Other July Happenings

Other fun things we did in July 2013:

{We did lots of swimming this summer; Daddy & Stryker enjoyed evening swims!} {We celebrated Logan Honour's 5th birthday! We painted our own piggy banks to keep!} {We visited the dentist for the fourth time. This time wasn't as successful as the other times, but fingers crossed that you won't be so nervous in January} {For our Daddy's last night home, we went to Sapphires-your first trip there-and enjoyed chicken wings!}

And in other excitement: Daddy bought you some really neat fish for your aquarium! You got some tiger shark fishes, some red tip sharks, some algae eaters and a goldfish!

Hilton Head Mini-Vacation

Daddy came home in July and was insistent on having a family getaway at the beach. He found us a good resort in Hilton Head so he booked it and treated us to a wonderful 4 day mini-vacation! We had a lot of family fun. 

We arrived at Sonesta Resort and got all checked in. Right from the start, Stryker scored lots of goodies from the bellman and the hotel staff. 

We ventured upstairs to check out our King Suite (thanks for the upgrade!) and to have our luggage delivered. Daddy & I were super hungry so we went back downstairs to find some dinner. The resort had a couple dining options and we settled on their restaurant... very upscale and very good eats! After dinner, Stryker wanted to do some swimming so we hit the pool. He's quite the fish these days and will stay in the water for as long as we let him! Daddy & I enjoyed lounging and watching him expend his energy!

The pool was a lot of fun, but at sunset we headed down to the beach. We were NOT disappointed in the beautiful ocean, sand and sunset. How gorgeous! 

Stryker dipped his toes, ran around in the sand, found some sand dollars and tried building a sand castle. 

He & Daddy even had a game of tag on the beach.

Soon it was drawing close to 9 and it was time to head back upstairs to get ready for bed. Our little man wasn't hungry at dinner but of course after swimming and running around, his appetite was in full effect. Daddy ordered him some room service for the first time. He thought that was neat-o!

With a full tummy, he snuggled up & watched some Big Brother with Mommy and was soon fast asleep!

On Friday we slept in, ordered in breakfast and spent a relaxing day by the pool and on the beach. Nothing beats spending the day with your two favorite boys in the sun having fun!

And nothing beats a nap after all that fun... It was so nice to enjoy a good afternoon snooze with my loves. After resting up, we decided to head off the resort to find some dinner. We came across a little steak and seafood restaurant and decided to give it a try. Needless to say, we were not disappointed! 

They boys started a game of corn hole after dinner at the restaurant, but a sudden downpour ended that as quickly as it started. So, back to the resort we went. Stryker insisted that Daddy take his fishing pole and find a spot for some fishing. Daddy headed over to a pond on the grounds and cast the line a few times. Before we knew it, he had actually caught something! Unfortunately, there is no fishing in these resort ponds! HA! We took a quick picture and threw it back. Stryker was thoroughly impressed with his Daddy's skills though!

We did some more relaxing on the deck by the pool for the evening. They were showing Monsters Inc by the pool and Stryker liked that. 

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Friday... Beach, pool, naps... relaxing! 

That evening though, Stryker headed to the resort kid camp while Mommy & Daddy had a date night dinner. We rode around Hilton Head and ended up going to Wild Wing Cafe! HA! Regardless of where, it was nice to have dinner & drinks with my Love.

Soon it was time to head back and pick up Stryker. He had lots of fun... Swimming, dinner, t-shirt making, playing... Seemed our date night was fun for him as well! We headed to the hotel lobby bar area and relaxed with some desserts. Apparently the staff delivered a special cake to our room for someones birthday. It was delish! We had fun being silly and people watching. 

We had to head back home on Sunday. We checked out and had some breakfast at a local breakfast joint. We stopped by the outlets to walk around for a few and Daddy took us on the scenic route home. It was quite the getaway and we all had a great time!

4th of July Weekend

Stryker & I spent the 4th of July holiday with my family in Aiken. He actually went up with his Nana on Wednesday and I drove up on Thursday. I got there just in time as Mom & Lorie were serving up a lot of delicious food. In true 4th of July fashion, our table was abundant with burgers, dogs, BBQ and all the fixin's! We all ate & talked, played some cards and then had a quick photo shoot before the Honour's had to hit the road. 

