The Annual Family Trip to Hilton Head!

Ahh... Hilton Head. The ocean...pool...bike rides...sand castles...alligators...perfect weather...nighttime storms...schools of Manta Rays...Uncle Marc fishing sharks...waverunners...birds...a house full of cousins...late night dinners...and lots of memories!

Every year the boys enjoy exploring the island even more! This year...Patrick loves the pool. Nate loves the ocean, and Ethan loves it all! It was so nice to let Ethan run around and explore the beach. He walked right into the ocean without hesitation.

Here's Patrick riding some waves with Evan, his cousin.

Nate couldn't get enough of the ocean! And thankfully, Memom loves going deep - so Nate had a great time jumping the waves with her.

Ethan is a true "daddy's boy." Nothing makes him smile more than the sight of daddy...except for the sight of the ocean while holding daddy's hand!

One of Ethan's favorite activities at home and on vacation is to lounge in a chair/couch/bed and hold onto a remote/phone/sippy cup. Here he is lounging on the beach - having a great time!
Our littlest surfer!

The boys had a great time playing with their cousins and uncles! Here is Uncle Joel playing football on the beach! Later, Uncle Joel and Uncle Marc each took them putt-putting. It was one of the first times for Nate to go putt-putting, and he loved it! He was very animated as he described the bumpy things his ball had to go over to get to the hole. Life is so good. The pool was where Patrick spent most of his time... with his beloved goggles. It cracks me up how the lenses distort his eyes - but he loves these things!

Katie was a huge help with Nate - especially in the pool.

One afternoon, I took the younger boys (Evan, Patrick, Ryan, Nate & Ethan) to Harbour Town to play at the playground and see the ships. Their favorite thing to do was to climb the tree! After playing, I thought it would be nice to walk the pier and see the lighthouse and ships... along the walk, the heat sunk in. The boys drank all the water I had and quickly lost energy... especially Nate!

Here's a pic of the boys on the pier... this is moments before Nate's final breakdown. According to Nate, his legs simply quit working. So... I carried Nate, Evan pushed the stroller and Patrick & Ryan shared the task of carrying my backpack. I'm sure we looked quite hysterical! After a not-so-quick trip to the restrooms, I rewarded them with ice cream. I love the photos of them sitting on the curb eating their treats. I know I will always enjoy this memory!


The last evening, we always take a few photos on the beach. So... here are my boys!

Patrick - Age 5 3/4

Nathaniel: Age 3 3/4

Ethan: Age 15 months

Our Family

The cousins photo... this one is always funny. By this time, they're pretty much over the photos. Ethan was crying, Nate was in "Nate world" playing with a stick from his lollipop and the others are starting to daze. It's a neat photo to look back on each year.

Colin (14), Ethan (1), Katie (12), Carolyn (9), Andrew (10), Evan (6), Rachel (7), Ryan (5), Patrick (5) & Nate (3)

Until next year... happy summer!

Happy 1st Birthday Ethan!

We had such an awesome time celebrating Ethan's 1st Birthday! Just like on the day he was born - it was a beautiful weekend. I keep saying it, but it's true - Ethan brings the sunshine in!

Here's Ethan on his actual birthday (Saturday, March 6) unwrapping a gift from us. He had just as much fun climbing on the box! His brothers of course were a "big" help.

And then came is birthday party on Sunday! ALL of his cousins were her to help him celebrate. Thank you so much.... Colin, Katie, Andrew, Evan, Carolyn, Rachel, Ryan, & Timothy, plus 2nd-cousins, Raya & Wagner! We also were joined by his grandparents and my Papaw Vic & Mamaw Carol.

This event also turned into an early St. Patrick's Day party.... as you will notice by the cake and hy-ster-i-cal hat/bib my mother brought for him to wear! He is definitely our "McCutie!"

He ate the cake, but was almost expressionless (which is not like Ethan at all!). I think he may have been a bit puzzled by all the people just staring at him. (The 3rd child isn't accustomed to so much attention:)!))

What I love about this picture is Rachel's sweet face, as she is looking on. I also love that I have VERY similar pictures of Rachel watching Patrick and Nate take their first bites of 1st birthday cakes as well!

Here he was finally smiling. (Maybe the hat was too tight? HA!)

As you can see, he ate it up!


Here's my cousin Jamie with her son Wagner! He's just 3 months older than Ethan... but Ethan's actually a bit taller! (Ethan is our tallest baby yet! He's 32 inches, compared with 31 inches for Nate when he was 1 and 29 inches for Patrick at age 1)

I love this one... it's representative of everyday life for Ethan. Nate just can't hug Ethan enough! But, very often the hugs are a bit too hard... Here Nate is giving Ethan a sweet "Happy Birthday" hug - but Ethan looks a bit worried!

