Hilton Head in April

Another beach that we wanted to try out that is not too far from us is Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.  It is only about an hour drive for us and is often an easier drive than driving to the closer beaches at Tybee Island.  Hilton Head has a lot to offer our family, including a few things we miss from our old home in NC.  Namely, Hilton Head has both a Duck Donuts and a Rita's Italian Ice.  It also has lots of other restaurants and shopping there or in the neighboring town of Bluffton so it has quickly become a favorite local spot for us to spend our weekends.  For our first visit, we were going to try a less crowded beach that was recommended by a friend.  Hilton Head has several beautiful city maintained public beaches with excellent bathhouse amenities that are so important with kids.  The main busiest beaches are at the southern end of the island so we like to stick to the northern end.  First, we tried Dresden Beach, but there was no available parking spots.  The parking is relatively easy and inexpensive here.  If you do not want to purchase a yearly parking pass, you can park in any metered space for a dollar an hour.  So we just take $4 to $5 with us to pay to park.  Since Dresden Beach was filled up, we hit the next spot down at Folly Field Beach.  Now, there is a lesser known beach past Folly Field that we were hoping would be less crowded since it was farther off the beaten path.  It is called Islanders Beach and was definitely less crowded and just perfect.  There are a couple of hotels next to it so there were still plenty of people on the beach, but it wasn't crowded.  Plus, in the summer months, there are lifeguards stationed there.  We are afternoon beach goers which is a less crowded time to go.  We like that we can lounge on the beach for a few hours, clean up and pack up the car, stop for a quick bite to eat, and head home with a car full of tired little boys who will be ready for bed when they get home.  It just works for us!

Before we hit the beach, I decided it was a necessity to try out the iconic establishment known by many called The Salty Dog Cafe.  We decided to try the one in Bluffton because I knew the one on the island could be pretty busy.  The one in Bluffton is in an outlet mall so they had a separate shop to sell their merchandise.  The boys and I looked around while we waited for a table, and Evan sweetly read to his brothers the story of the salty dog.  Mattox fell in love with the little dog so we did take one home.  

Grayson and I were happy to be at the beach again. 

This family "hearts" the beach. 

Mattox thinks it is a big sandbox. 

Evan builds a fort and directs his little brother on how to bring water to fill his moat.  He is a mess. 

But I do want to brag a little on my sweet red head.  If there is one great quality about Evan, he is just the kindest boy with the biggest heart, and I have had a couple of occasions to see how kindly he treats others.  This little girl his age was at the beach with her family, but she didn't have siblings to play with.  Evan played with her in the ocean for a large part of our stay, and I could tell they were really having fun.  He doesn't care if you are a boy or girl, he is going to extend his friendship to you.  On another instance lately, I saw him sweetly helping a female classmate at his field day events by showing her and encouraging her for their kickball event.  It is just something I rarely see in kids these days. 

My sweet boys

Evan even managed to catch a few waves. 

Our Easter 2017

We celebrated all week with several fun activities through church and school.  Our first egg hunt was on Wednesday night at our church, and there were also inflatables and other fun games and treats.  Then, Brody had a fun school easter egg hunt in which all the kindergartners hunted for easter eggs with their sight words and number words on them.  It was so cute and educational too.  On Saturday, our family headed down to Jekyll Island to take our Spring family pictures and then to enjoy some more beach time.  On Sunday, the boys received some Easter treats in their baskets, and we enjoyed a great Easter service at church.  It was all a little tiring but lots of fun.

Daddy and Mattox get ready to hunt Easter eggs.  Our "new" real life (former blog) friends joined us for the egg hunt so Mattox got to hunt with little Veronica.  

Mattox got the hang of things quickly this year although he preferred for Daddy to carry the basket. 

Yay for eggs! 

Miss Veronica was such a big girl hunting eggs by herself with her mommy watching. 

Mattox was so proud of his finds. 

Sweet Caroline hunted with Brody and her big brother Oliver.  

I did get one shot of Brody and Caroline together.  Brody was too busy trying to show off his eggs to hunt. 

Caroline shows off all her eggs. 

Oliver hunted with his Daddy. 

Brody found lots of eggs considering he spent a lot of time looking at them and showing them off.  

Brody enjoyed some inflatables too.  

Evan enjoyed the Hungry Hippo inflatable.  

Mattox did not love the inflatable even though big brother joined him to try to make him happy. 

The slide was not a hit either. 

Evan got farther on the rock climbing wall than he ever has before.  

And little Oliver was very brave climbing too.  He is younger than Brody but much more adventurous. 

He also attempted the Hungry Hippo game and just wasn't long enough to reach the balls in the middle. 

Brody's Kindergarten Egg Hunt

Hunting for his sight word eggs. 

He found them all very quickly and turned them in to his teacher. 

It was pretty hot outside so the kids enjoyed going inside to cool off and eat a sweet treat. 