The many cutie faces of my niece Maddison! What a ham she is!

Stryker LOVES Maddsion! Peyton is one silly boy! Nana & Peyton strike a pose.

I just ADORE this picture! What a couple cuties these two are. Oh how I love these boys!

And after many, many, many tries.... A picture of the cousins.

That evening, Mom & I enjoyed some frozen drinks and Mark & Logan showed off a brilliant fireworks display. They were like kids in a candy store with those explosives :) 

Friday was another rainy day (seems to be the norm for SC this summer). We went and met Papa for lunch (he had to work Friday). After our lunch, Nana, Stryker & I went to Augusta for some shopping. We checked out a couple new stores in the area and stopped by Target. We had a nice relaxing evening hanging around their house Friday night.

And lucky for us, the sun actually made an appearance Saturday morning! We quickly hit Richardson's Lake for a little fun in the sun while it lasted. Stryker loved going down the water slide in the kiddie area and soon graduated to jumping off the diving board. He really became quite the water lover this summer!

Mommy's sweet boy!

The rain returned in the early afternoon so it was time to call it a day for the lake. Stryker seemed to have gotten his fill anyway and was soon catching a cat nap on the way home. 

Later that evening, we packed up some blankets, drinks, snacks and stopped for some Subway subs and headed to the drive in movie! They were showing a double feature: Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University. The movies didn't start until after dusk, so it was a little late for my little man who was tired from all the water fun earlier in the day. He made it though Despicable Me 2, but was fast asleep through the second movie, Monsters University. All in all, our first drive in movie experience was AWESOME! We all had lots of fun!

Sunday we had to head back home to get ready for a new work week. Thanks Nana & Poppa for having us all weekend! We had lots of fun!

A Weekend at Short Stay

With Daddy home, we joined our friends at Short Stay in Moncks Corner for a long weekend. The Cortes, The Grammers and many of our other friends all camped out for Uncle Alex's birthday. Stryker's best joy of that weekend was... Fishing!

He loved just casting his line and reeling it back in... over and over. He was quite content being a fisherman and kept Daddy on his toes asking to fish constantly. 

{Fishing outside of the villa}

{Daddy & Stryker fisherman}

{So handsome doing his thing}

{Cool picture thanks to Aunt Karly}

Sunday morning was a lot of the same. Stryker waited patiently as Daddy got ready and across the way they went for more fishing.

{Like father, Like son}

When they got back, we had breakfast (bowls of cereal) on the front porch of our log cabin and enjoyed the views and the wildlife. These little ones waddled right up to us looking for some food. The female had a broken leg :(  They sat out front with us and we fed them what we had. I love that ducks mate for life... what a sweet pair!

Later in the day, we hopped on the boat and spent the day with Alex, Karly, Faith, Chris, Toni, Rilee and Avery having fun in the sun. We all had a great time catching up and chatting together. After a day on the lake, we enjoyed a dinner cookout at their campsite before relaxing by a campfire and calling it a night.

 {The futures: Avery & Stryker}

We had a wonderful 3 day getaway camping weekend with some of the besets friends! We celebrated Uncle Alex, laughed, talked, ate... It was great fun!

{A beautiful sunset over the lake}

June Swim Lessons

This year we started off our summer with swim lessons through Goose Creek Recreation department. We met with our swim instructors 4x a week for two weeks at the city pool in the Hamlets of Crowfield. There were about 10 students to two certified life guard instructors. Unfortunately, the majority of the time Stryker was watching & waiting for his turn. Luckily, Stryker's classmate and friend Jamison was in our session too and they kept each other company while they waited.

As I fully expected, Stryker jumped right in feet first and wasn't afraid to put his face in the water, jump off the side or go under to swim.

{Practicing his kicking with the kick board and a little assistance}

{Jumping off the side at the end of the day}

I was very proud of our little man and his swimming abilities. I was glad he wasn't afraid of the water, but was also relieved of him learning water safety. I feel sure for the next couple of summers we'll start with a little refresher course and swim lessons. 

Celebrate Good Times, C'mon!

What a most wonderful weekend we had!

