Beach Week 2009

We're back by popular demand! And not because we have an injury to report or some sort of big news. Just the normal stuff. I had no idea anyone still read this blog (other than family). I told John a minute ago that I posted a blog on my painting website today, and he said that people were beginning to wonder where we were on this blog. So, here we are! I'm sorry the other blog is trumping this one at times.

We returned on Monday from a 10 day trip: Garden City for a week, wedding in Raleigh and then to G'boro to pick up the boys. Everything we did was fun. Seriously we had one of the best vacations we've had in a long time, but I honestly think we returned home more exhausted than when we left! I guess that's how vacations go with little ones around.

Here's what we did at the beach:

Wore Batman pajamas when we weren't wearing swimsuits....

Walked to the dock, to the house, to the dock, to the house, to the dock, to the house. Repeat.

Celebrated Father's Day with the best Poppy in the world! We celebrated with the world's best Poppy Johnny before we left.

Wore swimmies everywhere we went so Mimi wouldn't have a heart attack on the dock.

Threw cast nets for the first time. Owen (pictured below), Adam, Anna and Jack all took their turns.

Kayaked until the sun went down. (Owen, Jack and John)

Posed for many pictures

Promised each other we would not rock the boat.

Prayed that the dock would support this family photo op.

Acted normally....


I have to say that we have the best families around. Ever. We could not be more thankful to God for those who care for us most.

We Survived

We survived our first chin laceration tonight. After a nice dinner with friends, we headed to Shelter Cover where the kids spent a few minutes looking at the great Poseidon sculpture:) Jack was too busy looking up to notice the steps he needed to go down, so he tumbled down the stairs, bumping his head and chin somehow and gashed his chin open. A first of many, I'm sure.

Thankfully, I work for the best group of docs around. The on call doctor 'just happened' to be at Shelter Cove as well. When I called him he said for us to meet him down the road at the Hilton Head office. So we did. And he glued Jack's chin up in a jiffy. Just like that. Thank you, Dr. Peltz, and thank you, Lord, for a healthy little boy and some really convenient timing tonight! It all worked out so well!

And a special thank you to Gigi and Poppy Johnny for some cool photos (I'll post some later when I get them from her) and for watching Finn in the waiting room, AND to the Norrises for their help as well! What's that saying about it taking a village to raise a child again?

This picture and story is really not a big deal, but it might be a big deal for the out of town grandparents and great grandparents who want to know about these kinds of things.  

Hilarious Jack story (yes, it's a potty story, sorry.): 

We went to Carraba's tonight for dinner, and no dinner would be complete without Jack having to excuse himself to the restroom multiple times.  On our 2nd trip, he was doing his biz on the toilet, sitting backwards, as always.  He tilts his head way back to look at me and says this:  "I sure do like dookying at nighttime, and then the next thing I know, I turn around, and I'm peeing at Christmas."  I guess that's the 3 year old boy way of saying that time flies when you're having fun.  What a nut.

The P-P-P-Party

That title's not a stutter. We had a triple P party on Thursday! Jack and Finn are big fans of making messes, so we took a day to revel in it and invited our friends to join along! We had a painting, planting and popcicle party!

First...the painting! The children painted the pots they brought from home. They were lovely, I might add.

Shelby patiently waited for her turn with another brush. Can you see her perfectly spaced out brush strokes, one for each color. Atta girl!!!

And...here are my children mixing paint colors and painting the INside of their pots. I will say Jack was determined to finish painting the pot in it's entirety. I really enjoy his willingness to complete what he started! Some of the kids wore some of John's old T shirts so their clothes wouldn't get dirty. They looked like tiny little Yotas walking around our backyard.

I love him.

If we gave out awards for the most appropriately dressed, Camden would have taken the trophy. He had boots, gloves and a matching shovel. He was so cute.

Secondly, the planting! Here's where the great divide took place. The boys high tailed it to the dirt bags and the girls skipped around or something. They planted their seeds and then got to water the soil.

Then...the bottom fell out. Our dirt became mud, some kids started running around, some started wilting. It wasn't ideal, that's for sure, but everyone was a good sport about it.

