Easter in Charleston, SC

I know what you're all thinking.  Easter?  Its the middle of June!  I know, I know.  I've been a little busy lately and at least I am getting around to catching up the blog!  I want to keep my posts in order so I will try to get back to the present quickly.  

My family spent Easter weekend in Charleston and Isle of Palms, SC.  Here are a few of the pictures that my sister and I took while we were there.

Kellan helping mommy pack :)

Mommy didn't want to make the kitchen a mess before we left on our trip so we had pizza at Little Italy the night before :)

We left the next morning and Kellan was a great traveler as usual, although we did have a few of these moments.  When he is upset it usually means he is about to fall asleep or he is hungry.

Stopping for lunch at Chik-Fil-A.  The line in the drive-thru was LONG so we let Kellan "drive" for a few minutes.  This has been one of his favorite things to do for several months now.

Apparently I didn't take any more pictures for the rest of our first day.  We stayed in a really nice house in a resort community in Isle of Palms.  My parents were already there when we arrived and my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece got there pretty soon after.  We spent the rest of the day talking, getting the cars unpacked, and eating dinner out before we all crashed after the long drive.

The next morning, a restaurant inside the resort was having a special breakfast buffet with the Easter Bunny.  We saw a lot of this Easter Bunny over the next few days.

Kellan and daddy with the Easter Bunny

Uncle Shannon and Owen

Aunt Jessie and Eden

Mommy and Kellan with his Easter egg

Mimi wanted to get a belly shot but it was kind of difficult to show it while holding a toddler...there is baby brother in there!

We spent the rest of the day walking around Charleston.  All of us had been before so we took our time going shopping at the market and taking the kids to the fountains, Rainbow Row, and walking down to the Battery.  I guess that I have been to Charleston too many times because I didn't make a very good attempt at taking pictures of very many landmarks...luckily my sister is always good about getting someone to take a family picture.

The whole family at the Pineapple Fountain :)

Daddy and Kellan watching some dolphins out in the water.

Rainbow Row

Cobblestone streets

Fort Sumter statue at the Battery

Cannons at the Battery

We ate a late lunch/early dinner at Southend Brewery because my mom told us that we had to be back at our house before 6:00 p.m.  

Crossing the Cooper River Bridge back to the Isle of Palms

As soon as we pulled up in the driveway a white pick-up truck with the Easter Bunny riding in the back stopped in front of our house!  Mimi had ordered Easter baskets to be delivered to the kids and of course we had to take advantage of another photo opportunity with the bunny :)

Kellan wasn't too sure about that bunny...

After the Easter Bunny left we all went to the beach for a little while.  It was pretty windy and chilly so we got the kids all bundled up.  They had a blast and the cold didn't phase them at all.

All this boy wanted to do was RUN!

No time for pictures mommy...I've got to GO!

These two look like they are deep in conversation...

Owen could spend hours on the beach with just a shovel and a bucket...Kellan could spend hours just watching.  He loves his big cousin.

Eden showed us all how she can stand and take a couple of steps all by herself.

Eden tried to give Kellan a hug but he didn't have time to stand still for that...such a boy.

He ran and ran and ran...

Oh how I love this sweet face :)

On our way back from the beach Michael wanted to drive around and check out the rest of the neighborhood and golf course.  While we were out Michael spotted an alligator hanging out in some one's back yard.  It took quite a bit of convincing before I believed that that guy was real.

Kellan and Eden sharing a popcorn snack back at the house before bed.

The next day was Easter and the kids all dug into their goodies.

Kellan got 3 new Spot books, a Spot video, Easter eggs, a bucket of sand and water toys and boxes of his favorite snack, raisins.

Daddy reading some of Kellan's new books.  Owen loves to listen to a good book too.

Kellan got some goodies from Aunt Jessie too...bath crayons, a onsie, shutter shades, and a pair of shark shoes :)

We had to rush to get ready to make it to the community Easter Egg Hunt that morning.  It was a little drizzly but the kids braved the rain and cold to collect lots of eggs.  This was Kellan's first Easter Egg Hunt and at first he wasn't really sure what to do.  He would pick up one egg and just wanted to stop and play with it.  He didn't understand that he was supposed to get lots of eggs so mommy had to help.

Family photo with the Easter Bunny again...I told you that we saw quite a bit of him over the weekend.

We had several other adventures but I'm going to put up separate posts for each of those...be on the lookout, they will be coming soon!

