Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Myrtle Beach

We just got home on Saturday from our annual family vacation. My mom and dad are gracious enough to pick a spot each year and we all meet for up for week of fun and relaxation. We've been to Las Vegas, NV (pre-Brennan); The Great Smoky Mountains, TN; Pompano Beach, FL; and then this year Myrtle Beach, SC. The trips are always fun and once we get home, I always make a Shutterfly photobook for everyone so we can remember the trip. I'm already almost done with this years!

Unfortunately Kyle wasn't able to be on our trip this year since he's deployed, so I wanted to make sure I shared some highlights and pictures here so he will be able to see. Prepare for a picture overload!

Our 4-bedroom resort was right on the beach this year!
Brennan wasn't a huge fan of the beach the first day, but after that he was all about it!

At Clint's suggestion, we ate at Medieval Times. Brennan really liked it!

Brennan and GeGe!
Brennan even got knighted while we were there!

Playing in the waves with Mommy.

B's favorite thing was to sit close to the ocean and dig in the sand.

And throw sand all over himself (and Mommy).

I was able to take this picture right before the wave came and washed the words away.

Brennan with GeGe and GaGa!

A shout out to Daddy!

The resort held daily turtle races in the lazy river. This is Brennan's "mean face"
right before the race.

Brennan's turtle finally won a race on Thursday! 
The balloon making stilt walker took a family pic for us at Margaritaville!

Broadway on the Beach had some kiddie rides. B loved them!

He was even willing to ride them all by himself. We went back a 2nd night since
he liked it so much!

Brennan with GeGe and GaGa after eating ice cream!

Spending a week here was pretty amazing!

Amanda and her two girls came to visit!

The kids all liked playing on the beach.

And getting tickled in GeGe and GaGa's bed!

Brennan in the water with GaGa and Hollie.

He's such a water bug and loved the pool.

Love is in the air!

My dad took B to the local fire department. I think B liked this as much as the ocean!

Not in focus, but a sister shot!

And at least one halfway decent picture of Mommy and B!
Our annual "good" family photo.

And the crazy photo.

The night we got home, I wrote down some of my highlights in my journal because I know I won't be able to remember everything and wanted to make sure I could share some of the details with Kyle when I get to talk to him again. Some of these are repeated from the captions above, so bear with me.

  • Brennan was a great traveler there and back - this kid really likes airplanes!
  • Thankful for people helping me out at the airport; they do take pity on a pregnant mom traveling alone with a toddler!
  • B working on his activity binder I made for the trip.
  • Our resort was right on the beach; just a short elevator ride down.
  • Loved starting each morning playing on the beach.
  • B slept really well in the pack-n-play and napped well each day. 
  • How mesmerized B was by Medieval Times; him getting knighted.
  • The heated outdoor pool was a huge a plus.
  • B watching the turtle races and cheering.
  • Amanda coming to visit.
  • B learning how to do thumbs up.
  • B kissing Adah.
  • B riding rides at Broadway on the Beach all by himself and LOVING it!
  • B swimming all by himself with swimmies on his arms.
  • B's love of elevators and remembering what floor we stayed on.
  • B remembering the combination to my parents' safe all week after opening it one time.
  • How much B loves my family even though we don't see each other often.
  • The funny things B said, "Double shot Maker's Mark", "Hollie is looking for a man", "C-Dub is making a baby", and coughing like C-Dub.
  • Watching B play mini-golf.
  • Eating Krispie Kreme donuts - YUM!
  • B winning 200 tickets on the Wheel of Fortune game at the arcade.
  • Finding B's Halloween costume at Old Navy.
  • My mom and Amanda getting to feel the baby kick.



Monday, October 1, 2012

Top Five Photos



Linking up at the last minute after arriving home from vacation. I always like going back through my pictures and finding my top five. Here they are in chronological order.


For some reason I really wanted Brennan to wear a bow tie to Kyle's SOAC graduation at the end of June. Once I got the idea in my head, I wouldn't let it go and we ended up finding this one at Macy's. I thought he looked so cute in his khaki shorts, button up shirt, and gingham bow tie. I liked the outfit so much that I snapped some big brother pictures since we were ready to make our announcement public at that time.

I have multiple shots from Brennan playing in the hose this day and decided to go with this one because I love the pop of green from the grass. This boy loves water and doesn't care if it's all over his face.

