Look Who's...Walking!!

Yes, FINALLY!!!  Lucas has decided to try out those two little things stuck to the bottom of his legs.  Mmm, hmm...his feet!  Didn't take much, okay it did, several months of nagging from Momma.  Or maybe it was the two cute little twin sisters he had the hots for at the beach.  Yeah, now that I think about it, I'm thinking Momma's nagging had nothing to do with this newly found talent and he was simply motivated by the fact that if they could do it, so could he!!

Literally, our first day of vacation the boys were playing next to a family with 15 month old twin girls who were toddling around ever so cutely.  Of course, this only heightened my desire to see Luke walk.  But, being perfectly happy to do things in his own time, it seemed as though we were still a ways away from seeing Lucas toddle anywhere on his two little feet.  But...as it so coincidentally happened, the very next night, Lucas pulled himself up on the sofa of our condo and proceed to walk very nearly run across the room.  He took 15-20 steps, and probably could have gone longer had he not run into a dead end.  He wasn't quite smooth with his stopping and turning at that time.  By the end of the week he was able to stop and start again and has now completely mastered all of the intriquicies of walking, from stopping and starting again, to changing directions mid-stream, to even standing up with NO assistance.  WOW!!  2 weeks ago this little guy was still preferring scooting around on his knees, while scraping up his feet as his chosen method of transportation.  And now here he is challenging his brother to races.  OK, maybe not quite yet...but that day is coming!

Seems that the only "pictures" I have of him developing this feat are actually video or still shots from our new video camera.  The video camera is awesome (thanks honey, I really do love it), but it's not quite as simple to download the videos and pics off of it as it is to get them off of the memory card in my camera.  So, I will have to add some video to this post soon...I promise hope.  :)

Congrats little buddy on your new feat.  Just another sign of how quickly you are growing up!!  Makes momma happy and sad all at the same time.

Happy Birthday Nana

Last night we met my parents in Winchester (our half-way point for meeting up with my family.  It's so nice to be able to take such a short drive to meet up for lunch or dinner like this.) to celebrate my mom's (aka, "Nana") birthday.  We've been brave enough to take the boys out to dinner at a nicer (not Chick-fil-a or pizza) restaurant a few times this summer, and they have surprised us.  When Tyler was Lucas' age, we got to the point where it was a little hard to eat at a sit-down restaurant.  There just wasn't a lot to entertain him, so once he was done eating, he would want to be up and running around.  Lucas LOVES to eat so much that we don't have that problem with him as much.  He is normally still eating as the rest of us are finishing up.  We did have one small catastrophe this time, when Luke smashed a plate on the floor.  Our fault though, as it was holding the food he very much wanted, and we left it within his arm's reach.  Oops. 

The boys were even nice enough to take some pictures with Nana for her birthday.  I can't believe Tyler looked at the camera and smiled like this...I guess it helps when Mommy's standing beside the camera making funny faces, though.

 

And look at Lucas just posing like a little angel.  I'm telling you...this picture made her day!

 

So anyway, we enjoyed a nice meal with Nana, Papa and Aunt Jenn, and then stopped to have an ice cream treat before heading home.  A bowl full of sugar (cotton candy ice cream with M&M's...his choice) is probably not the best idea for a 3-year old about to be cooped up in a car for an hour, though!

Happy Birthday Mom (Nana), we love you!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame...

In previous summers we have visited the local minor league ball park with the boys...each summer they have been around, in fact.  Both boys attended their first professional baseball game at just months old.  But...this summer we sprang for a trip to the Big League ball park.  The Washington Nationals built and opened a new ball park a couple of summers ago (this is their third season in their new home, I believe).  Les and my father have been to a game there at least once each summer, but this was my first time, too.  I LOVE baseball games.  Not that the action of the baseball game is all that exciting, but I really love the atmosphere.  And, it reminds me a lot of my own childhood, when we would take several mini-vacations to nearby ball parks throughout the summer.  My dad was (still is) a HUGE Atlanta Braves fan, so we would travel to Pittsburgh or Baltimore (before the Nationals came to Washington) to watch a series.  OK, enough reminiscing...hmm, wish I could find a picture from one of those trips.  I just may have to do some digging.  :)

Anyway, so this year we decided it was time to take the boys to their first "Big League" game.  We knew that Tyler was definitely ready for the experience, but were a little unsure of what Lucas' interest level would be.  He very much surprised us!

