Road Trip to Myrtle Beach, Day 1

Dennis and I woke up at 4:00am to get dressed and everything into the car for our 14 hour road trip to South Carolina. We woke the boys and were on the road by 5:00am - we both hoped they would sleep for at least part of the drive, but our kids don't tend to sleep in the car.

By 9:00am, we were in Morgantown, West Virginia. We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's there, which had a nice little outdoor playground. The kids burned off some energy, and we all ate and were back on the road fairly quickly.

The drive down was absolutely gorgeous. The redbud trees were in full bloom, as were the wild dogwoods. As we traveled south, the trees became greener and the flowers more plentiful. The mountains in West Virginia are spectacular, and going through the mountains meant there was no traffic to contend with. Our GPS wanted us to drive through Washington, D.C. and down the I-95, but our GPS is also insane. The amount of traffic in the Capitol would have made that drive a living nightmare. Instead of loads of traffic, we had this to look at:

We stopped for lunch somewhere in the far western corner of Virginia, and continued on our drive. The I-77 goes through two really neat tunnels at the West Virginia/Virginia border, and the kids really loved that part of the drive.

I had brought the tablet computer, toys for the kids (arranged in 2-gallon sized ziplock bags, which was great because the bag doubled as a garbage container), and the DVD player. The DVD player was the best thing for Nolan by far - he is only four so his attention span is limited. I had picked up a He-Man DVD from Walmart for $5 - it had seven hours of cartoons and ran on a loop. The child was in cartoon heaven for most of the ride down!

The longest part of the drive was through North Carolina and South Carolina - we were definitely ready to be at our destination, but still had about 5 hours to go. Once in South Carolina, the highway system is disrupted and you have to drive on smaller roads with stoplights, so that makes the drive a little more exhausting. We pulled into the Seawatch Plantation at 7:30pm (our sister and brother-in-law gave us their timeshare points for Christmas - best present ever, by the way). On an interesting side-note, Matt didn't fall asleep until we were only 15 minutes away from the hotel.

Nolan never really fell asleep. Impressive for a four year old child who has been up since 5:00am!

Since it was getting late, we held off on the check-in process and went to get dinner. Fortunately, we beat a large school group arriving at the Steak and Shake - we zipped in, got a table, and ate some burgers and shakes.

We checked into the hotel and used a luggage cart to get our suitcases to the 12th floor. We had a two-bedroom, ocean-front condo with a balcony right over the ocean. The sun had already set, but the sound and the smell of the ocean was fantastic. The boys couldn't wait to see the ocean, so we took a little walk down to the pool area and the beach.

We collapsed into bed that night and were excited to play on the beach the next day!

Easter 2012

Easter was a bit early this year, since we were traveling down to Myrtle Beach on Easter Sunday. My mom came to visit the week before Easter, so we dyed eggs with Grandma!

So happy to be together 

 Matt's green-and-pink egg

Nolan's egg was supposed to be purple, but turned pink instead. 

Nolan's egg 

A basket full of colorful eggs!

The Saturday before Easter, we held an Easter Egg hunt and the boys received their annual chocolate bunny.  I also made deviled eggs, in an attempt to eat a dozen hard-boiled, dyed Easter Eggs prior to departing for our vacation.

Nolan finds an egg! 

Matt spies an egg in a tree 

Found another one! 

Daddy, over there! 

Matt with a chocolate bunny 

Opening Easter Eggs

After the Easter Egg hunt, we took Casey dog to the kennel, and said goodbye. It was really, really hard to leave him at the kennel. He's such a part of our family that he is used to sleeping on the carpet by our bed - he's never been kept in a cage before. Nolan was quite upset about leaving him at the kennel, though we managed to reassure him that it was only for a few days. Fortunately, he relaxed about leaving Casey by that evening!

We had both boys in bed at a reasonable time and packed the car - our trip to Myrtle Beach would begin at 4:00am the next morning, when we would wake for our mammoth road trip!

A Trip to Kinzua Dam and Jake's Rocks

Kinzua Dam is located on the Allegheny River, a short jaunt from our house. We hadn't been to the dam before, so I took the boys and my mom on a little adventure. The drive was quite pretty, and we found the dam with little difficulty.

The Visitor's Center was closed, but the boys enjoyed the small playground outside. We wandered around the area and watched water spilling through the dam.

There was a short nature trail through the woods, and the boys loved climbing the rocks on the trail. I had forgotten to put the boys' coats in the car, so they used Grandma's sweatshirt and my jacket. The morning was a bit chillier than I expected.

We found several trillium growing in the woods. They were so pretty with the light shining through the petals. This one was growing on top of a rock, in very shallow soil.

We also went Letterboxing. Matt found the box we were searching for and was excited to add to his collection of stamps.