This was taken shortly after Kyle left for deployment. He cut Brennan's hair right before he left, so it's super short in this picture. Brennan and I went outside on a beautiful day so I could hopefully get some good pictures of him. Several of them weren't in focus, but this one was my favorite from that day.

I wanted to include this one from Brennan's first day of preschool. I think he looks so grown up and I'm sorry his Dada wasn't here to see him walk into school like such a big boy.

I didn't get any "top five" shots of Brennan while we were vacationing in Myrtle Beach other than this one. I just love it. I am so happy my friend Amanda and her two girls were able to visit us while we were there. And I think it's safe to say Brennan was happy to see Adah!

Tuesday is the last day, but it's not too late to link up your Top Five photos too! Check out these great blogs and add your photos today!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Friday, September 21, 2012

Future Submariner??

Brennan and I are getting super excited about our trip to the beach! I knew I wanted to make our last day at home special and full of fun so it goes by quickly. I decided I'd take him to the Submarine Force Museum. I've been several times when family members have visited and Brennan has actually been too, but not since he was a baby and being carried in the Ergo!

I thought it would be perfect for him today and I was right. He was in heaven! He kept wanting me to take his picture and would say "cheese" every time. The first nuclear-powered submarine is there for you to tour and I maneuvered by pregnant self and toddler through there like a pro! Maybe Brennan will be a submariner like his Daddy!

We miss you Dada!










Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Activity Binder

I've wanted to make something like this for Brennan for quite awhile now and finally got around to it. I'm all for activities that get a busy toddler up and moving around, but there are also times when you need something to keep them occupied while sitting; like on an airplane.

We take off for the beach soon and I am hoping this binder helps keep B content while flying. He's always been a wonderful flyer, but this will be his first time sitting in his own seat, so I wanted to make it special. I'm probably jinxing the success of the whole thing by blogging about before we go, but hopefully it's a hit.

I designed the binder based on skills I know Brennan has mastered or has recently shown interest in doing. I will obviously be sitting right beside him on the plane, so it's not something he will be doing on his own (although it could be used that way too). I printed the pages on card stock and put them in sheet protectors and he will be using dry erase markers. This way the pages can be done over and over again. I put some napkins in the pockets and will have wipes with me too to help clean off the pages when he wants to redo one. The pages would be much prettier in color, but I printed all mine in black and white because I'm cheap and boring. :)

Check out the pages I have included in his activity binder. I could've added pages for days and days, but had to stop somewhere. There are so many wonderful resources out there and I've linked to each one I used under the picture.

Letter Matching- I found this one the other day and thought B would love it. I was right. He asked to do it again later in the day, so I had to print out a new one. I wasn't sure he'd be able to draw a line connecting the upper and lowercase letters, but he did great. This is the only page from his activity binder he's completed before; everything else will be new to him.
from Supermom Moments

Shape Detective- Brennan loves shapes and I liked how this one wanted you to find matching shapes, but some were different sizes or in different positions.
from Supermom Moments

Prewriting Skills- Brennan did such a good job drawing lines in the letter matching activity that I drew an X for him on a blank page and had him trace the two lines. He did it over and over and over again. So I set off to find some tracing pages for him. There are a ton out there!
from Kidzone

from Kidzone

from Kidzone
from Kidzone

I also printed a few different tracing practice sheets from this website. I need to explore the site more because it looks like it has TONS of good stuff.
from Kids Learning Station
Fall Do-a-Dots- Brennan still likes using his Do-a-Dot markers. We won't be using the actually markers with his activity book, but I thought he would still like to color in the dots on these pages.
from 3 Dinosaurs
Number Match- I made this worksheet myself since Brennan can read the number words for 1-10.
Not sure this link will work, but from ME!
Fall Match Up- I printed off these matching puzzles and put them in sheet protectors too for Brennan to pull out and work on. There were a lot of them, so I divided them into four separate groups of 8-9 pictures each so he won't be overwhelmed.
from 3 Dinosaurs
I then put a blank sheet of card stock in a sheet protector so he can just free draw whatever he'd like.

I'm really hoping he likes this binder. I will also have lots of other activities (including the ever-valuable iPad) and plenty of snacks for him on the plane too. Here's to a good flight!

Sunday, September 16, 2012

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