On Friday, Stryker's school treated us Mom's to Muffins with Mom. I enjoyed having breakfast with my little man!

That evening, May 10th, Dan & I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary. Since Nana & Poppa were in town for Mothers' Day, they offered to take our little man so we could have a night out on the town. Dan was so special and got us a room at the Market Pavilion on East Bay Street Downtown Charleston.... fancy schmancy! We enjoyed the rooftop for a bit then went to shower and change before heading out to dinner. For Christmas, Jimmy and Lorie had given us a gift certificate to 82 Queen. We decided this was a perfect night to use it and try out the restaurant. We got downstairs and hailed a bike taxi to take us over the few blocks to Queen Street. 82 Queen was marvelous! We had quite the feast: bacon wrapped crab stuffed shrimp, she crab soup, duck, steak... YUM! It was all delicious and I would highly recommend it to anyone! Being historic Charleston, the restaurant is actually an old house and it is quite beautiful. They had a nice back patio for sitting and eating as well.

After our meal, we bike taxied back over to Market Street for a little desert at Kaminsky's. We were playing tourists in our own town as we did cool things like bike taxi and enjoy coffee & desert on the Market! The HUGE brownie and latte were so amazing! After our sweet treats, we headed out for some dancing. It was quite nice to have some alone time with my number one :) Date nights are always so special.

On Saturday we celebrated Christi's Mother's Day by going to a River Dog's game. It was a beautiful evening for some baseball. We live in such a gorgeous city!

Stryker enjoyed having Nana & Poppa out to a ball game with us. We had hot dogs, cokes, peanuts, cotton candy... Lots of fun! At the end of the game, Stryker got to run out on the field to run the bases with all the other kiddos. He had a blast!

And speaking of peanuts... This is Tony the Peanut Man. He's quite the staple in Charleston Baseball. Check him out here... Tony The Peanut Man. 

We rounded off Mother's Day weekend with church and a nice brunch at Madra Rua. 

Anniversary, Mother's Day... Memorable times for sure!

A Tale of Two Bikes

Stryker received a great bike for his birthday back in October. We thought it may be a tad small, but it was a good starter bike. He learned how to pedal and balance on his training wheels quickly. He rode it every so often (I mean, he has a Power Wheels & Scooter too!). Since the weather has warmed up though, the bike comes out daily! Especially when all the other children around the neigborhood are riding.

He likes to take bike rides outside of the neighborhood with me to ride on the trails. It's pretty exciting for him. Our usual trek is 1.54 miles! He keeps up pretty good too and only requires a few rest stops! On a ride not to long ago, I noticed his bike was a wee bit smaller than usual, Exhibit A. It seems our little man is sprouting by inches these days.

Exhibit A

 

I mentioned this to Daddy and he struck a deal with Stryker: If he was good at school and at home  until Daddy got home, he'd get a new bike! We used the term GOOD loosely in this case. How GOOD can a child really be for 2.5 weeks?!?!? Stryker mananged to stay out of any real trouble and finally Daddy returned home! Not long after that, Stryker owned a new bike!

 

The FIRST (yes, one of TWO new bikes he received with in two days...) bike he spotted at Aunt Tiffany & Uncle Mike's house. It was Owen's old bike (in MINT condition no less) that was in their garage sale pile. He was asked if he'd like to have it and his response: "I LOVE IT SO MUCH!"

LOL! Such a cute kid! We loaded it up and took it home. The next day after his t-ball game, Daddy and Stryker went and bought training wheels and a couple accessories for it. Daddy got it all set and Stryker helped pump up the tires.

 

Once it was ready, he climbed on and started to ride...

Unfortunately, the training wheels didn't exactly fit this bike and made it so the back wheel didn't touch the ground. This proved unridable (is that a word?) and dangerous because Stryker couldn't balace well. So it was back to the store! This time, Stryker left with a whole new assembled bicycle that he picked out himself (with the help of Daddy). This one fit him perfectly and he didn't waste any time hopping on and taking off!



 

 

We have gone on several bike rides over the last week. Stryker now has no problems making it on our 1.5 mile ride! He loves his new bike! And the best part is, we have another one waiting once he grows a tad bit more (and at this rate, it won't be long!)!