Beachin' it...

We're so lucky that for the past two years my Dad and Deb have arranged for us to go to the beach with them during our Charlotte trip.  Logan loves the beach and it's so nice to go somewhere different for a few days.  Last year the weather was beautiful and we spent every day on the beach and/or in the pool.  This year the weather, well sucked, but with so many other "tourist" attractions we had plenty to do.  We were also fortunate this year to have Aunt Jessica, my very preggers step-sister, join us this trip! She got a first hand look at what her life is going to be like come November! (This blog is kinda long because I wanted to get everything in...)

Anyway, the girls and little men drove down to Myrtle Beach, SC on Thursday.  We survived the car ride and made it down in time to have a late dinner and Aunt Jess and Mimi even took Logan on a walk down on the beach.  He had so much fun and they kept him out of the water by telling him that "sharks come out at night" = so funny! Aunt Jessica and Logan really hit it off during this trip - she's an awesome playmate and is going to be an awesome mommy to Cylas!! Here's some pics of her practicing her "playing with cars" skills:

The next morning we woke up and realized the weather was yucky to say the least so we decided that Dad and I would take Logan and Emmett to the new aquarium.  It was jam packed full of people but so much fun!! There was a super cool shark exhibit:

And they had a moving sidewalk that took you through an aquarium that even went over your head.

Yes those are sharks!! They were humongous but SO COOL!! Logan could only stand on the sidewalk for so long before we had to get off and walk around.  Papa (my dad) took Emmett, who was asleep, to go sit and wait while Logan and I explored the very crowded aquarium.  Here are some more pics...don't have any of Logan touching anything because he wouldn't do it!! It's times like these when I remember he's only 2 1/2!!

 

 

And they had this cool spot where you could take your picture and it looks like you're in a clam shell.  We had the flash on so the pic isn't that great, but you get the idea!! 

Dad and Logan even made it out the beach for a few hours that afternoon...I stayed inside with Emmett...this is a picture from our 14th floor window:

So if you're ever at Myrtle Beach you must check out the aquarium AND the Alligator Adventure, which Papa and Mimi took the kids to on Saturday so that Aunt Jessica and I could go see "The Help".  (Which was awesome!! I hadn't been to a movie in over a year!!)

Since I didn't attend the excursion to the Alligator Park I will just post some pictures.  I will say that Logan again showed his age a bit when they brought the alligator right up to him to touch and he cried...kinda sad, but the experience was still great.

He came back to the condo and couldn't stop telling me about all the animals they saw!! Thanks Papa & Mimi for letting me take the afternoon off!! 

And thanks for the fabulous trip to the beach!! Hope we can do it again next year...maybe with the whole fam?!

"Happy Birthday Mommy"

Wow what a week it has been!! I celebrated my 27th birthday on Sept.8th and couldn't have asked for a better weekend of celebration! I started my birthday waking up with my boys.  We got dressed and headed to my grandparents house (Bubbe & PopPop) for a birthday breakfast.  What did we eat you ask?! Well duh, Chick-fil-a of course.  I had the chicken mini's, Logan has a plain biscuit and Emmett had fruit. (Yes we started Emmett on baby food a few weeks ago...will blog about that another time).  Anyway, we played at my grandparents house until late afternoon and we had so much fun.

Yes Logn's Shirt says "I (heart) Mom!!"

Did I mention that someone bought us a bowling set that we keep at Bubbe & PopPop's house and Logan is so good at it!! He and Bubbe played all morning!

Then Safta got in on the action...

Emmett was around too...

So after spending most of the day with Bubbe, PopPop and my Mom the boys and I headed back to my Dad's house to spend the evening.  When I arrived guess what was waiting for me?! Beautiful flowers that Brennan had sent.  The card was even better...it said, "Happy Birthday. This isn't your gift but something to hold you over until it arrives!!" LOVE!! I haven't received the gift yet but will update when  I do. I must say that the flowers were completely unexpected (though I always hope to get them on special occasions).  I always love getting flowers from Brennan...just somethin' special about getting flowers from my man. 

Anyway...after my dad got home we ordered dinner, Chinese/sushi of couse, and sat down to a nice meal with Logan and Emmett.  To my surprise he even got me a cake:

It was chocolate with cream cheese icing!!

And Dad & Logan sang Happy Birthday...

My dad had to lite the candle four times before Logan would actually wait for ME to blow it out - SO CUTE!!  

It was so fun celebrating my birthday with Logan and Emmett.  I can honestly say I don't feel that much older though so much has happened in this past year.  One of the best things about my birthday this year was that I got to celebrate it with my "wombmate" and "twinster" Alyssa.  She came in on Friday evening and we went to Cowfish Sushi Burger Bar. It was the first time I had ever been there and it was AWESOME!! It had a huge menu and there was really something for everyone.  Alyssa and I shared some sushi and it was delicious!! My brother had burgushi - if you don't know what this is it's totally worth looking up the menu to find out! Anyway, we had a wonderful time...here's a picture - sorry Deb, I know it's not the best but it's the only one I have.  

The birthday celebration continued Saturday night with dinner at my Mom's house with my grandparents.  We had a wonderful meal and it was fun to celebrate with my family and Logan and Emmett (we missed you Brennan!!).  This time Logan waited till we counted to three to help us blow out the candles!!

                                      

No birthday would be complete without a morning celebration too.  So Sunday morning after we had had breakfast Logan and Safta had another cake for us...it was a plain vanilla cake with white frosting - Alyssa's favorite, mainly for the frosting :).  So we had one last celebration before Alyssa had to leave and go back to Raleigh. 

 

Such an awesome birthday weekend! I couldn't have asked for anything better then to be celebrating my birthday with Alyssa and the kids...well except if Brennan had been there, obviously.  I can't wait to see what year 28 will bring me...

Cheers to another year twinster!! (I'm sure it'll catch on eventually)

Diana

Monkey See, Monkey Do

One of the best parts about being in Charlotte is actually having places to take the kids for entertainment purposes.  Obviously Logan is the one needing the most entertainment, but it's still fun to take Emmett out to places, he loves looking around at people.  Anyway, this past week Safta (my mom) took us all to Monkey Joe's.  If you have one in your area and you have not taken your child(ren) you must! Basically it's a huge playhouse full of bouncy houses and slides.

Side note - this blog is going to be mostly pictures and captions...It was just so fun I had to blog about it!!

Of course Logan picked this slide to go down first...He couldn't resist Lighting McQueen!

I couldn't believe how strong he was!! He did all the houses all by himself!! 

It was a good thing I bought him the socks with the grips on the bottom!!

Have you ever seen a kid more happy?!

He LOVES riding on these things!

Logan hit the JACKPOT on this game!! And it was double ticket day so he had 280 tickets he got to spend!! Daddy was impressed!

He had fun just watchin all the fun.

Meeting Monkey Joe - He could barely contain himself!

Emmett seemed pretty psyched to meet him too.

A proud Daddy - he couldn't believe Logan could do this all by himself!

Daddy got to go down the slide too.

Lovin' some air hockey!

Logan kept sayin', "Make it stop, make it stop".

And we're pooped. 

As you can see this place is awesome! It has just enough places to play without being too totally overwhelming.  They even have a place for little little ones if your child hasn't been on his/her feet that long. Another perk - Adults are FREE...how many places do you go where that happens?! I'm hoping we get to go back before we leave!

More to come on our Charlotte Vacation...