Three new what?

Sandcastle building,





kite flying,





swimming,






and crabs.....











that's right, the boys got crabs, hermit crabs that is :-) (Matt and I are having some great laughs about the 'crabs' . I know it is way inappropriate, but you gotta admit, it's still pretty funny.)

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Good Morning

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.




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Gators!

An alligator has taken up residence in the little pond in front of our place, I mean like 10 steps out the front door and BAM there he is! Last night Matt took the garbage out to the dumpster and Jack was worried when he didn't return as fast as he thought he should have. He said to me, very worried, "mom, you don't suppose Dad's been killed out there do you?" The good news is he made it home, the bad news is they had to kill a 14 foot alligator at our plantation today, WHAT THE CUSS?!!?!!

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South Carolina sure is hot, mom!

Yes, it's hot. Matt heard a lady say that today was the hottest day ever recorded for Hilton Head. And to think, we got to witness it :-).
We are having a really good time despite the heat. We have to start out early and hang out indoors during the 110 degree part of the day and then go out again in the evening. Today we had a late breakfast, visited a park to find a treasure and found some awesome shells while there, headed home and hung out until after dinner, took a bike ride to the beach to play in the tidal pools, and finally Matt took the big boys to the pool while Grant and I stayed at our "bacation home" and had some ice cream. Here are some random pictures from the last few days.

My Three Sons

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Geronimo!

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Ocean and fire ants

We made it. Our place wasn't quite ready so we headed to the beach, just to check it out.....well three boys were quickly drenched so we decided to change into our swimsuits in the bathhouse and just go for it! We had a great time. Grant kept getting mouthfuls of salty water and running up to the the towel to wipe his mouth and then 'charging' back to the water as fast as possible with his fists in the air. Jack found a live starfish which was awesome. We watched it move for a long time and then decided to let it go. We also found a bunch of live sand dollars in a tidal pool! Dylan is an expert at floating in on the waves and can't wait to try out our boogie boards tomorrow.

Anyway after the ocean, we checked into our cottage, went to the grocery, fixed dinner, and went on a night bike ride. We rode throughout a golf course and got wet from the sprinklers and a passerby told me there was an alligator at the next bridge and wouldn't you know it, there was! An alligator laying right at the edge of the water, nothing between it and us...????!!!!! The boys could not believe it and were terrified!

Doesn't it all sound lovely? Well don't forget to throw in a couple meltdowns, 100 degree heat, and fire ants attacking my feet as we were locking up our bikes (ouch!). There now, that's more realistic.


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We're on bacation!

Grant has really enjoyed the car tip thus far. He saw golf courses ( lawns in the middle of the mountains), a giant baseball, bolkswagons, and really big climbing walls (mountains). He studied some of Matt's popular science magazines and some computer magazines, "Wook at dis dad!" "Do you beweeve dis dad?" and my favorite "oh.......my......gosh, daaaaaaad, did you see dis?" We tell him what state we are in and he keeps talking about South Carolina, Birginia, and North Carolina which seems to be his favorite. He is curious about the ocean, "is it deep?" and the hotel, "are there beds?" Hopefully he'll be as jovial today on our last and shorter leg of the trip.....


Rest stop picture debacle.....why can't they just sit and smile? Oh yea maybe because they had been sitting for like 7 hours.


And our first beetle friend, his body was seriously like one and a half inches long!!!
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Bon voyage!

He are packed for vacation, Hilton Head here we come! Hold on, do you think we have enough stuff???





Groceries, check





Overnight bag for hotel on the way there, check
My clothes and beach towels and sheet, check





Boys' clothes, check
boogie boards, check





toiletries, check
Fun stuff for car, check





Boys' toolboxes, check! The boys' get to bring a toolbox strategically packed with all their toys, ds's, games, flashlights, books, etc. Their stuff has to fit inside the toolbox. they have spent many, many hours packing these suckers up, utililyzing every nook and cranny :-)
That about does it, only I do need to pack a bag for Lily. She's staying at a wonderful place with fresh gravy and food scraps every day, my parents' house.

See you soon!
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They're he-re!

Just in time for us to leave on vacation...






































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Grant's style

-This was Grant's outfit of choice yesterday complete with shin guards. Yes, he did wear it to the grocery store. He was thrilled and Dylan, well he was mortified!
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Out with the new, in with the old

8:30 am and we were heading out to mow. Dylan agreed to help (only because of the lure of money for vacation). Grant was playing, Jack was listening to music and I was supervising (encouraging Dylan in his exhausting efforts). Then the mower died. Matt has to start our mower because it jerks my arm clean out of the socket every time I pull that blasted string. Well, matt had an important call so he couldn't help. So I pulled and jerked and blistered my hands and finally got it started, and then it died again.....I pulled and pulled and it just died as soon as it would start! What is a sweaty mother with a list a mile long of things to get accomplished today supposed to do whilst her children are now arguing and the grass is continuing to grow and the temperature is climbing? March to the shed, open the doors and pull out this old-timer, that's what!









Oh yes I did. I pushed that mower and the boys all thought it was cool and each tried it out for about 3 minutes until it lost it's coolness. Dylan did mow most of the front yard while Jack and Grant fought over who got to ride first over the skateboard ramp!!!! 11:45 and in for lunch. Ok, the boys were all settled and I went back out to finish the back yard. 12:30 and the yard is done!!'!!!!!!!!!!



The pain from my arms distracted me from the sweat rolling down my, well sweat was everywhere, it was not pretty. I have to admit, this old guy did a good job and it was very quiet and it didn't need any expensive gasoline and my arm is still attached.




So, 'new' mower, aren't you ashamed of yourself? Sitting in the shade while the senior mower worked circles, well lines, around you, tsk tsk tsk. You better have a good excuse for your behavior!
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Summer storms

We headed to the Franklin county fair this afternoon. The radar showed big storms were to arrive as we neared the entrance, so we headed to a park to sit in the car and wait it out. It got really black and the wind blew really hard, but no rain so we headed to the fair and had a really nice day (not to mention a 'bucket o fair fries', a funnel cake and a lemon shake up). As we were watching a circus show, the skies started looking a little grey so Matt checked the radar and it showed a big storm coming so this time we hit the road. Lucky for us as it poured down, I mean 'pull off the side of the road' kind of rain. We made it home and it wasn't raining here....but when we pulled in our driveway we realized the storm didn't miss our home at all. My umbrella was splintered and stuck in our picket fence, we have several big limbs down including one on top of the play set, my fire pit cover was blown against my neighbors house, all my patio cushions were blown all over the yard and my table was overturned. Dispite all that junk the worst disaster was in my garden...





my corn is all blown over! One lone stalk is standing :-(. This morning it was tall and beautiful and tasseled and now.......(I took the picture out our back doors and its blurry because it was raining soo hard). When the rain let up I took a look and it doesn't appear to be broken off, just bent over.






Oh well, I guess I will wait and see what happens. As for now, the storm is over and this is the picture out my back door:


















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Just one.....

We have just one son at home for a few days. Dylan is at camp and Jack has been at my mom's house so that leaves just Grant here at home. We are having a lot of fun and he seems to be enjoying all the extra attention he is getting. Every night as soon as matt gets done with work he asks Grant what he wants to do...the answer is always the same...















Baseball!