Working and Lunch With Daddy

Our friends, Andy and Lexi, are building a house and Grizzard Construction just so happens to be their contractor and builder.  Ground was broken yesterday and it works out perfectly that Kellan has become obsessed with trucks and 'dozers recently.  His favorite book at the moment is Machines at Work and it is all about construction sites, construction equipment, and construction workers.  Isn't it funny how some things are just in your genes?  Kellan is only 17 months old so he has never spent any time on any of Michael's job sites.  He started walking at the end of fall so it has been too cold (and he was too wobbly) for him to really enjoy playing and watching daddy work up until now.  So even though Kellan's Great-Grandpa Grizzard, Papa Mike, and Daddy are all contractors, he hasn't had any real experience on the job sites or equipment.  This hasn't stopped him from being in love with tractors, hammers, trucks, and 'dozers.  He has carried around a little stuffed hammer ever since he first got it even though he's hardly ever even seen Michael with a hammer.  "Hammah" was even one of his first words.  He has a wooden one now that he uses to beat on everything around the house.

Michael asked me to bring Kellan out to Andy and Lexi's house site because he would be using the big equipment to dig their foundation.  Kellan loved riding with daddy.

Helping daddy dig with the excavator.

Walking to the bulldozer.

Riding the 'dozer.

It didn't take Kellan long to find the horn button.  He blew the horn until it timed out...then started blowing it again.

We decided to watch daddy for a little while before he took a lunch break.  Of course Kellan found the closest dirt pile.

When we left he cried for the "'Dozer?! Wide? K?! 'Dozer, WIDE, K?!"

This store is actually called Weeks Market but around here its called the Purdy Store or the Purdy Mall.  I've heard lots of people talk about eating lunch or breakfast here but I had never been.  It sits right on the Jarratt/Emporia line but is located in a community called Purdy.  I think their menu changes from time to time but today they had hot dogs, chicken salad, barbeque, bologna and cheese, grilled cheese, and chicken sandwiches.  It is also kind of a mini-general store.

Kellan thoroughly enjoyed his grilled cheese.  So much that we had to order him another one!  He kept calling for CHEESE!  By the time we left we had ordered 3 grilled cheeses, 2 chicken salad sandwiches, a hot dog, two sweet teas, a bottled water and a Hersey's bar :)

Michael will be working on this house through the summer and fall so we will have to make some more trips to Purdy to meet him for lunch and play at the construction site.

All You Need is Love!

I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day whether it was spent with friends, family, significant others, kids, or all of the above!  I've always loved Valentine's Day but I know that everyone does not agree with me.  I know that it has become a commercial holiday pushing cards, stuffed animals, balloons, candy, and anything else red, pink, or heart shaped.  But when you really think about it, hasn't everything in our society turned to that?  

Everyone is selling or pushing something depending on the season or holiday.  You just can't let that become how you define your celebration.  I love Valentine's Day, however I don't really care for stuffed animals, balloons, candy, and I'm not even really a big card person.  I just like what it stands for...love...for anyone :)  I think a lot of people feel like you have to be "in love" to enjoy and appreciate Valentine's Day, while instead it should just be about celebrating the love for the people you have in your life.  And I know the "single person's" response to that would be, "Well yeah, that's easy for you to say, you have a husband!"  

However my Valentine's Day didn't involve a card, flowers, candy, or presents of any kind from Michael...and I still thoroughly enjoyed my day!  I get pure joy and happiness from picking out little gifts for Kellan, baking red velvet cheesecake brownies, decorating around the house in pink and red, and picking out cards to send to the grandparents and nieces and nephews.  

The other argument against Valentine's Day is "You should show your loved ones that they are important everyday, not just on one day a year!"  While yes, I agree, this is true...but do you?  Do you always take the time to write a note, buy a little gift, or send a card?  I don't think having one day set aside to remind us to do these things is bad.  Yes...stores have gone overboard with the amount of Valentines products that are available but that is true of every holiday and season.  You can't enjoy one holiday before the store displays are taken down and the next holiday's products go up.

Valentine's Day should be more about celebrating whoever it is in your life that you love.  Just because someone has a significant other doesn't mean that they are any more happy than someone that is single.  I have definitely had my fair share of Valentine's Days where I was "alone" a.k.a. "single."  But I wasn't really alone, there have always been people in my life that I love and that love me.  There were even years that I was happier being single than I was when I was actually dating someone...now THAT says a lot about the boyfriend!  I can even remember one particular year when all of my single friends were going out to a Mexican restaurant together and I was sad that I had to miss it to spend the day with my boyfriend!  

Life is what you make of it and this should be true of all holidays and how you choose to celebrate them.  No one is forcing you to wear red or eat a chocolate heart, so don't take away someone else's happiness if heart shaped balloons or huge gaudy stuffed animals makes their day.  You can still celebrate without indulging in all of the commercial-ness that this day brings...or you can choose to be unhappy and complain about everyone else's enjoyment.

