A Few Days at the Beach

     Last week, we had the awesome opportunity to get away and spent some time at the beach.  We are grateful to have friends who let us use their condo at Litchfield Beach.  There was enough room for my sister Olivia, her husband TJ, and their two boys to come with us, too!  The weather was pretty awful but we still managed to have a really great time.  It was in the low 70s and rained on and off every day.  There was MAYBE a total of one hour of sunshine while we were there, but luckily we spent that hour on the beach in the sand and waves.  Either way, we are grateful to get away, relax, and spend time together.  I even got a one-on-one date with my man in there!!!  So here are pictures to tell the story of how our time went:

Wednesday night we had supper at a very cool pirate-ship themed buffet.  Both boys ate their weight in food while Daddy tried out some crab legs for the first time.

After supper, we took a stroll on the beach.

I am so thankful to have captured Titus' reaction to seeing the ocean for the first time.

Playing the baseball games in Myrtle Beach.  My dad played these when he was a kid, as did my sister and I, now Marcus did.  And he LOVED it.

Even Titus got in on the action.

Daddy and Marcus playing skee ball.

He did surprisingly well at the basketball game, too.

To get a prize on the baseball machines you had to get 28 runs.  BY HIMSELF, Marcus got 36!  I was STUNNED!!!  So he picked out this dolphin.  And inside the bag is a ton of goodies he won from tickets from other games.

Sweet Daddy getting some well-deserved rest while the other babies slept.

Marcus stayed up to go through his loot.

Titus rode this thing at least three times.  And if any other children tried to get on, he wasn't letting it happen.  He would wave at people as they walked by, while he was riding. 

Sweet babies in the bath, with mohawks.

Thursday evening TJ & Olivia watched Titus while we took Marcus down to the beach for a little fun again.  Can you tell he loved the waves?

Precious Tyson enjoying a little chocolate cookie.

It was in the low 70s but we took the kids to the pirate ship pool anyhow.  We froze our butts off but they loved it.  Here, Titus was playing in the fountains that poured into the pool.

Marcus was the PERFECT age for this pool.  It was shallow, had a large pirate ship in the middle, and plenty to play on and get wet with.  Even the cannons shot water.

And again, he LOVED the ocean.

It's not a great picture of Marcus but shows you a little of the pirate ship in the background.

On our date Friday night, Mark and I found this gem.  ha!

We played on the beach for the one hour of sunshine.  It was WONDERFUL!

We dug Titus a hole and he happily sat and played in it. 

Running from the waves and laughing the entire time.

Both boys sitting in the hole.  (Titus is "smiling" here.  It's his look when you tell him to smile)

The condo we stayed in is in the background.

Titus thought rinsing off with a water hose was hilarious!

On Saturday night, TJ and Olivia had a kid-free date so we got to spend time with these two cuties.  Hunter is on the left, Tyson is on the right. 

We packed up and left out Sunday morning but stopped to play a round of mini golf on our way out of town.

They gave Titus a little plastic club and ball of his own.  This is right before Daddy hit his hole in one!

Action shot - shows how thrilled Marcus was to be here.

Love this boy.  Love that smile. 

Titus wouldn't hit his ball, but he would drop it in the hole, clap, then pick it up again.

Almost home, we stopped at the "World Famous" Beacon drive-in.  While it was good to say we've gone once, that'll probably be our last time, too.  But interesting, nonetheless!

They gave both boys hats like they wear.

Give him an apron and he's ready to cook!

The kids meal came with ice cream but it was ADULT-sized.  No complaining here.

We got home late but the boys were excited to open a package from our Canadian relatives when they woke up.

Very excited.

"A Blue Jays Jersey!"

How good does this kid look?

He even wore his Jays gear to the grocery store and helped Titus "drive" the cart.

PS - We just got back from Marcus' 4 year old and Titus' 15 month old well visits.  Both boys had to get three shots (NOT.  FUN.) but are peacefully resting now.  Both Marcus and Titus are off the charts in height (no surprise there) and are strong, healthy little boys.  Marcus was 44.5 inches tall and weighed 45 lbs.  Titus was 34 3/4 inches tall and weighs in at 23 lbs 4 oz.  Oh, and Titus' head circumference is... you guessed it, off the charts.  We'll just pretend that with a head that big, he's considered to be a genius.  ;)  He'll grow into it one day, right?

Birthday Week

     The week leading up to Marcus' fourth birthday had perfect timing to do lots of FUN stuff.  We went to the WNC State Fair, Skytop Apple Orchard, Fun Depot, and Eliada Corn Maze.  Being a Fall baby, he has lots of exciting ways to celebrate his birthday each year.  Here are some pictures of our adventures last week when he transitioned from three to four. 