Lots of eggs for all the kindergartners.  The next hunt was for their number words. 

Showing off his finds.  Mommy attempted to get him to hold the full carton for a picture the first time, and he dropped all of the eggs and had to put them back in where the belong.  They had the words written in their egg carton to match to the eggs. 

Some special Easter treats awaited the boys on Easter morning. 

The boys were all happy with their chocolate and treats. 

Daddy read the Easter story while the boys enjoyed some chocolate. 

Grayson received some books and a stuffed sock monkey bunny. 

He was the cutest bunny of all! 

We enjoyed a little trip down to Jekyll Island on Saturday to take our Spring family pictures, and the boys enjoyed getting to play on the beach for Easter.  The weather was perfect!

Jekyll Island was originally privagely owned by some of America's wealthiest families as a private retreat.  Later, it was sold to the state of Georgia and is still primarily a state park.  You do have to pay a small admission to get on the island, but the amenities are very nice.  You can also stay on the island in hotels and private residences.  

Mattox loves his beach time.  

I think Grayson is becoming a beach bum too.  I think we will enjoy being so close to the beach this summer. 

Playing with Daddy in the water.  I love his sweet happy face. 

Sweetest boy in the world. 

He gets more brave everytime we go to the beach. 

Evan and Brody are the best of buddies boogie boarding together.  I feel better when they are together knowing they will look out for one another. 

They caught some good waves. 

Playing in the "mud" is the best. 

I know I could do a comparison shot of Grayson and Brody just like these wearing the same hat and outfit.  I just love that sweet face! 

Grayson's 4th Month

Size:  You went to your 4 month well check up on April 13th.  Daddy actually took you because Mommy was not feeling well.  You had some more of those yucky shots, but you were a great sport about that too.  We were really excited to find out how much you had grown because we could tell you had put on quite a bit of weight and length.  You weighed in at a whopping 14 lbs. 10.4 oz. which was slightly more than big brother Mattox weighed at this age but still less than big brother Brody's 15 lb. 11 oz.  You were 25 1/2 inches long which was the exact same length as both Brody and Mattox at this age.  You are now in the solid 25th to 50th percentile for weight and the 50 to 75th for length.  You have been wearing size 2 diapers, mostly 3 to 6 month clothes and some 6 to 9 months for length.  

Developmental Accomplishments:  You are also a very happy baby who loves to be talked to and loves to smile at our silly faces, voices or when tickled. You have tried to roll over some and can almost make it onto your tummy from your back now although you don't love it.  You are trying to sit up by yourself and can pull yourself up to a sit with only very minimal help from holding onto my fingers.  You have great neck control when sitting up.  While you mostly just enjoy people instead of toys, you did start grasping at your toys on your play mat and holding them.  You also like holding onto your blankie and putting it in your month or just holding it in your little hands.  I hope you are another blankie baby!  I have put you in your exersaucer entertainer, and you do pretty well holding yourself up for short periods of time.  

 
Sleeping:  You are still sleeping great at night.  You usually go to bed by 9:30 or 10:00 (sometimes earlier) and sleep until I have to wake you up which is usually between 6:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. just depending on how tired I am and when I really need to feed you.  

Eating:  You are doing great with eating and are still primarily breast fed.  Your only downside is that you don't like taking a bottle.  We had gotten you to take a bottle, but then you just stopped and have refused to take it since.  I haven't stressed over the matter too much since you are nursing so well, but it does make it hard for many to plan to be away from you if needed.  You don't spit up much at all.  We plan to start some baby food next month like we did with your big brothers.    

We just have a happy baby on our hands. 

Playing with daddy and checking out my feet. 

I love when babies sleep stretched out with their arms above their heads.  That's some good sleeping! 

Sweet 13 weeks.  I love using gowns at this age because they are so convenient for diaper changing.  Plus, my babies like their legs free. 

Getting so social and laughing more at us. 

My cute monkey baby.  

Happy monkey. 

14 weeks old. 

The best comparison I could do in the monkey outfit.  Evan didn't have this one.  Mattox and Brody were both only a few weeks old.  I fell behind on taking pictures at the same time since he was born in a different season and most of the pictures I took his first month had a Christmas theme. 

Playtime with big brother Mattox is the best. 

Ready for football! 

Tummy time and exploring on my playmat. 

Our littlest leprechaun is 15 weeks old! 

I love that sweet little leprechaun! 

A sweet comparison of my little Brody leprechaun and my Grayson leprechaun. 

16 Weeks

Working hard on my tummy time skills.  Holding your head up is hard work.  I am almost sitting up on my own too. 

My big brother loves me. 

Wearing one of my favorite little Janie & Jack shirts.  I just love the simplicity of the little Spot the dog applique.  

I do have pictures of all my boys in this little onesie. 

I am 4 months old!

I love my ball!

Big adventures ahead!