OK, I'm done with voicing my opinion :)  Now here is how we spent our glamorous day...

I love to decorate for any occasion so of course this one was no different...

I love holiday dish towels....even though I pick them up off the floor a million times a day when Kellan pulls them down.  And see...I even enjoyed the day with a dirty floor!  Making homemade brownies is messy business.

We even indulged in Valentine's window clings...don't judge me...they were $1.

Michael's card from me...I love this quote.  Now you probably noticed that I bought Michael a card but he did not get me one.  This is because he tells me all the time how much he loves me.  I'm the one that needs the special holiday to remind me to do the same!

Michael's card from Kellan.

I love to bake so Kellan and I made red velvet cheesecake brownies one night while Michael was working late.  I used the natural plant based dye so the red color wasn't as vibrant but they tasted good :)  Here is the recipe for anyone interested.

My littlest Valentine was being very difficult that morning and kept running from me every time I tried to put his clothes on.  I just took his picture as he was and called him "My Little Cupid."

I finally managed to wrestle him into a red shirt and this is him after he refused a nap.

Michael has been working A LOT over the last few weeks.  If he is not actually on a job site, he is working at his desk at home, on the phone with customers, or meeting with customers.  He has had a lot of late nights lately so he took Kellan and I along for lunch with one of his salesman and Papa Mike.  Kellan making silly faces at Logan's Diner :)

This child loves butter beans!

Next we went and got a hair cut because it was getting in his eyes!  I didn't take any pictures at the salon because I was standing beside him with my phone playing an Elmo video so that he would stay in the chair.  

Afterwards we made a quick trip to the grocery store...did I not tell you that we had a glamorous day?

When we checked the mail we had all kinds of cards waiting for us from family :) Kellan even got $15!

Over the last few weeks I've been picking up things here and there for Kellan (mainly things that I wanted him to have) so I arranged it all for him to find when he woke up from his nap.  I order him new books regularly but I'm particularly excited about Five Little Monkeys Go Shopping,  Five Little Monkeys Jump in the Bath, and Gossie and Gertie!  I saw this really cute (and SO soft) blanket at Target and this wagon to hold his Mega Bloks.  Daddy insisted on getting him the golf set and Kellan insisted on the Elmo video when we accidentally went down the kids video aisle.  The best part of the day was seeing him run straight over to the loveseat, pick up his video, carrying it around saying "Melmo!  Melmo!"  Pointing and saying "Books!!", "Car!!", and then just poking at his golf clubs.  He didn't know what they were at first but he has been whacking golf balls (and other things) all over the house.

Daddy and Kellan totally engrossed in the Elmo movie.

The 5 Love Languages was my gift to myself.  I've heard lots of great reviews from friends that have read it so as soon as I am finished with my current book, I'm starting this one. 

We debated on whether or not to brave dinner out on Valentine's Day and decided to take our chances.  Michael suggested that we go to the Kennon House, a locally owned restaurant near Lake Gaston.  We had been before but it was a long time ago.  He made a 7:00 reservation and we figured we were going to escape the chaos of a bigger restaurant in Richmond.

They had a pre-set 4 course menu so we only had to decide on an entree and dessert.  The restaurant was definitely busy but not overwhelmingly so.  We are not sure if they were understaffed or didn't expect to be so busy...but dinner went on...and on...and on...

My big Valentine and my little copy cat Valentine entertaining themselves while we waited...

Mommy and her little cutie pants :)

My battery was already in the red but by some miracle it lasted all through dinner.  Thank goodness for Elmo You Tube videos and Apps for children!

I had almost eaten all of my appetizer before I remembered to take a picture.  It was shaved beef tenderloin with horseradish and chive cream cheese, on a crusty bread...delicious!  At this point Kellan didn't have anything to eat, so we were sharing with him too.

Our wedge salads were SOOO good!  Kellan ate some of this too.

Next came his own special treat.  He thoroughly enjoyed his own bowl of macaroni and cheese and even made several attempts at feeding himself.  He did a pretty good job of keeping the mess to a minimum.

We both chose the rib eye for our entrees...

However for dessert we are always different.  Michael chose the creme brulee and I got the chocolate torte.

Kellan eating the fruit off of Michael's dessert.

We had a fun but regular 'ole day that happened to end with a nice dinner with us wearing red :)  Maybe next year Kellan will be old enough to add some fun Valentine crafts to our day!  I will enjoy my Valentine's decorations until the end of the month and then it will be time to pull out my St. Patrick's Day dish towels and door hanging...

Here are a few Flashback pictures of last year on Kellan's First Valentine's Day: