Beach Fun

Wearing Daddy's glasses!

A ride in the wagon after dinner.  Donuts and peach tea (Mommy said I could since we were on vacation) were a nice combination!

The wagon was perfect.  Thanks to Mrs. Trish Beele for giving it to us at one of our baby showers.  I think she got it at Sam's!

Dylan taking it all in.

 Dylan wouldn't keep his hat on, but he enjoyed wearing mine.

 The wind was terrible.  All of that fuzzy stuff in the picture is sand blowing EVERYWHERE!!

One of the few pictures I will post of me on the beach.  Yes, you can be too skinny to show pictures of yourself in a bathing suit.

 Dylan having so much fun digging in the dirt.

 A fun time waiting for our food.

This is when Dylan decided he had had enough of the beach.

 First moments on the beach.

 I convinced Dylan that the water was fun!

 Attempt number one to the water.  Dylan did not like it!  If you notice in the background there is another little boy holding on to his dad for dear life. This same little boy built up enough courage moments later.  I think Dylan followed in his footsteps.  He saw me splash with that little boy and quickly joined in!

 Daddy and Dylan during attempt number 1.  He wasn't so sure about it.

Last minute beach trip

Last week as Michael and I were playing with Dylan outside, Michael said, "we are not waiting until fall break to go somewhere (this was our original plan).  Immediately I had an idea!  I sent my Aunt Leslie a quick text (without Micheal knowing) to see if her beach house was available for the weekend (since we would have a long weekend).  I thought her response would be that it was taken.  She responded and said that her daughter Sarah may possibly be using it and then said, "Do you want it?"  Of course I didn't want to keep Sarah from going so I just told Leslie that if Sarah wasn't going to go or would like to join us we would love to go for a few days.  Within a few hours Leslie sent a text back saying that it was all ours!!  I was so excited.  So, my next job was to convince Michael.  To my surprise it didn't take much. 
I spent all Thursday evening packing (boy did I not realize how much we would need) while Michael was at a retirement dinner.  Packing with a toddler is one step forward and 3 steps backwards.  I was beyond frustrated when Michael got home.  Friday morning, Michael sent a text, "tropical storm headed towards Hilton Head."  I thought that would be the end of something that had not even started.  The next text, "we are going, it may rain, but we won't be here."  On Friday (the last day of school), I left as soon as I could!  I came home, helped Michael get a few last minute things together, finished loading the car, and we were off to the beach.  We stopped after about 2 hours into our trip for a quick bite to eat and then got back on the road.  At this moment I decided it may be best if I sit in the back with Dylan.  I knew it was nearing his bed time and that he may start getting fussy.  The only one that started getting fussy was me.  I started getting car sick.  The vertigo that I had experienced a few weekends ago seemed to me coming back, my stomach was in knots from my supper, and I was exhausted.  We were in the middle of nowhere, I thought I needed a restroom, and I was very ill.  Eventually the "sick" feeling passed as the sun started to set.  Dylan stayed awake and very happy until we arrived in Hilton Head shortly before 10 p.m. 
Once we got inside the house, unloaded the things we needed, set up Dylan's bed, and got him settled, I crashed!  I was worried about how Dylan would sleep in a strange place, but I think he was so tired it did not matter.  On Saturday morning, Dylan was wide awake shortly after 7.  I think he would have slept longer, but the sun was shining bright!  Michael, Dylan, and I ate a quick breakfast, lathered up from head to toe with sunscreen, loaded our wagon, and headed to the beach.
We had an awesome day (pictures to come).  We stayed until around 1:00 and then headed back to the house for lunch and a nap. Dylan napped for about an hour and was back up ready to go.  Michael and I were exhausted, but took showers and headed out to a few stores before going to dinner.
We ate at a local restaurant, which was very good.  I ordered the king crab legs and was shocked when the bill came and they were $49.00!!!  I ate every bite!  Dylan enjoyed a side of rice, cole slaw, rolls, and hushpuppies.  After we ate, we stopped by Dunkin Donuts and then we went back to the beach for an evening stroll.
Sunday morning, Dylan was up around 7:30.  We were beach bound by 8:15.  We knew that the wind would be our biggest problem with the tropical storm warning!  Can I just say 25 mph winds and sand is NOT fun.  The sand hitting our skin as it flew across the beach felt like bee stings.  Dylan enjoyed digging in the sand and playing in the water for about 2 hours before he was just beyond exhausted.  We decided that the wind just wasn't worth staying on the beach any longer.  We went back to the house, took showers, and headed out to the local outlet malls for shopping and lunch.  By the time we reached the outlets, Dylan was sound asleep.  I went in a Subway and got lunch, Michael and I ate it in the truck as Dylan slept, and then Michael sat with Dylan while I did some shopping.  After about 30 minutes Dylan was away and reenergized.  We shopped a little longer and then I just decided that it may be better if we just packed up and headed back to Hartwell.  Michael agreed!  The tropical storm was scheduled to hit sometime Sunday night/Monday morning.  We knew we would not get to enjoy the beach and we really didn't want to drive home in the storm.  We went back to the house, while Michael was "storm proofing" the outside, I packed up our things. In record time we had cleaned, packed and loaded the car, and were headed home.
Our trip ended way too soon, but it was fun.  Dylan was SUPER!!  I can't wait to go back and enjoy more time on the beach!
Sorry if I have bored  you, but I wanted to remember Dylan's first trip to the beach and the "story" it included!

Pinterest project

I have pinned, pinned, and pinned projects on pinterest.  I had time over Christmas break to make Dylan a magnetic board for his room, which I love.  It's a great place for all of his letters and animals.  I've been consumed with work, school, and family time over the past several months and just have not had the chance to do any fun projects.
A few weeks ago, Michael and I were shopping at Lowe's in Anderson when he said, "you know we really need something different for our street number."  I had pinned an awesome idea a few months before and when he said it, of course I had my phone, I brought up the idea and he loved it.  So, we bought everything we needed.  This past weekend we went to our local Wal-mart and purchased flowers.  We spray painted the pots Saturday night and last night.  Michael and I planted the flowers and watered them in about 15 minutes tonight.  I'm excited about our new house number pot!  The idea came from:  http://brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/2010/05/terracotta-planter.html

This is our version!

Weekend fun

I had one of the best Saturday's!  Typically, Michael works on his car on Saturday mornings or we have something we have to get ready to go do.  We took Dylan to have his second hair cut, which went much better than the first time!  This morning I had a wedding shower to go to.  It was nice to get out and be around a fun group of women.  After the shower, I went home so that Michael could go work on his car for a little while.  Dylan and I ate lunch and then I put him down for a nap.  I played on pinterest for about 30 minutes and then decided to take a nap myself.  Dylan napped for 2 1/2 hours.  Shortly after he woke up, Michael came home.  We grilled out steaks.  Dylan ate a salad (broccoli, tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots), a roll, a fish fillet, and 1/4 of a sweet potato!  For dessert he had fresh fruit. 
After eating, we decided instead of playing in our yard like we normally do, we would head to the park.  It was about 6:45, so we knew we probably would not get to stay long.  As soon as we parked the car (right near the playground), Dylan pointed and screamed!  He started clapping his hands.  He was so excited!  I did not think we could get him out of the car fast enough.  We had so much fun.  There was a nice breeze coming off the lake.  We plan to return a few more times before the humidity and heat from the summer arrives.