Beach Reflections

We are back from a week at St. George Island with Derek's Dad and family. The water was GORGEOUS and the weather was perfect. We could see our feet in the water and the ocean was as calm as a lake which was wonderful for the babies. Tate hated the sand at first but Derek got creative and built him a little sand fort and he thought that was so cool that he forgot about his fear of sand. Brit, on the other hand, LOVED the sand from the get go- I kept having to pull him away from it but then finally gave up and let him enjoy it. Tate was very well behaved and Brit was a virtual nightmare every single night. His ear infection and virus coupled with his newfound separation anxiety left his screaming for me off an on all night, EVERY night!! Luckily Derek let me sleep in a couple of mornings so I could get a little rest.

Tate was thrilled to see "Papa" and "Granny" but little by little as the week wore on, he became attached at the hip to his daddy. Those two are a pair- and to me, they look just alike!

One of the highlights of the trip was jetskiing right next to the dolphins. At one point, Derek was so close to one of them, the flipper almost touched the jet ski. It was AWESOME!! They seemed to have no fear of us which I hadn't anticipated.

Another highlight was the low country boil we had the last night we were there- pretty much all you can eat shrimp & crab. Tate's favorite was the corn on the cob- he polished off three of them!!

Another thing that was cool was the number of butterflies we saw- they were everywhere and so beautiful. Tate loved learning about them as well as discovering dragonflies, hermit crabs and the dolphins.

The boys were better than I could have ever hoped for during the drive both to and from the beach. SO much better than our trip last year with Tate screaming at the top of his lungs for no less than 75 percent of the drive.

All in all it was a wonderful vacation- we definitely will return to the island when we get another chance. We hated to leave but all good things muct some to an end!!

Eye issues

We are going on week #3 with my eye issues. I am getting a second opinion today, returning to Opthamologist #1 on Monday and then getting blood work on Tuesday. I am still having to keep my right eye dialated 24/7 so it makes blogging kind of difficult. Will post the results of today's exam later.

A grand aFAIR

Derek and I took Tate to the Fair (well, more like, carnival) last night. It was the first time that the three of us have ever done something together as a family that was really special and "just for Tate". We had a wonderful time and as you can see by the photo below, so did Tate. I call this the "WOW" face.

This was the frog we saw in the tank. Tate put his hand on the glass and it hopped, startling Tate.

The teacups were his favorite- we rode them two times in a row. he loved the fact that he could "drive" the cup. At one point I had us spinning so fast that he fell over into the cup and we were both laughing so hard we could barely breathe. I offered for Derek to ride the second time but he said that going around and around makes him sick...it didn;t affect me at all!! :-)

Tate petting the pig. He LOVED seeing the animals that we see in his books in real life. It was awesome!!

The camel greeted us forst thing.

Tate and mommy petting the pig.

Tate. pointing at the Ferris Wheel. "I want to ride that" he said.

Daddy and Tate heading to the iant slide.

Finishing the night off with a ymmy funnel cake.

Bathing Babies

Last week Brit began taking his baths with his big brother. We have had a few near-drown incidents, but nothing that a little slap ont he back didn't cure. Just kidding. They have fun together in the tub and for me I am now spending 1/2 as much time bathing babies!!