My mom snapped a picture of me with the boys, and I was grateful for that. I'm usually behind the camera so there are very few pictures of me with the little guys!

We were all impressed with the trees growing around the giant boulders. The root systems were fascinating and the boys had a great time climbing and playing along the nature trail.

Nolan had a great time walking along the Allegheny River. Both boys spent time throwing stones into the river and watching a few Canada Geese flying overhead.

We headed over to Jake's Rocks next, where both boys were instructed to stay on the trail. There are sharp drop-offs, though the trail is well marked and easy to hike with little kids.

There was some off-trail rock climbing allowed, of course. Both boys had a blast exploring.

Nolan wanted to jump off of every rock, which made us a bit nervous. He insisted he "get down by my own!" He's a very independent sort of fellow, though we had to insist on holding his hand in some sections of the park.

Both boys loved holding Grandma's hands on the trail. Everyone was tired out and happy by the time we reached the parking lot again.

The road home led to a few overlooks of the Kinzua Dam. The reservoir held really blue water, and I love this picture of Matt on the stone wall.

We left Pennsylvania (after stopping for some ice cream) - we'll be heading back to this area again. It was a fantastic place to hike with little kids!

Valentine's Day 2012

I was really excited to volunteer in Matt's kindergarten class on Valentine's Day. I love going into his classroom and seeing all of the cute little guys hyped up on candy excited for their party. I have to admit, I was surprised by the quantity of candy given out on Valentine's Day. Remember when the holiday meant lots of cardboard cards and the occasional lollipop? Now there are mountains of treats - one kid even brought in  heart shaped boxes of chocolates for each child in the class. When did Valentine's Day become Second Halloween?

Anyway, Matt was very excited to see me in his class, and rushed up to give me a big hug. I know the days of "big mommy hugs" in front of his friends are numbered. I want to freeze these days forever!

The kids passed out their Valentine's Day cards and practiced their reading skills. Matt spent most of that time trying to sneak a candy or two from his bag.

The party was in the afternoon, so Nolan joined the Kindergarteners for the party and snack. One of the boys at Matt's table remarked on the fact that Nolan and Matt have the same shoes. Matt replied, "Yeah, and we even go home to the same house!"

Thankfully, the party snacks were fruit. Strawberries, blueberries, and grapes. A much appreciated (healthy) respite from the candy overload. I stashed the enormous amount of candy in a bowl above the refrigerator.

Looks like the Candy Fairy will have to visit and thin out the supply this weekend!

Piano Player

Matt started taking piano lessons two weeks ago. He has been working very hard, and can read the notes "C" and "D." He has homework each week in a "keynote speller," and I am so proud of his dedication to learning music!

He has learned four songs on the piano so far. The first three songs involved only the "C" note, played in whole notes ("Let's Play"), half notes ("Grandfather's Clock") and quarter notes ("Moccasin Dance").

He was so excited to add a second note last week, and got to learn to play "The Train."


 I am so proud of my little guy. I can't wait to see him learn to play more songs - the next song in the book is "Sea Bees," which is the exact opposite the "The Train" (using the left hand to play).

Music makes him happy. I love it.

Warm Winter

We are having a ridiculously warm winter. Sure, there is snow. Snow is normal. Rain, on the other hand, is not typical January weather for Western New York. The rain has been falling off and on throughout the month, which is just plain weird.

Of course, when it snows, we take advantage of the white stuff and head over to the local school's sledding hill.

The best thing about the boys' ages is that we can all sled together. Last year, an adult had to trail Nolan to help him up the hill, and to make sure he didn't spin out of control when he was going down the hill. This year, he's big enough to handle his own sled and the walk back up the hill.

Dad takes a turn on the mini luge

I have decided, however, that some activities should be left to the kids. I tried out Matt's new snow scooter on the hill, and had a sore hip for an entire week after falling!

I think I am too old for this... 

I think I broke my hip! 

Sadly, the day after this gorgeous, sunny sledding day, the rain returned. Followed by snow, then rain, then ice pellets. We haven't seen the sun in about two weeks, and there isn't any snow on the ground to brighten things up. I'm grateful for the clear roads, but the gray landscape could definitely use some brightening!

December Catch Up

This is an attempt to catch up from all the fun events over the Christmas holiday. December was an extremely busy (and fun) month!

Stockings were hung 

Our book advent calendar started 

 A Christmas tree was found

Ornaments were hung 

Snowball fights were had 

 Matthew turned six. SIX.

Grandparents came and Christmas Eve dinner was grand 

Casey had his first Christmas 

Santa came! 

Toys were played with 

Sledding outside with Grandma and Grandpa! 

Life was joyful  

and Grandmas are sorely missed.