4/10/2010 Jacksonville Beach

Chris miraculously was off work today (he's on an inpatient month this month - ugh!), so we took the boys to Jacksonville Beach. They were having a Rhythm and Blues Festival, and we went out to join in the festivities. We weren't too thrilled with it actually. One quick lap around the festival was plenty enough for me. Perhaps what we were most excited about was the surfing competition (which we never found). We saw lots of surfers, but no competition. The boys were dying to "put their feet" in the water. I told them since I didn't bring extra clothes, that was not an option, but they insisted they wouldn't get them wet. After a while, I finally gave in and instructed them to only get their feet wet. Who am I kidding? After about 2 minutes of dutifully obeying, the boys were both completely soaked. Chris and I just looked at each other and decided it wasn't work fighting it...they were happy. It was just water. After a little while, one of the surfers paddled right up to Mason and helped him get on the surf board. Grant kept his distance and refused to get on, even after the kind surfer offered him a ride, too. So anyway, we played in the waves for a while, then loaded up in the van and came home (a bit more prematurely than originally planned). But hey, we had a good time! It was nap time anyway.

My little surfer dude...when he heard we were going to a surfing contest, he wanted his hair spikey. Silly guy.

Daddy watching his boys at play. So nice to have a day off!

Just like his grandpa...can't keep that head out of the water!

Our young surfer teaching the boys the tricks of the trade

Grant asked me to help him make "pancakes" in the sand.

Jumping over the waves with the boys

They played so hard that both of them fell asleep in the stroller (NEVER happens!) Yeah!

Easter Sunday

We had a great Easter this year. Chris was unexpectedly off work, so we had a nice time at church, then went to the Hult's for lunch, came home and got ready for the Waltons and our neighbor, Ellen, to come over for shish-kabobs that night. What a fun day!

Wow. Uncontrollable.

Mason went to bed with his hair wet...this is how he woke up. The more I laughed, the harder he cried.

Easter Outfits

I took the boys out for a lovely frustrating morning of taking pictures. Neither one of them were cooperating very well, and I was all by myself...it's hard to get them to smile and take a decent picture at the same time. :) Nonetheless, a few pictures did turn out okay, and I must say, I think my little guys are pretty cute, if I do say so myself.

Grant's such a big boy now...

Sweet Mason is getting big, too!

Sweet Boys!

Mason got ornery and started banging Grant on the head with this stick. Such sweet brothers.

Firetruck to the Rescue!

Aunt Stephi and Uncle Dan gave the boys this cool sprinkler for Christmas. With the arrival of the hot weather, we decided to pull it out of its box, blow it up, and let it spray!! The boys have had a blast EVERY SINGLE DAY for about a week with this fun new firetruck, and I think our grass is liking it too! Thanks, Uncle Dan and Aunt Stephi for rescuing our me with a reprieve from our toasty days. I love watching the boys spray each other down! Love you!

Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'

Chris' parents took the boys for a couple of days at the end of March. While they were gone, I worked hard on our yard - pulling weeds, cultivating, laying mulch, planting flowers. It looked like a whole new yard when they got home! I ran out of mulch, though, so the boys Grant helped me spread the rest of the mulch the afternoon they returned while Mason pretended to drive the van. They're getting so big! I must say, it's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have two little ones to run around after!

03/27/2010 - 6 Years of Terror Bliss

Yes, I know I look ridiculous! But Chris has wanted to take me out on his motorcycle for a long time. For our 6th anniversary, he arranged for his parents to come take care of the kids and he was going to take me down to Daytona (1-1/2 hours on the interstate, probably 2-1/2 on the back roads which we were taking) to have dinner right on the ocean. I dutifully cooperated and even tried to be excited (despite my ridiculous appearance). I did have fun at first, but quickly noticed the seat was only about 4 inches wide and I couldn't move to adjust, so by the time we were about 30 miles from Daytona, I was in tears and finally got Chris' attention to ask him to stop. We didn't go any further and actually had to call his parents to come pick me up in St. Augustine because my poor bottom was so very bruised. I told him I knew it was all in his plan...he's been wanting a bigger bike. Just as long as it has a bigger seat...

He's such a BOY!

Not only have we been fishing to their heart's content, but we've also been chasing lizards. One night as we were eating dinner, I looked down to find this strange green frog with huge, bright red lips, clinging to the side of the patio table. Grant, of course, was all about it and immediately picked it up and held it for quite some time. Poor thing was nearly squished a few times and when I told him it was time to put the frog down, I was shocked to immediately see a poor little frog flying through the sky with all four legs stretched out in sheer terror as Grant hurled it into the air to "put it down." I still chuckle when I think about it. The little guy is quite into reptiles/amphibians/fish...He's a boy's boy...that's all there is to it!

Fishing

So we've spent a number of days fishing in our pond in the back yard. The boys absolutely love it, and I enjoy being outside as a family. Grant is becoming ALL boy - he's not afraid to handle anything. As soon as Chris puts our most recent capture in the bucket of water, Grant's hands are right in there, trying to catch it with his bare hands (this is a big change from last year where he stood way back with his hands clasped in dismay while Mason played with the fishies). Once he does catch one, he holds it up for all to see, and he is even gracious enough to let Mason pet it a few times. He's pretty silly. I'm sure one of these days he is going to figure out that his mom doesn't mind watching from a distance, but if he brings it near her, she screams and runs...that won't be a pretty day. Gross!

03/20/2010 Happy Birthday, Mason

Chris came home from being on call and we loaded our family into the car (Chris slept on a crib mattress in the trunk while I drove) and headed on down to Bradenton, FL to visit with Grandma and Grandpa who were here for the month enjoying (?) the unseasonably cool Florida weather. We were going to celebrate Mason's birthday with them, so Grandpa planned all sorts of fun activities for us and Grandma made a delicious meal and lovely cake for Mason's birthday. They even had balloons and squirt guns to add to the fun! We had a great time looking at manatees, saw a shark and several sting-rays jump out of the water (I've never been so close to such creatures in the wild...sort of freaked me out!) and even got to enjoy orange ice cream made from freshly squeezed oranges at the local orange grove. What fun! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for a wonderful time! Mason had a great birthday (and we did, too)!