Folly Beach Vacation 2009

This year we went to Folly Beach for vacation. After the fiasco of vacation last year, Jon and I decided we were not going any farther than 2 hours away! A few years ago we had stayed at this great house for the bridge run, so we decided to go back. Gran, Doda and Kiki went with us and we had a an awesome time! The boys this year were at the perfect age to start enjoying the beach. The first day Ben and Jack were both a little hesitant about the ocean. By the end of the week Ben was walking headlong into the ocean without stopping. We had to watch him to make sure he didn't go too far!
Jack loved building sand castles, digging holes and make "gates". We decided to rent a golf cart since the house was down the way from the beach access. Boy that was a great idea. Kids require TONS of gear. You would think I would have figured this out by now, but it always amazes me! Not to mention an electric golf cart is a good catalyst for getting naps started!
Later in the week Brennen came down and brought his niece and nephew to visit and play. Jack and Ben loved having the older kids around! On Saturday, Robbie, Suzann and Harley came down to visit us. Jack and Harley always have fun together, and Ben will follow anything that Jack does! Brennen cooked an awesome dinner for everyone and we had lots of fun catching up with everyone.
We all agreed, that this was one of our best vacations ever! We did not want to come home!!

Harly is the getaway driver, Jack is the director and Ben is the pedal man!
Nothing like a push up on a hot day at the beach!

Feeding the birds. This is very serious business.

Sweet big boy.

Sweet little boy. All tuckered out after a long week at the beach!

A Vist to Aunt Laddice

Gran and Kiki took the boys one day to visit Aunt Laddice in Allendale. They have not been there in quite a while. Jack loves Aunt Laddice and asks about her all of the time. It is very sweet. The day went pretty well it seems until there was a little accident. Kiki took the boys outside to play after lunch and Jack pushed Ben down. Ben fell down backwards and hit his head on the one rock in the immediate area. He had a little puncture wound in the back of his head, but he was ok. I think Kiki was super freaked out, especially with all of the blood that comes from a head wound! He ended up being fine, but I think it scared everyone involved. I am glad I was not there!! I might have really flipped out! Jack was very worried about his brother. Mom called me at work and told me all about what happened. When I got home I wanted to ask Jack about it just to see what he would say. I asked him if had a good time visiting Aunt Laddice. The conversation went a little something like this:

J: Ben hurt his head.

L: How did Ben hurt his head?

J: I pushed him

L: Is that a nice thing to do?

J: No, I tell Ben I sorry.

I couldn't help but chuckle. You could see the guilt on his poor little face. We had the whole conversation about being nice to our brother, etc, etc. About five minutes later they were both wrestling on the floor. I am ready to have my suite at the emergency room!!!

The investigators...very curious about everything.

Prior to the head injury. He found a pretty flower.

He can look like a sweet little angel. He can also be a sweet little angel when he wants to be. This picture melts my heart though. Look at those eyelashes!

Visiting the Huttos and Weathers

We went to Folly Beach to visit the Suzann, Robbie, Harley, Mrs. Ann and Mr. David. This was a big thing for us. We never take day trips that far away. I was not sure how the boys would handle being in the car that long, etc. We had swimming lessons early that morning, and then left right after. Both boys ended up sleeping most of the way, which was great! We got to FB about 12:30, and hit the beach! Harley had gotten some hermit crabs named Cindarella and Snow White. They spent most of the day playing with the crabs, poor crabs!! At least it gave us time to chat and catch up while they were entertained! Jack and Harley played great together. Ben, well Ben always finds something to do. He very easily entertains himself, which is a good thing!

As Jack would say "Building a gate for the crabs." Who knew hermit crabs could provide such entertainment? Cinderella and Snow White were brave souls and according to Suzann they are still alive and kicking. They would not be so lucky at our house I am afraid!

The beach boys!

Ben found much entertainment in eating sand. Plain sand, paci dipped in sand, chips dipped in sand, you name it and cover it in sand, he would eat it!

We were invited to stay for dinner. Robbie cooked a delicious pot of shrimp and grits so we all got cleaned up and dressed for the party. As you can see, the three little monkeys were having a good time together. Too cute.

Jack and Harley playing together. I think he would have followed her anywhere that day! It was pretty cute.

Swimming Lessons

We signed the boys up for swimming lessons again this year. Well again for Jack, first time for Ben. Jack loved them last year and did again this year. Ben loves taking a bath, and that only carried over to swimming lessons thank goodness!! They were both in the parent and me class. The company we take lessons through offers private, semi-private and quad classes. We did the quad class (with 2 other kids). Yes, we were half of the class.
Because of the fact that Jon and I both had to be in the pool I did not get any pictures. I did not really want my camera ruined. We took class every Saturday morning which was great, especially on the really hot days. The last week we were supposed to have class Coach Jane called and had to cancel because her car would not start. Jack was very worried about this. For the entire week he kept asking about Coach Jane's car. Finally, the next Saturday when we went for the last lesson he was like, "Is Coach Jane's car still broken?" When he finally saw her he was like, "Coach Jane's car not broken any more!" It was pretty funny.
The last lesson we were the only ones that ended up coming. This ended up working out great. She let Jack wear the vests that they wear in the next level and he was basically jumping off the side and swimming by himself with the vest. Ben tried the vest, but couldn't quite get his balance. He loves the water though. He spends every bath blowing bubbles (really gross in the bathtub). Hopefully they will keep up the good work!!