Beach Week 2010

I'll start by saying that I've added an obscene amount of pictures from our trip but I'm the worst at "weeding out" the ones that don't deserve some love so I apologize in advance for making you look through a million. We went with my parents and brother and sister in law to Holden Beach for a week of fun in the sun. We couldn't have asked for better weather as it only rained once and that was at night. It's been ridiculously hot around here so the beach was the perfect place to spend the week and that's just what we did. We stayed at a house close to the inlet so low tide was the perfect time for the boys to play in calm water without getting knocked down by waves.

Carter loved it and was a beach bum through and through. He was so grown up and happy to just play alone or to help Coop with whatever he wanted to do at the time. We still have a napper at almost 5 years old but let him stay up for the week and hang out on the beach for the afternoons. He and Cooper would wake up around 6:30, which is way earlier than their normal routine at home, and play hard until 9:30 or so when we would finally decide to put them to bed. They were honestly so good that it was a nice treat for us to throw out our routines and just go with the flow. Despite the 50spf sunscreen Carter now looks like my little Indian child while little brother was left with the "white" genes. Carter has never been a very modest child but he must be getting to that age where he's becoming more and more concerned with who sees him in his birthday suit. He would go into his bedroom to get dressed and only let me and Jamey help him if he needed any help with his clothes. It was so sweet and honestly a little bit nice for me because I don't get the chance to help Carter that often because he does so much by himself now.

Cooper was too funny and had some of the quotes for the week for sure. His go to phrase was "so, so happy" whether he was talking about being so, so happy to be at the beach, the beach house, or his big boy bed. He told us the 1st day, "These waves love me, Mommy," and was about as brave as they come. He wanted to "swim" in the inlet without his wings and had no problems venturing out with no one out there to be his final destination. He was his typical unpredictable self too in that he'd be so independent and brave one second and then want me to hold him the next. He was great with everyone and much more open to letting other people play instead of just me, which was a great break for me! He slept in a room with Carter in twin beds and they had me and Jamey cracking up at 6:30am with there little jokes and conversations. My brother told them to say, "Save the neck for me Clark" from Christmas Vacation one night and the next morning they were both saying any body part they could think of in place of neck and laughing harder than I've ever heard them! They are so funny together and loved sharing a room for the week. Coop was happy to get back home to his crib but is well aware that his days in it are numbered and he seems just fine with the plan to move across the hall pretty soon!

We really had the best time enjoying the company of family and didn't want the week to end. Carter told us on the last night that he had a great idea - we could just stay one more week instead of packing up and heading home! If only it were that easy we would've done just that! I don't mean to sound like a lush but being at the beach and with fun people makes me miss alcohol all the more. Sarah and my parents took care of me and bought me O'Doul's and made me fun La Croix drinks that made it much more enjoyable to be amongst the drinking crowd! It's hard to believe only 3 more months to go until we meet this sweet little boy. I can only imagine just how chaotic our beach trip will be next year with 3 little ones but I'm honestly already looking forward to it! Thanks Mom and Dad, for yet again another awesome week - we already miss you all so much!



Cooper LOVES Uncle B and doesn't pass up a chance to be silly with him.




Cooper and Pop playing chase on the beach.
King of the Mountain!


Deer right outside our door that Carter went to check out.
Coop splashing away while Nunu swam across the inlet by herself in the background.

Carter attempting to catch minnows - it's so much harder than it looks but we did find several hermit crabs and a conch to bring home as souvenirs!
Cooper styling and profiling after Pop brushed his hair getting ready to go out for dinner one night.




Family photo attempt number million! It was too bright for us to all really look so I took what we could get!



Not the best picture of them but I just love their sweet little faces, smiling or not.






Bribery works wonders when you're trying to take 50 pictures of two busy boys!








Almost 6 months or 26 weeks pregnant, where does the time go?!

4th of July!