In order to fulfill our popcicle promise, we quickly moved to P #3: Popcicling. That is one sport I could compete in at the olympic level.

Here's Finn catching a rain drop and eating his icy treat.

We definitely tested how many people could fit under our umbrella. Look at Pavin in the bottom of this picture. What a little ham.

Camden enjoyed his popcicle for sure.

And here is evidence that the popcicles weren't the only thing melting. Poor Gracen was not enjoying the early bath. Can't say I blame her.

Lil' Lucy. What a cutie pie. Staying close to her Mama's side. One can dream, right?

The boys enjoyed finding sticks and hitting them on trees. ?


So, all in all, a fun time! With school being out for everybody, we were all a little anxious to get out of our homes even if it meant getting out in the rain.

Thanks for coming to the party, everybody! We are so blessed with great friends and, ahem, beautiful children. Seriously, all my friend's kids are so stinkin' cute. It's crazy.

Paris

We now have one reason to say we're thrilled John had that terrible eye problem a year ago: PARIS! How is that? Well...John was supposed to take a trip last Spring during the Eye Fiasco of 2008, but he clearly had to cancel it. Therefore, we had credit with Continental and then an offer to stay in a Parisian apartment owned by friends of my brother in law' family. So, YES, please! Off we went! It was a quick and crazy busy trip, but we had a blast and would love to go back some day.

In an effort to go to bed before 1am, the captions will be short. Enjoy the pictures!

DAY 1: The Overview

Trevor and Jordan arrived several days before we did, so they were pros at navigating the city and finding the closest patisseries! John and I were bleary eyed from the nighttime flight we took that landed us in Paris at 7:30am their time. So, ignore the bloodshot eyes on our part. Here we are in front of the Seine. Just a typical view walking around town.

The gang in front of Notre Dame.

John finishing off my Nutella and banana crepe. You can get them freshly made almost anywhere in the city. So yummy. (Honestly, I think the crepes and pastries were the best thing they had going food wise.)


(Use your imagination and pretend that you see a lot of pictures from the bike tour we took of the city, pictures of us in front of the Eiffel Tower, and pictures of the Louvre. Also pretend that we didn't erase them from our camera.)

DAY 2: Museum Day

Trevor and Jordan were nice enough to hold off on doing the things we all wanted to do until we got there. We woke up very late but had plenty of time to tour Musee D'Orsee and the Louvre. Here's one from the Orsee. That museum houses a lot of impressionist art. So beautiful!

On the way to the Louvre, we stopped for a photo over the Seine. They have dinner cruises that go up and down the river all the time.

I had to post this mug on here as one of those 'been there, done that' moments. The Louvre is so gigantic, and their maps were so confusing, but everyone managed to find this piece. It's on a stand alone wall in the middle of a big room and everyone is huddled around it taking pictures.

And here's where it gets funny. One minute we're feeling cultured having toured famous art museums all day. The next minute I'm chasing Nick Lachey and Vanessa Manillo down the street taking pictures of them. In all honesty, this is the next picture on my camera after the Mona Lisa. Wow. What a change of pace. Anyway...John spotted them on a random little side street walking towards a huge church of some sort. I took my US Weekly-ish shots and moved on.

DAY 3- St. Chapelle

This church is famous for it's stained glass windows. I think there are over 1,400 different Biblical scenes depicted in the windows. It's beautiful. They try to keep it very quiet in there, but after a while the noise would start back up and the guy working there would power shush everybody. We wondered what his job title was.

John and I stepped in a few stores to take in the Parisian fashion! His shirt says "Fresh Dust".

The 'Risky Business' glasses are in again. Super cool in teal and red. I could only find black.

This was on St. Germain street. We found the coolest candy store. The ceilings were handpainted very detailed designs. Everything was blue and yellow. It was amazing. All of the candy had pistachios in it.

After the stores we sat at a cafe for about and hour people watching. We ate some of the best gelato in the world, but didn't feel guilty about it after the hours and hours of walking. We headed to Montparnasse afterwards. It's the only skyscraper in the city, and it is an eyesore for sure. But...we went to the top viewing deck and got the most amazing views of the city. Here we stopped for a photo in front of Luxemburg. We walked through the gardens, which was kind of like a smaller version of Central Park.

