Big One’s Birthday

On April 15th, our Big One had a birthday.  I surprised Scott with a massage and met him at the spa for lunch by their pool.  It was very luxurious.  The boys and I tried to continue the pampering with a big birthday dinner (as evidenced by our fancy attire at the dinner table) with his favorite birthday meal and red velvet cake for dessert.  To us, Big One is a pretty impressive 37 year old.  He’s probably in the best running shape of his life, continues to get bonus award trips at work for how hard he pushes himself, and continually surprises me with how handy he is around the house.  He is never content to just sit back and watch the world go by without him. He is constantly looking for new and interesting ways to challenge himself.  He is always surprising the boys and me, like recently when he got off work early and surprised while we were at the grocery store just so he steal the boys away and take them to play soccer at the park before dinnertime.  He is a wonderful role model for Aiden and Court and I’m so content to just sit back and ride this adventure called life with him.  So here’s to Big One! Happy Birthday! We love you!

Easter Vacation

The Williams clan took a long weekend and headed to Charleston to celebrate Easter.  Overall, we tend to get really lucky with the weather over Easter break.  However, this year broke the trend.  This was the coldest and most overcast I have seen it in at the beach in a long time.  But that didn’t stop us!  We built sand castles, played in the surf in our sweats, hunted Easter eggs all day Sunday, and ate some wonderful food (thanks to Bubba, of course!).  It is always wonderful for Aiden and Court to spend time with Daniel’s kids, Mark and Elena.  They are such sweet kids that spend 2 hours a day just reading quietly (gasp!) while sitting in the same chair in the living room (double gasp!).  Aiden followed Mark around all weekend asking him to play football and he’s been asking to play Mark’s card game ever since we left the beach.  Court, on the other hand, loved being doted on by Elena who treated him like a little prince all weekend.  On Sunday, Aiden and Court truly proved why children should not be allowed a lot of candy.  Aiden woke up from his nap with a tummy ache and said, “I don’t want to eat any more chocolate today.”  Court was so wired, he couldn’t sit still, didn’t listen to a single thing all day and spoke gibberish for most of the day.  Let’s just say that next year, the Easter bunny will cut back on the amount of edibles in the baskets.  Thanks for a wonderful Easter vacation Bubba and Pop!

Kimmie was showing us the beach (or lack thereof) when we got there on Thursday. Erosion has stolen tons of our beach!

Court and our huge sea turtle

This kid just can’t wait to be big enough to dig with the big shovel

Kimmie’s trick photography made Court look like he was surfing

Aiden may have fallen into the water a few times…

Court fell into the water headfirst and spend the rest of the morning cuddled in Pop’s arms.

The annual Easter egg hunt at the rec center on Isle of Palms was cancelled due to all the rain, but we entertained ourselves with a firetruck!

 

And the playground of course!

Court can almost slide down the fire pole by himself.

Aiden prefers to make himself dizzy

A little soccer practice

There was a good amount of wrestling too

Scott and I took Aiden and Court to see the USS Yorktown.

The boys (and I) were amazed at all the aircraft.

The boys loved sitting in the cockpit

The submarine

Sitting in the navigator seat

The boys keep Bubba busy reading books

Getting ready for the Easter egg hunt

And they’re off!

Bruno watching the excitement from the safety of the porch

Elena on the hunt

Mark has underperformed in years past when hunting eggs but this was his year

Elena was so sweet. She would take an egg out of her bag, run a few feet ahead of Court, and hide it just so he could find it. I’m not sure if he ever figured it out but he kept following her and loved every second!

Counting eggs was good practice for Court’s counting skills.

Bruno was exhausted on the way home! Too much Easter fun for this pup!

Grandparents Wolford

Grandma and Grandpa came into town for a visit last weekend. Scott was away at a race on Saturday for most of the day and he was gone all day on Sunday to go to the Masters, so it was great to have them around to keep me company!  Thanks for all the entertainment Grandma and Grandpa!  We miss you already!!

Court loves snuggling with Grandma

Grandpa teaching Aiden about the benefits of sharing

Grandma and Grandpa never come to our house empty handed. There is always a new book to read!