The boys enjoyed looking at all the farm animals at the Fair.

The sun was in Titus' eyes during the sea lion show, so he took his stroller for a walk with daddy.

Marcus didn't want to ride anything but did go up and down this Polar Bear slide a couple of times.

Watching the rescue dog show on Daddy's shoulders.

Getting ready for our FAVORITE part of the Fair.

THE PIG RACES!!!

Titus thought they were funny.

They had goat and duck races, too.

Learning about Daniel and the lion's den at Son Seekers.  Guess which lion is Marcus.

This picture cracks me up on so many levels.

Titus got his third haircut and looks like such a big boy now!

Sleeping Titus always finds a way to get his foot out of his sleep sack. 

Sweet sleeping Marcus.

He asks for a toy every time we go to the grocery store.  I always respond with, "when it's your birthday, you can."  Well, this week, we did. :)  This was Day 1 of birthday week.

Catching little brother down the slide.

He was SO PROUD of himself.

Marcus told his aunt that now that he's four he can jump over slides.  When he was three, he couldn't do that. 

Day 2 of birthday week took us to the Toy Box where he picked out his own present.

We went apple picking on Mark's day off (Wednesday) for day 3 of birthday week.

Titus rode in the stroller for most of the trip.

Daddy had to hold him up to reach a few of the apples.

Stretching as tall as he could to reach that apple.

Titus was mad the apple wouldn't just come off easily.

Even though you weren't supposed to eat the apples until they weighed & you paid for them, Titus couldn't help himself.

Feeding the geese.

Sweetness

Marcus wanted the biggest basket they had.

Titus had to have one, too, ya know.

Love

These golden delicious apples were small but abundant!

It's always fun to go through the bamboo forest.

Waiting for the hay ride, eating an apple cider doughnut.  Seriously, these were DELICIOUS!

Waving at people while the tractor pulled us on the hay ride.

Marcus got a good lesson on sheep and goats on this day (spiritually speaking).

My three loves.

Isn't this a cute idea?  Each Fall we will have to remember to measure them and see how much they've grown.

Can you tell we were a little chilly this day?  It was cloudy and a bit cool.

Sweet smiley Titus

Now THAT'S a big red wagon!

Birthday balloons and birthday waffles in the shape of a star

When Marcus woke up on his birthday, we had bright balloons and the birthday hat waiting for him.  He was pretty happy about it.

First stop: Fun Depot!

Titus got to ride, too! (and he pitched a gnarly fit when he had to get off)

All the fish took his attention off his putt-putt game.

They even had a glow-in-the-dark section with three holes.

A serious golfer.

He chose his outfit himself and I must say, he did well!

Skee-ball!

Birthday supper was his choice: Yoshida's!

Every September 19th is National "Talk-Like-A-Pirate" Day and since he has a pirate "costume" we got a free dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

On Friday, the boys' cousins, Hunter and Tyson came to visit.  I kept all 4 boys while Aunt Liv went to the salon for a little pampering and a trim.

Hunter is doing his darndest to walk.

Sweet Tyson was just BEGGING for me to put him to sleep.

Day 5 of birthday week - Eliada Home Corn Maze.  Here, Mark is helping Marcus load the corn cannon.

These slides are SO FUN!  Even Titus got in on the action because Mark took him for a ride. 

Grandma B and Aunt Liv playing with the twins in the corn box.

Titus enjoyed throwing a ball in the corn box.

Tyson and Hunter - so serious!

All four of them :)

Marcus,Titus, and Hunter thought the flying corn was funny.  Tyson - not so much.

Our sweet four year old boy

Marcus made it through the hay maze without cheating!

Success!

Selfies on the hay ride!

Four little cutie pies in white tees and denim. 

We didn't do the long corn maze, which was 2 miles long, but the short one was good enough for us!

My sister and I each carried a twin on our backs, Mark pushed Titus in the stroller, and Marcus walked with Grandma B.

Petting the pumpkins.

Cute as a "punkin"

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Children are a heritage from the Lord!  A blessing from the womb.

Happy Birthday to Marcus!

Chalk drawing with some friends.

Isn't he the sweetest?

Our family of four <3

Blowing out his candle

 

It was also a special day for Titus because he got a taste of his first kool-aid jammer.

Birthday week caught up to Marcus Sunday night at church.  He fell asleep on my leg during announcements, slept through the whole service, and even stayed asleep for the following 45 minutes while Daddy talked to a friend.