Jordan, Trevor and baby from the viewing deck on Montparnasse.

Everyone says that Paris is the city of romance. Well, true, if "romance" means making out. People make out EVERYWHERE in that city. You'd be walking behind a couple and out of nowhere, they'd step aside and start kissing. We thought it was hilarious, so we gave Paris what it wanted. But just for this picture. Ew. Not like we really make out. Geez. We're married.:)

We ate dinner after the skyscraper tour and then biked to the Eiffel Tower. It's amazing anytime of day, but it's really amazing at night. Every hour the lights will sparkle on it for about 5 minutes and it's the coolest thing ever.

Another view for the tower. No, we did not go to the top. The lines were forever long. We returned our bikes and just sprawled out on the lawn for a while, talking, laughing and gazing up at the Eiffel Tour. Pretty low key, but one of my favorite things we did.


DAY 4: Versailles

John and I took the train 15 minutes out of the city to Versailles on our last day. There is no way to describe how enormous this place is. Well, I'm sure there are ways, like actual measurements, but I don't know what they are. Anyway, Louis XIV built this palace, Louis XV lived in it and Louis XVI paid for it (with his head). Yes, someone was listening on their guided bike tour on the first day:) Anyway, these people were FANCY! Everything was gold and they had huge rooms for crazy things like letter writing! And I thought escaping to the bathroom to send an email was a nice change of scenery.

More crepes and Orangina, which happens to be one of the best drinks ever. They had it in fountain form at the airport. Happiness.

We saw this crazy looking girl dressed like a giant baby doll. She couldn't escape the lens.

Here's a view of the gardens that go on and on and on. We again rented bikes and rode around them. We went to Marie Antoinette's house, but didn't tour it. She was just the guy's mistress she had her own awesome house on the grounds. Wow. This guy must have been the Hugh Hefner of his day.

Here's a stupid American acting like she's never seen cleverly pruned bushes before.

We ended our tour of Versailles on a high note! We got tickets to hear the London Orchestra play in the hall of battles of the palace. It was all beautiful!

One last shot of the beautiful Tower at night.


If you ever get an eye fungus, make sure you book a trip that has to get cancelled. Then, user that flight credit the next year to go to Paris. It won't necessarily be "free", but it will feel like it. Oh, and make friends with people who have apartments in cool cities.

au revoir!

Take That and Rewind it Back

My blog neglect has caught up with me. To think that there was a point in my life when I blogged daily! It only lasted a little while, but still. Life has been busy as usual. Here's a little rewind of the past 3ish weeks. Starting with the most recent (because blogger uploaded my pictures in this order, and I'm too tired to change it.)

Jackie is home! Welcome back, Jackie! She finished her 2nd year at NC State, and we're so happy to have her home. Jack was so thrilled about having his Auntie back that he made up a song about it. Very Jack-like to do something like that. It wasn't fancy, and I don't even remember what it was, but it was probably to the tune of Happy Birthday or Row Row Row Your Boat. Jackie went to dinner with us and then spent 30 minutes in our noseeum infested driveway drawing with sidewalk chalk. And we love her for it. We couldn't resist a fake laughter photo. Jack has caught onto the fun.


A more normal shot...


Wouldn't this beautiful tree blossom lead you to believe that it's home is in a beautiful, clean, non-busy, non-Taxi crowded, Bluffton-like town? False. This picture was taken in the BIG APPLE! John and I were able to visit Jordan and Trevor at their home in NYC two weekends ago. We had the best time catching up with them and rubbing Jordan's pregnant belly. We walked around midtown, Soho, the village, the park, over the Brooklyn Bridge, saw Mama Mia, ate great food, and soaked in the sights and sounds of the big city. I kept wondering if it was clear to everyone there that we didn't live there. (Why is cool to travel, but not cool to be a tourist?) When we went to Europe a few years ago, it was evident that we were from the states. Oddly enough, because of our shoes. One of the cabbies in Germany said that he can always tell by the shoes. But in NYC, our shoes were the same as most peoples. I'm sure the I 'heart' NY t shirt didn't help;) (joke)

Here we are with Jordan coming back to the city via the Brooklyn Bridge. Our celebrity moment happened on the bridge. One minute we were staring at the skyline, the next we were brushing shoulders with Natalie Portman. I pretended it wasn't a big deal, but I immediately texted some friends the BIG news. (That Nat and I are BFF.)

