Savannah

Nolan was on spring break last week and we decided to vacation for a few days in Savannah. Mike and I had never been, and having lived in Georgia for almost 5 years now we figured what better time to go! We got in on Wednesday afternoon, checked into our hotel in the Historic District, and immediately got the boys outside to do some exploring. The weather was gorgeous- warm and sunny- until about half an hour later. Just as we were entering the Colonial Park Cemetery, the sky turned dark and the rain started coming down. Pouring actually. Mike and I tried (unsuccessfully) to stay dry under one of the beautiful Live Oak trees while the boys had an absolute BLAST playing in the rain!

After we got our drenched selves cleaned up back at the hotel, we went out to dinner and then to River Street. I think these boys could watch boats all day, every day.

 Kids in a candy store!

 "Look at this! Look at this!!"

The next day we headed out to Tybee Island (about 25 minutes away), but first made at stop at Old Fort Jackson. The fort was built in the early 1800's and used in different wars to protect the Savannah River. It was really neat to see and experience!

 Walking up to the fort.

 Stopping to watch a cargo ship go by on the river.

 This was the one and only time Grant has ever requested that I take his picture! 

Next we visited the lighthouse on Tybee Island.

 After lots and lots of steps (carrying the kids!), we made it to the top!

 Nolan "keeping his eye out" for boats.

We had a great lunch at a place on the beach, 

then put on our suits to finish the day with some fun in the sun!

Friday turned out to be quite a bit colder than we expected, but lucky for us the rain held off. We started the morning with a tour on a horse drawn carriage.

 Shortly afterwards, Nolan had a major meltdown which resulted in this picture about 2 seconds after we got him to the car. Too much fun, I suppose!

 After Nolan got some much needed rest, we headed out for more exploring.

 Strolling down Jones Street. Such a beautiful place with all the Live Oaks covered in Spanish Moss!

 Forsyth Park

 Dinner that night was at The Pirate House, where we ate in the "oldest house in the state of Georgia". These are the pirates I shared my meal with ;)

 On the last day of our trip, we really wanted to see The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. I had taken this first picture the day before, but we couldn't get inside since they were doing stations of the cross. So we headed back that way just after breakfast, and it was well worth the visit!

 We headed back through town to go to River Street one last time.

 And the boys got back to boat-watching...

 and watching...

 and more watching.

 Before heading home, we had lunch in one of the squares.

Savannah was such a fun trip, even better than we had hoped! We can't wait to go back, either without the kids or when they get older so we can explore more of the history (and ghosts of course)!

Easter 2012

We started our festivities the weekend before Easter at an Easter egg hunt with our friends Amy and Charlie. Mike and I decided these hunts should be called "gathers" since there's no hunting involved, but whatever. Grant happily had his face painted like a bunny, while Nolan wanted nothing to do with it. He was, however, thrilled to see the firetruck after the hunt was over!

The next night we got our Easter eggs dyed since we were going to be out of town for the days leading up to Easter. The boys were very excited to taste the eggs after we dyed them, but as it turns out Mike is the only one in our house to like hard boiled eggs :)

Then came the big day- Easter! Needless to say, the boys were ecstatic that the Easter Bunny made a visit to our house, and even dropped some eggs in our backyard!

Grant is 2!!!

Happy birthday to our baby boy (a week ago)! It's so hard to believe Grant is 2 years old already. He's certainly not a baby anymore! Every day he tries to do more and more "big boy stuff" like his brother. He's happiest when he's doing everything that Nolan is. A few times when Nolan's been in school, I've let Grant ride in Nolan's car seat and he seriously thinks it's the best thing ever! His vocabulary continues to thrive and he's recently gotten very good at jumping. He also has some great dance moves (like his brother)!

I took him for his 2-year checkup on his actual birthday, but he was not very cooperative. That, plus a nurse-in-training, left me with the following stats, which I don't think are accurate: 30 lbs. (74%), 38.5 in. (99%), head circumference 47 cm (12%). The doctor also prescribed a stronger steroid for his eczema. So far it's working great...fingers crossed it stays away when we stop using it.

And here's a little birthday jig...

Grandpa and Grandma's Visit

Mike's dad and stepmom came to visit for a long weekend, starting on St. Patrick's Day. The weather was wonderful the whole time they were here (aside from record levels of pollen), so we spent lots of time outside. The first day, after Nolan's soccer game, we went to the playground and for a walk by the duck pond to see the "chicken-ducks" as my boys call them.

The next day we went to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and enjoyed the early spring flowers and some free ice cream. 

Our last outing was to the zoo, where the animals were pretty active again! I didn't bring my camera that day, but got one on my phone of the boys and grandparents on their favorite part- the train.

And finally, because Grandma made delicious pies 3 out of the 4 nights they were here, we still had some energy to burn off before their visit was over!