I love these next 3 photos... This is my grandfather & Carol with Ethan. I think it's so wonderful to have these photos of different generations together! But, these pictures are priceless... Check out Ethan's face at Carol in the second photo... we all laughed hard at Carol & Ethan!

Happy Birthday E!
Thanks so much to all of our family for making the trip to help us celebrate! Especially for those who travelled more than 10 minutes - Jamie & Lance, Scott & Ashley and Papaw Vic & Carol! We love you!

Have a Magical Day!

So much has happened since my last post - from a first haircut to the holidays to our first family trip to Disney World! It was an awesome time!

Here are some highlights from our vacation with "the" mouse!



Nate asking.... "Is this our new home?" and telling me "that is not a good idea" when I told him we were flying home on Saturday.


We took Nate on a few rides that were perhaps a bit too "old" for him! But, he hung in there. After riding Thunder Mountain, I was holding him & he was clearly upset, so I asked, "Was that a little scary?" Nate replied... "NO - it was a LOT scary!" Later, after Pirates of the Caribbean (where he thought the pirates were real), we went to ride the classic, It's a Small World. He was a bit hesitant and asked... "Are there pirates?" No. "Is it dark?" No. "Is it fast?" No. Then, he said "ok." And as we sat in the boat, he looked down at his hands and said to himself... "No pirates. No fast. No dark.... No pirates. No fast. No dark." Poor guy! Fortunately - he LOVED small world, and then we finished the night with "Wishes" Fireworks show! What a magical night and week!




Patrick arrived at Disney World a 5-year-old boy. He left a Padawan! Patrick's highlight was definitely Jedi Training. After waiting in line, Patrick (and 14 other boys) took the stage with a Jedi Master. They learned a light-saber routine that later saved them in battle against the villain of all villains.... DARTH VADER. I'm quite sure he'll remember this one for life!

Ethan was incredible. Never could we have imagined he would do so well. He slept great, taking naps in his stroller and was happy as could be to watch the parades, fireworks, bands and characters. He's now ridden Pirates, Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, Nemo, Imagination and more (all before age 1)! But his highlight was Donald Duck. Donald loved Ethan at our Chef Mickey's brunch. He played peek-a-boo & gave him hugs. Ethan also had fun playing with mamaw & papop! Our little E does it again, as the happiest baby we know!




We even saw some of our best buds, Jake & Zack! What a magical place!






"Never let your memories be bigger than your dreams." ~ Walt Disney

Thank you Walt for dreaming so big!

Halloween, Haircuts, Hiding & Hockey

Halloween: Awesome! We had so much fun enjoying Halloween in Beam Reach with our wonderful friends and neighbors. It was ham & beans, bonfire, lots of kids and lots of candy. Patrick was Jenga Fett (Star Wars), Nate was Robin (aka batman & robin) and Peter Pan (the costume was green, so he decided he would be both characters) and Ethan was the cutest Yoda of all time.

I think this holiday was made for kids like Nate. He dresses up nearly every day! He probably felt like the rest of us were finally seeing the world his way... Here are some pics from the weekend!

Here's Max (ninja) and Patrick!


Nate & Zach at school...

I just love that face...

Here's Nate - showing me how full his pumpkin was of candy. How sweet.

The best part was his buddy Sam or aka Batman. They were truly the dynamic duo. They got into character immediately, only responding to Batman and Robin. They made quite a catch that night!

And, our little E.

Haircuts: Well, it happened. And, I'm not really that surprised that it happened with Nate. He's such a curious George!! The funniest part was when I asked him if he cut his hair, he said "no." Then, I asked him to show daddy where his hair was... and he did! We cracked up. Fortunately for him, he has a lot of hair and the curls hide it pretty well. But, still... oh my Nate!

Hiding: Ethan is enjoying his mobility (although Patrick and Nate aren't so sure!) Here's Ethan, as he worked his way between the chair/table & cabinet. We were cracking up. He was so happy and content just hanging out there...

And Hockey: I don't know where to begin on the hockey. I think it's going to be quite interesting (I've already received 2 emails about a parent session on "how to handle concussions" SERIOUSLY), but watching Patrick and seeing his excitement is the best. He's been running around the house doing hockey moves for 2 weeks. And, now that he has his equipment - he's sleeping with his hockey gloves and elbow pads. Fortunately, our neighbor loaned us his old hockey gloves, so Nate has some to play with as well. He says "look - I have gloves just like Patrick." He's such a fan of his big brother! I'll definitely post more on the hockey happenings.... (apparently, the hockey organizers think "once they have us, they've got us for at least 4 or 5 years." Ummm... ok... I'm just going to say it one more time, "They're 5!") Oh the joy of kids... who knew?! Here's Patrick - preparing...

Who knew so much could happen in one week? I love this life.

:)