The boys and I were lucky enough to spend almost a week in Greenwood with my parents for the 4th while poor Jamey was stuck in Charlotte for a class over the holiday! We missed him so much but had a great time doing anything and everything that we could find! We saw Toy Story 3 in 3D, which they both liked and did great in. Carter took it all in and was quiet during the movie but has since been a motor mouth with questions about every last detail of it! He was a little freaked out by the security monkey at the day care and had a few days and nights where he didn't want to be alone but that was thankfully a short phobia! Cooper probably left a bit confused because he wouldn't wear his 3D glasses the whole time so bits were quite blurry for his little eyes. Cooper slept in a queen-sized bed while we were there and did great for the most part - we'll get to that part in pictures shortly! He would yell for me when he wanted to get up, which was a bit earlier than crib time but it's hard to resist a sweet, sleepy voice saying, "Mommy, mommy, need you" regardless of what time it is!

Here's Coop getting up after his 1st night in the big boy bed!
We played outside a lot and the weather couldn't have been any better! It was much cooler than the normal 100 degree, humid SC summer I was expecting so we made the most of it with lots of pool time, sprinkler time, and bike rides.
I was trying to get a few "good" ones of the boys together after playing in the sprinkler while they waited on Nunu to bring them popsicles. I missed out on the joke going on between them but they were laughing so hard that I couldn't help but keep taking pictures.
I love how Cooper is snuggled up to Carter in this one.
These 2 just make me happy and make me think of summer, my favorite time of the year! What's better than warm weather, sunshine, your bathing suit, and a popsicle?!

This is morning #2 of the big boy bed. He slept later than normal so I was ready and waiting when I heard the first mommy call. Not quite where I was expecting to find my sleepy boy and I don't think it was quite where he expected to be either judging from the look on his face in the next picture!
He told us all day about how he was silly for sleeping "unda" his big boy bed!
These bubble fans were great when they worked and made huge bubbles that the boys had fun watching, chasing, and popping!
It looks like hard work!
We spent 2 days at the pool and they swam until they could swim no more! Cooper did great and was much more independent with his wings and Carter is now swimming solo and attempting tricks off the diving board! I can't believe how far he's come this summer with his swimming but it's awesome to see him getting the hang of it so quickly!




They had a low dive and a high dive and Cooper did the low one a few times with helping hands from me and Pop.
This is Carter's attempt at a dive! He watched some much bigger boys a few times so now he runs off the board and jumps, does cannonballs, can openers, and dive attempts.
Greenwood has a train museum that Nunu has been trying to take them to for quite some time so we were happy to get the chance to go on the morning of the 4th! Carter loved ringing the bell on the train, while Cooper preferred being held and covering his ears.

We went to a small town near Greenwood for a street festival and they had such cute stuff for the boys to do. This is riding a Thomas train and was probably Cooper's favorite part, even though you can't tell that from his face!

Carter did this trampoline where they put you in a harness and let you go really high. He loved it but got tired pretty quickly and told the man he was done because his legs were really tired of jumping!

Cooper wasn't too sure what to think of the trampoline so we let him watch!
Before we went home the boys had shaved ice that took a good 30 minutes to eat. We expected them to gobble it down but wouldn't you know when you're ready to go they savor every drop!

Carter has really toned down his clothing choices lately but saved this outfit that he picked out specifically for the 4th! He makes me smile most of the time:)


Carter and Pop went for a bike ride around the block with their dog, George and he rode the whole way, hills and all. The only stops were to fight the bad guys and princesses according to my dad!
You clip your lightsaber to your bike when you ride, right?
Showing off his 4th of July tattoo.


Snap n Pops were a hit with both of them surprisingly!
They both loved the sparklers too!

Carter wears these rain boots every day as a part of his makeshift police outfit.




Checking out the neighborhoodl fireworks after grumpy Cooper went bed! Mom and Dad, we can't thank you enough for having us and taking such good care of us while we were there! We can't wait to head to the beach in a few weeks and have more fun times!