 We were fully prepared to make it just a few short innings and say "we tried".  Being a little shy of 17 months old, we figured this might be a stretch for Luke.  Especially being an evening game, not starting until 7:30 pm (and bedtime is normally a little after 8).  But, we don't want to not try these fun experiences with Tyler simply because it might become a disaster, with Lucas.  That is not fair to Tyler.  We ended up nearly making it through the entire game, leaving just after the 7th inning stretch.  Now, this is not to say that it was an EASY time.  It definitely was NOT.  Having recently become very mobile (walking), Lucas really wanted to be down exploring, so we spent LOTS of time passing him between Mom, Dad and Aunt Jenn (who came with us, and who's extra two arms, and purse, came in very handy)...but unfortunately for Les (as it was very hot and humid), Lucas seemed to want to be a Daddy's boy, again! 

Actually, I would have to say that the train ride was the worst part of the evening.  It was nice to not have to worry about parking or to fight all of the traffic, but it was SO VERY hard to keep Lucas entertained on our laps for the almost one hour train ride into town and out!  Tyler on the other hand, LOVED it...he's been asking to do this all summer long.  Maybe we will drive next time...or maybe we will try the stroller. 

Luke may not have had much understanding of the baseball that was being played, but he was working hard on becoming an expert on ball park food, sampling everything from chicken fingers and fries, to M&Ms, cotton candy and lemonade (and probably a few other things that I've forgotten about)!  :)  Keeping his snack cup filled seems to be the key to keeping this little guy happy.  Come on though...shouldn't he be growing...he out eats his brother, for goodness sake. 

 

 

I decided not to take my purse to the game, since we were riding the metro in and I knew I'd be carrying one of two boys (as we opted to leave the stroller in the car).  Well, thank goodness Jenn took hers, because I ran out of room in the camera bag quickly.  Her purse became the "mommy purse", I'm not sure we could have fit one more item in it!!  Oh look, I guess he had some Cracker Jacks, too.  

I think Tyler really enjoyed the experience and atmosphere of the big ball park.  The one thing he was very confused about was why he didn't get to go play on the big field, too.  We told him to keep practicing and that we'd love to be coming back here in 20 years, to watch him play on the big field.

All-in-all, it was a really good time and even though we were completely exhausted upon getting back to our car, I am so glad that were brave enough to attempt it.  And it must not have been all that bad, because we have now decided to take Tyler and maybe Lucas to a WVU football game this year.

Thanks to the fact that my sister was along (who is also just as photo obsessed as I am....must be a family thing) I actually have some pictures with me in them!  They aren't the greatest shots of the boys, in fact I am the only one looking at the camera in the first shot.  But, these days I just accept that fact that I've got two little boys with minds of their own, so being in a shot with them is good enough for me.  :)

 

 

And here's a self-taken portrait of Jenn and I.

The hard work of it all was so worth it in the end, as we now have a great memory of the boys being at their first big league game together.

Splish, Splash

 What a difference a year makes, and what a difference having an older brother makes!  Last year when we visited this same water park with these same great friends, Tyler really wanted very little to do with the slides.  I don't think it was necessarily the slides that he disliked as much as that he REALLY disliked the water at the top of the slides that sprayed him directly in the face; because, he would go down the one solitary slide that did not have a water spray at the top.  This year however, he was EVERYWHERE.  He slid down every single different slide they had (forwards, backwards and sideways), crawled through all the tunnels and threw himself under the water voluntarily!  

 

 

 And Lucas...well, let's just say that this kid is going to keep me...On. My. Toes.!!  Yes, he is definitely trying to keep up with big brother and I am thinking he is going to be challenging his brother in the not too distant future.  He had absolutely no hesitation to stand up and walk away from me, or dunk his head under the water.  I see swim lessons in our future, if only to provide me some peace of mind.  :)  Had he been just a little steadier on his feet, he would have been climbing the stairs and going down those slides all by himself, without a doubt.  They really did have SO much fun and I can't believe it took us to the end of the summer to make it there.  But really, it probably wouldn't have been as much fun for Lucas earlier in the summer, as it isn't very "crawler" friendly.

Down By the Seashore

**Note**  Reading this post may result in bleeding retinas!  Proceed at your own risk.  Hopefully though, you will enjoy the stories and photos that follow.  I may split these out into several posts, but for now, this is our entire week!

***********

We recently spent an absolutely fantastic week on Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.  We did have a few days of bad weather, but luckily they were generally isolated to the morning or afternoon.  So, we were able to make it outside for at least a little bit each day.  We spend almost every day playing in the sand and water, for at least a little bit...as this was Tyler's favorite part of the trip!

We split the 9 hour drive into two days on the way down, so that we would get into town a little earlier on Sunday.  Saturday evening, we stayed in Florence, SC and had a VERY rough night.  We know that it is always hard to get the boys to settle down and go to sleep when we all sleep in one hotel room.  This is why we had decided that for all future vacations, we would stay in a condo/villa with bedrooms!  Saturday night turned out to be even worse than we could have expected, because Lucas did not feel well...AT ALL.  He was up until nearly 4 am!!  I even made a desperate call to our pediatrician at 2:30 to get her opinion on heading to the emergency room.  For our normally happy, carefree little guy...this was not normal behavior and even a little frightening, after the 4th STRAIGHT hour of crying.  In order to not keep everyone awake, or wake Tyler, Daddy and I headed out for a drive.  In all of my very planned out packing, see...

 

...I failed to pack any medicine for Lucas.  While we were driving, we looked for a 24-hour pharmacy, but found only one...in a less than desirable neighborhood and opted not to stop.  Upon returning to the hotel, we decided to try out the travel station across the street, completely not expecting success.  However...Victory!!  Yeah...an hour and a half driving around looking for a drug store and we only had needed to drive across the street.  Oh well...Lucas fell asleep promptly as we started driving, so it did give him an opportunity for a little rest.  Of course, he did wake up as soon as we turned off the car.  One other thing that made the night very rough, was that Lucas wanted nothing to do with Mommy...yep, that right, it was ALL Daddy!  Any time I attempted to take him he would scream...but hand him back to daddy and the screams died to slight whimpers.  Daddy ended up sleeping with Lucas on his chest for most of the night.  At some point, he was able to lay him in the bed, and this is how we woke up (sorry for the terrible picture, it's from my phone...didn't want a big flash to wake them up)

 

 Luckily, whatever was bothering Lucas Saturday night passed, and the rest of our drive to Hilton Head was pretty uneventful.  Lucas slept a lot...

I was SO pleasantly surprised at how well they traveled.  With Tyler potty trained now, I was expecting a LOT of stops, but he didn't slow us down at all.  I think we only made two potty stops not related to a fuel up (car or human) the entire three days of driving, and if we're being honest, even without Tyler we would have taken those stops.  We did put a pull-up on him, just in case it seemed like it was going to be a problem, but he never went in them...even once!  Lucas did get a little bored at times, but we had set the car up with his car seat was in the third row, so that someone (ME) could sit right beside him and entertain him, when needed.  It really worked out pretty well.  It actually wasn't that bad...being relegated to the back, I wasn't obligated to keep up a conversation with anyone, so when Lucas slept, I read...the Twilight Series (LOVE it), and finished the first book on our trip down.  I didn't have much of a chance to do a lot of reading while we were at the beach, can't really take your eyes off of a 3-year old and a 1-year old long enough to actually get into a book, while on the beach and I spend more time napping on the way home.

