Day 1: The Start of Our Cruise Vacation

We woke up early this morning and were SO EXICTED to head down to the Port of Charleston to board the MS Carnival Fantasy for our 5 day cruise! Granny came and picked us up so we didn't have to drive down and park our car. Daddy loaded up the van with all of our luggage and Stryker & I got a before picture :)

 



 

When we arrived downtown, we unloaded on the road and dragged our luggage (all 6 pieces!) to the shuttle so we could be driven over to the boat (Charleston really needs to rethink their terminal situation if they plan to keep this cruise business up). Anyway, we timed the shuttle bus perfectly, b/c we were seated and it was time to take off! We were excited, can you tell?!?!?!

We were pleasantly surprised at the ease of check in & getting onboard. Since we were upgraded to the OWNER'S SUITE (YEAH!), we were escorted up by a special concierge (oh la la!). When she opened the suite door (complete with DOORBELL no less!), all of our jaws dropped. It was beautiful! Here is a few pics of our new home on the sea for the week:

 

Our Master Bedroom with panaromic windows and a super big King size bed!

 

 

Uh.. Yes, this is our BATHROOM! Walk in shower and jacuzzi tub!

 

 

Double glass bowl sinks... classy!

 

 

HUGE walk in closet for all our stuff

 

Stryker making himself at home in the living room

 

A shot of the dining room and front door from the living room

 

Our bar

 

On our private balcony overlooking the Lido Deck

 

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The view from our room

 

Of course not 5 minutes in to the trip, we have our first injury. Stryker opened the bathroom door and didn't realize how heavy they were; resulting in smashed fingers :(  We put some ice on the hand and he watched out the window for a bit and was good as new in a matter of minutes. He didn't want to pass up the opportunity to explore the big boat and get his first taste of pizza and ice cream!

 

 

Our boy, Co-Pay :)

 

 

First stop, lunch! Stryker chose Pizza and Ice Cream

 

 

After lunch, we found the waterpark on the back of the boat and walked around onboard to explore the main promenade deck

 



 

 After we got our fill of waiting in lines for the elevators and checking out what was onboard so far, Stryker was ready to hit the pool.... And so were we! We changed into our bathing suits and hit the Lido Deck for some Pre-Sail Pool time and of course Drinks of the Day!

 

 

Our Suite Windows from on deck

 

Nothing like a Drink of the Day to officially start vacation!

 

Our little fish

 

Crazy Corona Bottle!

 

He had to snap a few shots with my phone of the "Big Whale Tail"

 

And you have to make sure you got the shot you wanted :)

 

 

 

What a 'Daddy' Look!

 

After hanging on deck for awhile and a nice swim, it was time to head back to our suite and have our own Sail Away Party! We lounged on our private balcony and watched and waved as we left our beautiful city. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty soon it was time to get ready for dinner. Daddy decided a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub was in order! He and Stryker filled up the HUGE tub, added bubbles and walah! Daddy's a funny guy!

 

After baths and dressing, I wanted to get some shots of my handsome little guy on our way down to dinner. This is his "model" look:

 

I wasn't thinking when we booked an 8:15 dinner reservation for the week when we were now traveling with a 3 year old. He did pretty good most nights though. His favorite part was the bread and butter course. He ate so much butter!

 

Apparently 'model' shots were not on the agenda with Mommy.

Note: He also passed out on my lap approx 10 mins after this picture was taken. Tired little guy!

 After dinner, we headed back to the suite and changed little man into his PJs. As soon as we got him ready to snooze, he was awake again (after sleeping through dinner!). There was a 'Welcome Aboard' show at 10:30 so we headed down...Stryker in his PJs carrying blankie all the way :) We were entertained by the cruise director, a couple comedians and a sneak peak of a Carnival Show. Stryker loved every minute of it.

 We headed back up to the suite afterwards and Stryker got to see his first towel animal. He thought that they were pretty cool surprises waiting on us nightly :)

 

 

 

Day One was exciting and exhausting all rolled into one. This Mommy was looking forward to a Day At Sea the next day to relax!

 



Team Spirit!

Today was team spirit day at school. Instead of the wearing his Clemson Tiger gear or even his Carolina (blah) stuff, he insisted on his Red Robins Soccer Uniform. LOL! This kid is crazy!