Who said Trevor and John needed the top half of their heads anyway? More Brooklyn action.

We walked to Times Square after seeing Mama Mia. The show was incredible! The audience was singing through the encore, and John and Trevor didn't kill themselves. A true success!

Thank you, Jordan and Trevor, for hosting us for the weekend, and thank you, Gigi and Poppy Johnny, for making this trip a possibility for us. Thanks to the Dyar family as well for keeping our precious boys part of the weekend.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch......

That picture was taken a few weeks ago during the super hero naked post bath fun run. The lighting is bad, but it's still a funny shot to me.

Everyone always tells us how much the boys look alike. John and I smile and nod, but we really don't think they look that much alike. Sure, you can tell they're brothers, but they have their own unique looks about them. However....this picture makes me agree with everyone else. These boys do look alike. They were sitting on top of John here, reading a book. They love their Daddy. I can see why. He's the best.


We've never let our children sleep in the bed with us. Not because of SIDS risks or attachment concerns so much, but mostly because we're selfish bed hogs who love to sleep and don't want our children interrupting that at any cost. :) But...then this happened:

Some mornings Jack will get up early, which for us is anytime before 7:30. He'll come in our room and lay down between us with his duckies in tow. About 50% of the time he'll fall back asleep. The other 50% of the time, he begs to watch his "shows" or asks for milk or oatmeal. John can fall back asleep with him in the bed, but I rarely do. It's one of those times with Jack that is so precious I don't want to sleep through it. I just lay there and listen to his breathing and smell him and look at him and wish that he'll never grow up, but at the same time pray that he will. If we have a 3rd baby, I still won't let him or her sleep with us because I'm still a selfish sleeping brat, but I might let some little early morning naps take place....:) Who can resist?

Some recent Jack stories:

-We asked Jack where he wanted to take Jackie to dinner on Thursday night. He said Five Guys. We asked why. He said, "Because it's a special place." We asked, "Why is it a special place?" He said, "Because they have peanuts."
-After passing a rather, ahem, large individual at Target the other day, Jack asked the person, "Can you do a push up?" to which they responded, "I probably can't, but I probably should." Jack slowly agreed with a simple, 'yeah'. I quickly responded by pretending I was deaf.
-Jack was being treated to some Rita's Italian ice on Friday. Poppy was on the phone with him going over which flavor he was going to ask for...grape, lemon, cherry, etc. When Poppy got to lemon, Jack shouted, "Yeah, I like women!" Oh, the joys of preschooler letter switching. I love it.
-Jack told me the other day: "You're the greatest Mommy I've ever seen!" Aw.

Finn stories:

-Finley is a very verbal child. This is new to us since Jack, while expressive, was not as verbose at Finn's age. We sometimes get creeped out by Finn to be honest with you. Someone that small should not be able to say so much. It's downright weird at times. Tonight on the way to church, John described Jack as a knucklehead. No one laughed or showed any signs that this was a funny thing to say. But Finn then chimes in with "That's funny." Sure, those aren't difficult words to say, but he grasped the concept.
-Today Finn pooped outside of his swim diaper on John (and Jack chased that by barfing all over John about an hour later). While I was changing Finn's diaper, he sang a song. Not "Jesus Loves Me" (which he can sing parts of), or whatever else normal toddler song. His song of choice is Ice Ice Baby. He says "duh-duh-duh-duh-da-duh-duh, ice, ice baby" The "duh-duhs" he says to the beat of the intro to that song. It's hilarious.
-Finn will often shout from his carseat, "I'm happy!" And for the most part he is. Other times he's a little demon underneath that cute suit.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms out there! Especially to Mimi and Gigi!!!! You are the greatest mommies WE'VE ever seen!