Hilton Head 2014

Last week we enjoyed a visit to Hilton Head with my parents.  We survived the long car trip and were thankful to do it this time with air conditioning.  We had pretty great weather and really enjoyed the visit.  The kids all loved swimming in the ocean.  We even had dolphins swimming in close proximity to us one day which was really cool.  The not so cool was the jellyfish on the last day but we avoided them.  We had a great visit.

Tommy was very excited to play in the sand with Poppy.  He even told her "time to get back to work" when she took a break.

Climbing all over Daddy in the ocean.

We went on a pirate cruise one day.  Tommy wasn't too excited about participating but he did have fun playing with his new sword.

This was the second year the girls and I did the cruise and they really enjoyed searching for Stinky Pete and the treasure.

Tommy did love shooting Stinky Pete with the water cannon.  Definitely the highlight of the pirate cruise.

Their favorite part of the Harbourtown playground.

PaPa and Hadley on the sea turtle at the playground.

Our third trip to Hilton Head but our first trip to Salty Dog.

They even got their picture with the Salty Dog.

Making sand cakes

Madeleine doing her teen beach movie pose.

Riding bikes on the beach is definitely one of the best things.

Pony rides in Sea Pines.   Tommy was all excited but then wouldn't get on when he saw the size of the pony.  He wanted a smaller pony.

Hadley on her pony ride

A windy day at the beach

Gregg Russell on our 3rd attempt.  Attempt one  resulted in ice cream in the rain.  Attempt two ended in running back to the car in the rain after two songs.  Attempt 3 was a great night in Harbourtown.

The girls made a spa on the beach.

The whole family had a great time swimming in the ocean.

More ocean fun

The first time Tommy has really taken to the water.  He said he has never been in this river before.

The best time of the day at the beach.   The kids love playing in the waves.

Kite flying

The kids running after the kite while Jim enjoyed flying it.

Hadley flying the lady bug kite... a little easier than the parafoil

Posing again on the beach

My mom and the kids... a favorite back shot.

Easter Weekend 2014

After a really long winter, spring is finally here.  We had a beautiful weekend for Easter and were able to have an easter egg hunt at our house which was snowed out last year.  Saturday, we hosted an Easter Egg hunt for a few families in our backyard. The kids had a blast hunting eggs with their friends and then playing in the backyard.  Later on Saturday, Madeleine had a soccer game and scored a goal.  She has really been enjoying indoor soccer.  On Sunday morning, the kids checked out their Easter baskets and then we went to church.  After church, we headed over to Butch and D's to celebrate.

Getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt at our house

Kids hunting eggs... it was a little difficult to find hiding places for that many eggs in our backyard

Tommy really got into the egg hunting this year

Enjoying a snack with friends after the egg hunt

Dyeing easter eggs before bedtime

Ready to dig into their Easter baskets.  Tommy stopped to play with his new truck for awhile.  Then he just tried to eat all the candy as he opened eggs.

I couldn't get Tommy to pose for a picture before church.

Finally got Tommy to take a picture with Owen.  Tommy loves to play with Owen.

Tommy started the Easter Egg hunt as soon as we got into the backyard.    He wasn't going to wait for anyone to say start.

Running for eggs

Girls running to get some eggs... it is serious business

Wrapping up the Easter Egg hunt... ready to count their winnings.

Snow Snow and more Snow

The theme of this winter is definitely the snowy, icy cold weather.  It is March 1st and we are anticipating another big snow tomorrow.  Never thought I would complain about too much snow.  Even the kids are tired of it... mostly because they know more snow days means school in June.  Here a few pictures of our snowy January.

We rang in the New Years a couple of time zones early with some friends of ours. 

This is the biggest snow St Louis has seen since 1982.  Our kids only missed two days of school but other districts nearby were off for 4 days.

The girls had so much fun playing in the big snow piles

Madeleine has learned a lot about Martin Luther King and wanted to send him a birthday picture.  Took 4 helium balloons but up and away her note went.

Christmas

So I figured I should finish posting Christmas before catching up with January and February.  The kids really enjoyed opening their gifts from Santa.  Then we headed to church before going over to D and Butch's.   After Christmas, we went to the lake for a few days with Jim's family.  The big highlight of the trip was the train ride there for Jim, D and the kids.  I dropped them off in Kirkwood and picked them up in Jefferson City.  They also loved playing with Uncle Dave all week.

Ready to start in on their stockings and presents

Already out of the Christmas Pjs, into costume 1 and holding up costume 2

Lots of new trucks to play with... and a Defender towing a trailer

Tommy enjoyed playing trains with his buddy Owen

The girls always love playing with cousin Georgia

Madeleine, the elf, ready to hand out presents

Ready to catch the train in Kirkwood

Tommy enjoying the train ride

More trucks to play with at the lake

Hitting the "beach" at the state park

Christmas Eve

We had a great time celebrating on Christmas Eve with my family although we missed Amy and Seth.  We also enjoyed our tradition of going out for Christmas Eve lunch.  This year we tried a new restaurant in Kirkwood that the kids keep asking to go to, Billy Gs.  It was pretty good.  Then in the evening we headed over to my parents for our dinner of apps and presents. The kids were so excited for all their presents!

The girls were excited to wear these dresses they picked out themselves

PaPa and Tommy

The girls love to pose in pictures

Me and Hadley

About to enjoy our dinner

A quick call with Aunt Amy as we started opening presents

Present opening excitement

Tommy was very excited the box this present came in had a handle

The actual present inside the handle box was also very exciting.  He loves to pretend to build

The new Cardinal hat was also a big hit

PJ pic in front of the tree

Madeleine learned this pose from our Sugar Plum Fairy lunch.  You could get pictures with the Nutcracker dancers and this is how they all posed

Tommy didn't want to cooperate for a family pic so we tried the upside down trick

Then of course the girls wanted in on the action too

Skiing

Back before Christmas, we took the girls out to Hidden Valley for a ski lesson.  They were blowing snow that day which wasn't ideal but they both had fun.  It was Hadley's first time on skis and did great.  She was nervous before but smiled the whole time.   They will have a couple more lessons this year and we are hoping to ski with them too.  Then maybe next year we can head out West!

Madeleine ready for her lesson 

Madeleine coming down the hill.  She was doing good with the snow plow and starting to turn.

Hadley all smiles