Upon arriving into town, we checked into our unit and then grabbed a quick dinner and our to pick up some groceries.  Tyler wasn't too keen on these plans, as he was SO ready to see the beach.  After talking about it for days...we knew we HAD to take him to see the ocean that day, so we took a walk down that evening.  It didn't matter to him that it was dark or that he had clothes on...he ran straight into the water!!  He did get his shorts wet, but no problem...he just took them off and threw them to me, "here Mom".

Here are some of my favorite beach photos.  

 

Our villa was located behind a small pond, which we learned the first day, was the home of the resident alligator...whom we named "Al".

 

Tuesday evening, we ventured out to Sea Pines for dinner and to see children's musician, Gregg Russell.  He is a local favorite and a lot of fun for the kiddos.  Tyler really enjoyed it and even went up to sit on the "kids only" stage by himself.

Les and I in front of the Harbourtown Lighthouse.  We still did not make it up inside...maybe one of these years we will!

 

 Lucas got a hold of the cup of ranch dressing and must have thought it was milk!

On Wednesday, we took a dolphin cruise to Daufuskie Island.  The cruise was nice and relaxing and Tyler really enjoyed being on a big boat.  Lucas wasn't too thrilled with it, because he was confined to our laps the entire time.  We saw many dolphins, but I was not quick enough to capture the.  Maybe we did on video. 

On the island, we had lunch and explored a little.  We found an old school bus that Tyler just loved to pretend he was driving.

 

Daddy and Tyler sat on an old dock and watched the water...

and I found some Adirondack chairs that made the perfect location for an impromptu photo shoot.  Too bad my boys didn't have the same feelings!

I wanted very much for them to sit with me for one picture, but they just weren't having it...especially Lucas.  He was downright MAD!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday were filled with rain and thunderstorms, so we fit in as much beach and pool fun as possible.  Friday we headed back to Sea Pines to have our family beach portraits taken...boy was that fun.  Actually, it was fun, but it is SO hard to get these boys to sit still to take pictures.  Tyler wasn't SO bad, but Lucas has finally decided that he enjoys walking and so now getting him to sit still...Ha!!  Hopefully we will find a few that we like!  I am all about the candid photos, so maybe they will be okay.

A cute photo of Lucas.  I had to take one in this outfit (that Aunt Kerry bought for Tyler), because I have one of Tyler wearing this same outfit in Hilton Head two summers ago.

Saturday night, we were finally able to fit in a round of miniature golf.  I REALLY wanted to take Tyler...Daddy wasn't quite so sure, as Tyler really knocks the you know what out of the ball with his little play set, at home.  But, we bit the bullet and it was SO much fun.  He really did well  The water hazards caught his attention though, and for some reason he thought that the object of the game was to hit the ball in the water hazard, rather than avoiding it!

This was his reaction to us telling him NOT to hit it into the water.  I really think it was just an excuse to be able to put his hands in the water to retrieve his ball.

 

Showing us his first putt putt golf ball...he actually kept a hold of this same ball the entire time.

 

  

 

It was such a great week, and we had SO much fun.  Here we are donning our t-shirts from The Salty Dog, just before getting into the car to start our 9 hour drive home.

 

 

We did make the drive home all in one day.  The 9 hour trip took us nearly 12 hours, but that is largely due to a stop for lunch and dinner and a stop at some outlets.  It was actually a good way to break up the trip, and kept everyone from getting too stir crazy in the car.  I don't think Tyler slept more than maybe an hour during the entire drive, but he did watch several movies, and even wore his headphones, so that not everyone in the car had to listen to The Incredibles.