "scary" room downstairs-- we have 14 weeks from tomorrow until our EDD!! In case you don't remember how the room looked before anything was done you can refer back to the pics I posted in my Room Redo--Scary Pics post a couple of weeks ago. He got all of the walls taken off today, the desk torn out, old closet doors taken off and the built-in dresser torn out. Basically, the room has been "gutted" now and is ready for drywall. I'll post more as we--oops, he:-) does more!

Pictures and Pigeons at the State House

We went to the State House Sunday after church so I could play around with my new camera under the guise of "letting the kids feed the pigeons and squirrels". I had fun and the kids had fun, but Jamie got the raw end of the deal. Hanna and Joe had a blast feeding squirrels and pigeons and I had tons of fun taking way too many pictures, but poor Jamie just chased Jack around (who was chasing pigeons and squirrels the whole time) in the heat. By the time we left Jamie was washed down in sweat:-). Bless his heart, he never complained--much anyway:-). He's always a good sport.

A couple of the pigeons actually climbed up in Hanna's lap to eat some peanuts. She is an animal/insect lover, so she LOVED every second of it! She has asked every day this week when could we go back so she could feed them some more. Joe was able to get some of the pigeons to come up really close to him, but then when they got close he'd get so excited he scared them off:-). And Jack, he tortured them by chasing them the whole time. It was so funny to watch. He had such a good time. He was nearly impossible to get pictures of though because he was constantly in motion. The one and only good shot I got of him alone is on my hobbies blog along with a couple of really good ones of Joe.

I thought this was really cute picture of the boys. Joe asked me to take this picture of him, he thought he looked so "big".

Hanna was in heaven with these birds so close by!

I love the way Jack and Joe are just standing by watching Hanna. Looks like they are "learning" from her.

Jack decided he needed a little snack too and had his fair share of peanuts.

This was such a sweet, genuine smile from Joe. Love it!

We hadn't been to the State House to feed the squirrels and pigeons since I was pregnant with Joe. It really was fun and something we should do regularly. The grounds are so pretty and peaceful and it's a nice place to visit in Columbia.

Fun at the Sprinkler Park

I took the kids to one of our favorite parks today to play in the sprinkler. They all had fun playing around and staying cool. Me on the other hand....I did thoroughly enjoy watching them play and have fun, but....it was soooooo hot. Summer hasn't even peaked yet and already I am wondering how I am going to handle this heat all summer. I'm starting to get that feeling in the heat, you know the one where you aren't sleepy but your body feels so sluggish you don't even want to move:-). That's pretty much me outside from here on out:-). Anyway, the kids had a really good time and I know this is something we'll do alot of this summer.

This was Jack's first time playing in any kind of water other than the bathtub. He had a blast!! He ran around playing in the water and laughing the whole time.

Hanna had fun too, but she was in and out of the sprinkler between there and the equipment playing with some friends she knew who weren't fortunate enough to be wearing their bathing suits:-). She was such a help today with the boys, couldn't have done it sanely without her:-)! She's really growing up!

Joe had the most fun of all three. He was the only one that stayed in the sprinkler the entire time. He played with his cups, sifters, buckets and so forth and just plain had fun.

Happy Birthday Joe, Times Two!

We had Joe's "big" family birthday party at his favorite park Sunday evening. He was super excited about it all week and had such a great time at the party. (I still can't believe my sweet Joe is FOUR years old!!).

His Aunt Teresa, our own personal "Ace of Cakes", made his birthday cake for this party. Since Joe is in love with the Backyardigans she made a Backyardigans cake. She put alot of time and creativity into his cake and it turned out FABULOUS!! This is the backyard always seen in the Backyardigans cartoon for those of you who aren't fortunate enough to watch it daily like we do:-). (And to be honest, I enjoy it.) She made the sandbox, pail, shovel, tree trunk, most features on the house (including the flower boxes) and the two Backyardigan figures by hand out of fondant. Joe LOVED his cake (and so did I). We really appreciate all of the time and love that go into our special birthday cakes!

Here he is blowing out his candles.

Joe had the sweetest smiles of pure excitement and happiness on his face while he opened his presents. I managed to get most of them in the pictures I took.

We all thoroughly enjoyed Joe's party. I enjoyed it so much because he had so much fun and he was just so happy the whole time. It was such a pleasure watching him have fun. I felt so thankful last night for Joe and was reminded once again how much I love my children and truly love being their mom!