After Scott got home, he and Grandpa took the boys to watch a bicycle race uptown. The Budweiser clydesdales were there!

Apparently, the boys were very excited about the race. They jumped up and down clapping the whole time. Just not in this photo 🙂

And they even got to tour the firetruck!

Thanks for coming! We love you Grandma and Grandpa!

Easter preparations

We’ve been hunting Easter eggs around here like it’s our job in preparation for the big day.  We even recruited help from our good friends, Kieran, Finley (who just turned one!), and Jeana.  We boiled eggs, decorated eggs, dyed eggs, hunted eggs, and definitely dropped a few in the process.  I think we’re ready!

Look at those beauties!

Very proud of their haul

Court, Kieran, Finley, and Aiden. This was Finley’s first time to participate in our annual egg hunt! He only needed to get one and then he was a happy boy!

 

Mountain retreat

Last weekend, we spent the weekend at Bub and Pop’s mountain house with the Frederick family.  The weather was drastically different each day we were there – we went from swimming in the pool one day to gathering all the hats and gloves in the house in hopes of keeping the kids warm enough to ride bikes the next day.  We spent some time at Granny and Granddaddy’s farm, hunted Easter eggs about a million times, and sang songs from Frozen at Carson’s lead.  Court followed Carson around all weekend.  Aiden followed Ben around all weekend.  And baby Sawyer was an angel and smiled at us all.  And after those kiddos were in bed, Scott and I had a wonderful time catching up with some of our dearest friends in the world.  Thanks for making the trip Brad and Jocelyn! When are we going to do it again?!

The four musketeers

Easter egg hunting in shorts…

…then in heavy coats, but that didn’t stop these kids!

Look at Carson’s focus

Court hid the eggs this time. Each kid loved sitting back and watching the others find the eggs they hid. It was so hard for Court not to tell the others where every egg was!

Counting them up with Cowboy Scott

We had to get sweet Sawyer in the mix. Luckily all of his limbs are still in tact after this photo

Then it was off to the farm. Granddaddy and Scott had to clear off a big tree that fell over the bridge.

Jocelyn and I took the kids down to watch in the Gator.

Everyone got to sit in the tractor. I think Ben discovered a new side of himself on the farm!

Carson is never scared of anything!

Aiden loves this tractor

Court loves it too, when the sun isn’t beating into his eyeballs

Scott took Ben and Aiden on a “big boy hike” through the woods. They all loved every second and were very tough

Granny and Granddaddy came for breakfast before we headed back to Charlotte

Aiden and Granddaddy must have played 20 games of tic-tac-toe

Bubba and Pop arrived just in time for the cold rain but made the best of it with a warm fire.

Recently

Why is every month so busy?!  I feel like I can never really keep up.  These kiddos grow so fast and I try to capture every moment but it’s impossible.  So here are some recent photos and stories about our little family.

Court is a little barista these days and loves to help make coffee

Aiden and Court have come to love having an honorary little brother in baby William (Charlie and Chatham’s adorable baby boy)

And Dave and Jenn welcomed a beautiful little girl, baby Mackenzie.

We have a monthly supper club with our newest member, baby William as held by Natalie.

Aiden and Court went bowling for the first time at Kieran’s birthday party.

I didn’t know they made bowling shoes this tiny!

Happy Birthday Kieran!

This little contraption saved a lot of toes and feet 🙂

This one was too cute not to include – Court napping with Pop.

Aiden handed down his old dinosaur robe to Court. You should hear this Courtasauras ROAR!

Aiden has come to love his Batman robe that The Fredericks gave him for his birthday. Look at that fierce face!

We’ve reached the point where we can have game night! Kimmie and Daniel kept the boys entertained for a good 30 minutes while Scott and I sat there…doing nothing.

Goodnight stories

At night when I put Court to sleep, I sing him a lullaby and hum to him a bit while I put him to bed.  Last night, he didn’t want me to hum and said, “No, Mama. No hummus please.”

Aiden has started asking to “chat” with Scott or me before he goes to sleep at night.  He asks about our jobs, the world, outer space.  He is so curious to figure out this world around him.   Very sweet.