 

 

 

We also took all of his school supplies to school today in his brand new "Uncle Bubba" book bag. GOOD LORD this thing looks huge! Good thing he really doesn't have to carry this thing daily...especially that full. I believe Nana had a slight heart attach after seeing this picture on FB. :)



 

 



A Not-So-Busy Weekend

Every once & awhile, there comes along a couple of days where we actually get to relax, hang out around the house, and not be rushed around. THIS was one of those weekends! Friday night Dan & I started the weekend with a Double Date with Lindsey & Ryan. We went to dinner & a comedy show at a restaurant in Summerville. Stryker stayed with Grandma while we were out. It was an early night since The Grant's had an early wake up call planned for Saturday. Daddy & Stryker let me sleep in (8 am!) Saturday morning and we were up and at the housework fairly early. I planned to tackle the laundry and get a start on cruise packing. As I folded & packed clothes in Stryker's room, he played with his new MatchBox wall track that Grandma bought him. The thing is pretty cool! 

He then lined up all his red cars and trucks in "A BIG HUGE LINE!"

By 9:30, Daddy was busy doing touch ups on the house projects and Buggy and I were hitting WalMart for cruise stuff. After our two hour shopping trip and unloading what we got, we talked Daddy into taking us to Chick Fil A for some lunch.

Back at the house after lunch, it was time to tackle some of my laundry and packing before heading to a friend's baby shower. This little guy kept me entertained though! He has quite an imagination. First, my empty suitcase was a car. He loaded up all his stuff (blankie, Clemson football helmet, book bag) and told me he was off to football camp. We'll go get 'em boy!

Next, he grabbed a throw pillow off my bed and decided to rest in his "car". (It didn't last long though!) He was a great helper to me and was able to entertain himself while I finished up.

That evening, we had another quiet night at home...just the three of us. We cuddled on the couch and watched The Goonies with Stryker for the first time. CLASSIC! He was thrilled about the pirate ship and even Sloth (surprisingly!). We let him stay up wayyyy past his bedtime (11 pm!?!?!?) to finish the movie.

Of course he was up by 7:30 Sunday morning (why is that, btw?) and was ready for some breakfast. We let Daddy sleep in and I made him some French Toast complete with powder sugar and banana slices on the side (his request). While I cleaned the kitchen, he got busy on a project for Uncle Bubba. I recently bought him some safety scissors, so I showed him how to cut and color a card for us to send overseas. He was beyond happy to complete this project!

He was pretty good with the scissors too. It's gonna take some practice, but soon he'll be cutting away (let's just hope it's only paper!). I can't wait until after vacation when we can make more card projects for Uncle Bubba!



SunDAY consisted of a quick trip to the doctor for Grandma, lunch at Ruby Tuesday's, shopping with Grandma and finally back home. It was 3:10 and Stryker was getting crazy... Time for a nap. I set him up with a movie in the guest room and knew he'd be out shortly... WRONG. He watched that whole movie and came got me afterwards. We watched a few minutes of TV cuddled together and the next thing I know, he's passed out on my lap. At 5 pm. I try to avoid late naps as to avoid long nights, but how cute is that Bugs!

Too bad for him, I only let him nap for about an hour. I got him up and we headed out back to cut the grass and clean up the backyard. He was another great helper. We ended the night with some Big Brother 14 as a family. I'm thankful for two days of "house time". It never seems like we stand still lately, so this weekend was a success!



What we do on a Tuesday night....

Daddy went to Kiawah today for a boy's trip to the PGA practice round. While he was away, me and my boy had an evening together at home. We started off with a delicious grilled cheese and french fries dinner. Next we moved on to playing dress up.... Stryker was feeling like a SUPERMAN tonight!



After dress up, we moved to his room to play the Match Game (he beat me 2 out of 3 times!) and to color. I'm trying to teach him to stay in the lines, but we need to keep practicing. 

He, of course, wanted to take a picture of me coloring as well :) He LOVES the camera (and the video camera, too!). 

And finally we had to have a Mommy-Stryker shot. This little man is my heart!

We ended the night with a bubble bath and shortly after that Daddy came home. Stryker cuddled with Daddy and was soon fast asleep. It was a good Tuesday night!

Other shots from a busy weekend

Not only did we drive to Columbia for Peyton's birthday party Saturday, but we were also busy around town this weekend too. Friday evening, Grandma, Stryker, Dan & I did some shopping for our upcoming cruise. I forgot about tax free shopping weekend, so the stores were PACKED. We were able to find a few outfits for Grandma, Daddy & I. After almost three hours, we decided we were beat and dinner was in order. We went across the street to Applebee's. Stryker entertained himself waiting on dinner with coloring and tic tac toe

We splurged for dessert tonight and it was DELISH! I had the Blondie and Daddy got the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae. Stryker wasn't impressed with mine, but helped Daddy eat all of his! 

After Saturday's long road trip day, Sunday was a stormy, gloomy day. We slept in and my boys treated me to breakfast and coffee in bed. We spent the day doing more house cleaning. Daddy treated us to La Ha for dinner and we came home and chilled in the garage. It was a nice, cool, rainy evening. Stryker wanted to try his hand at photography. He did pretty good capturing Dan & I :)

Happy 4th Birthday, Peyton!

Today we loaded up Granny's van and hit the road to Cola for Peyton's FOURTH birthday! What a big guy he's getting to be! Time is surely flying by as, once again, I can hardly believe my nephew is this big already!

Peyton had an Angry Birds themed party- he's slightly obsessed :) For his birthday, Jimmy & Lorie got him a new bedroom theme - Angry Birds. Lorie did a great job on painting and decorating and I hear he was VERY excited to see his finished room on Saturday AM since he had not been allowed to see the room at all since she started :) Here's some pics!

And if re-decorating rooms wasn't enough, Aunt Lorie made Peyton's special birthday cake too! She's becoming quite the pro at cake baking and decorating! Look out Cake Boss :) She continued the Angry Birds theme with this goodness!

We were able to catch up with family before the party started. Stryker LOVES his baby cousin Maddison. Look at that sweet boy playing with Maddie & Granny! And of course there's always a photo shoot with my girl!

The "Honour Girls" and Uncle Dan & Maddison

Daddy sent Maddison this great pink camo onesie to sport: "If you love your freedom, thank my Dad!" THANK YOU 100x over Uncle Bubba! We love you so much and are so proud of you!







After everyone arrived, we headed out to the backyard for some wooden bird house painting! What a great idea for a craft AND a favor to take home! Even Daddy & Nana wanted in on the action and painted theirselves one! I love Stryker's 'mega-concentration-tongue-out-of-mouth'!

After all the painting, it was time for some water fun!

I love these cousin so much! What a pair of handsome fellas and a beautiful baby girl!!!

We hope you had a very happy 4th birthday Peyton! Thank you for inviting us to your party! It was lots of fun! See you again soon!

Living Room Upgrades

We (well, mostly Dan!) have been preforming some home renovations as of late (well, as of 16 Jan actually). But it's FINALLY coming together!!!! We are so excited to have a "new" kitchen and living  room! Makes me wanna live in the Hearthstone a while longer :)

First the living room.

Here's what we started with: Popcorn ceilings, khaki-ish colored walls, white baseboards, GROSS cream carpet.

Dan got inspired on Sunday, July 22 at 9 pm to scrape the ceilings in the living room. He busted that out in just a few hours! I left him to work on his project and hit the hay.

When I got home from work on Monday afternoon, the ceilings had been patched and painting had started. Dan also installed new surround sound in the ceiling.

Monday night progress... Ceilings DONE!

Tuesday afternoon brought more improvement... Painted walls!!! We went with a grayish color so that it would flow nicely with the kitchen colors.

After all the painting was done, it was time to rip up the carpet. What a mess (so Dan said...Keep in mind I was lucky enough to be at work all day!)!

On Friday, July 27th, Dan went to the flooring store and picked up all the hardwood we would need to be installed throughout the living room and kitchen. He stayed home from Family Beach day on Saturday to rip out the foyer hardwoods and mount our TV to the wall.

On Monday, July 29th, Project Hardwood Installation began!! Dan and his friend Eric made my dreams come true! I've been wanting hardwood floors for a LONG time now and I finally have them! I can't thank them enough for all the hard work they have put in over two very long days. Dan decided to go with glue down versus floating floors, so needless to say, it was a little more time consuming.

The End of Day One!

They were able to lay from our bedroom door through most of the living room on Monday. That evening, Dan & I spend close to 6 hours cleaning the floors from all the glue. Lesson learned! The next day, Dan & Eric finished the flooring project! And MUCH cleaner! It only took me a couple hours of cleaning on Tuesday! Excuse the poor quality of pics; I don't know why I didn't turn the light on over the table!

Hardwards in the kitchen

Hardwoods in the living room

Lastly in the living room, we'll have a new piece of granite laid for the hearth next week and we have to put up the baseboards and do some touch up painting. Of course I'll need new rugs and decor as well as a deep furniture clean. I'm so excited to live in our newly renovated space! I actually ENJOYED sweeping all the floors last night!!

Stay tuned for a kitchen update....