Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Emerald Coast

We were blessed to spend a wonderful family vacation in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. Scott and I loved having so much time to spend with the boys. We had great weather for most of the week and found lots of fun things to do.
Here we are together waiting for our ride on the Sea Blaster to start. The boys LOVED their ride on the super fast Sea Blaster. It was a huge speed boat. We got to see dolphins and go really fast through the ocean. Isaac and Ethan spotted the dolphins right away and loved watching for them to swim up out of the water.
We spent lots of time swimming in the beautiful pools at our resort. They boys loved jumping off the steps with their kick boards. Ethan is a little dare devil. He will jump off the side without hesitation and without checking to see if you are ready to catch him. We had to put a life jacket on that crazy kid. Isaac started getting lots of confidence in the water and he can hold his breath under water for 10 seconds and swim under water. He liked to pretend he was a shark when he was swimming under the water.
Another favorite activity was playing in the sand on the beach. The beaches in Ft. Walton are totally gorgeous. They have beautiful white sand and gorgeous aqua water.


We tried to make a sand castle, but destructo Ethan took pleasure in knocking it down with his sand trucks.



The boys decided to build a race track in the sand for their sand trucks. Isaac drew it and Scott helped him make some walls. They had fun for a long time driving their trucks around on the track.




Our favorite way to play in the ocean was to run in and out of the waves. We went for walks on the beach every morning, and most of our "walking" time was spent running in the waves. Isaac liked to think he could push me in the waves, but I was able to get him back and take him with me.
We got to the resort Saturday evening, and went out to the beach around 8:00 at night. That was the boys first look at the ocean ever, and it was truely magical. They giggled and ran in the water and were totally amazed by the experience. I will never forget that moment.





Ethan is showing off his pile of sea shells that he picked up. They were most fond of the broken sand dollars. I think because they were the biggest. They wanted to get 19 sea shells, so they could bring one for each person in their class at Shining Light.





Ethan was fast at running in the waves.

The boys are excited to head out to the beach. They are on the boardwalk that took us down there.






Isaac got pretty brave running in the waves.


They boys are floating on their raft in the lazy river. They preferred Scott's "Crazy River" to the lazy river. Scott would bounce their raft up and down and spin them around. They called that the crazy river.



One of our favorite days was when we rented bikes and rode along the Timpachoe Trail. It is a trail along the ocean and several coastal lakes that goes through some beautiful little beach towns. Ethan insisted that he was going to ride his bike, and was quite upset when we suggested a bike trailer for him. He rode the first 1/10 of a mile and then he was happy with the bike trailer.


Isaac was a great bike rider. We rode 5 miles to a little town called Seaside, and he rode the whole way. He did awesome!


We had lunch at a little outdoor diner on the beach in seaside. They boys are enjoying hotdogs and smoothies.


After lunch we played in the beach at Seaside. It was even prettier here than at our condo. We really had fun cooling off in the water, it was a hot day!


































































Friday, May 7, 2010

Ethan's Birthday

Happy 3rd Birthday, Ethan! He had a great day. All of his grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncle, cousins and even Great Grandpa and Grandpa Wilcox came for the festivities. He talked about having a Thomas the Train birthday party for months before his birthday got here.He surprised Scott and I by being shy when everybody sang Happy Birthday to him and when it was time to open presents. It is not very often that Ethan acts bashful.

Here is all the crazy cousins. They have so much fun playing together.



All the kids sat together for a picture. The group is growing.



Isaac made Ethan a present. He drew him pictures and write notes on colorful paper. Isaac had to explain each item to Ethan. It was precious.


Ethan got his first bike for his birthday. It is his favorite color, orange, which he noted right away. It is a tiny 12" bike with training wheels, so cute! He makes sure he rides it every day now.

Big brother is helping little brother figure out his new bike.





March Fun

To celebrate St. Patrick's Day we made rainbow cupcakes. It took a lot more work than normal cupcakes, but the boys loved mixing up the different colors and squeezing them into the cupcake holders. We had to make sure that they each got to mix and squeeze their favorite colors, Isaac - red and Ethan - orange. They were super yummy and fun to eat.


One windy afternoon we made windsocks to hang outside. Isaac did not want to follow my directions and made his windsocks sideways. We painted rainbows on paper and then used crepe paper for streamers.



Ethan is a nut! He always brings enthusiasm and lots of laughs to any activity.

Here I am with my windsock. Isaac loves to take pictures, and used this excuse to take one of me.


Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Fun February

Scott and the boys made a angel food cake for my birthday. They knew angel food is my favorite. The boys are enjoying their favorite part of cake baking.


They had to help me blow out my candles.


Isaac made me some Easy bake cakes, too. I love them!



February had plenty of snow. Ethan got a shovel for Christmas, so they boys loved shoveling.





Scott and Ethan showing off their snowman. He is a Cyclone fan, you can tell by his hat.




Scott's Birthday

We had fun celebrating Scott's 33rd Birthday! Craig and Karen came, and we took Scott to Ossaka for a little hibatchi grilling. The boys enjoyed the chef's show, but were scared of the fire. They really liked the hat Scott had to wear and the cool drum beat the waiters played for him. Isaac was playing that beat on his toy drum for weeks.



Isaac used his Easy Bake Oven to make Scott a beautiful pink cake. He loves baking with that thing, and has gotten really good at it. It is so fun to see him learn how to do things. He is very careful and detailed.
They boys and I surprised Scott with an ice cream cake on his birthday for dessert. It was soooo yummy!

The boys helped Scott blow out his candles.




Uno

The boys decided that Uno was their favorite game this winter. We have played more rounds of Uno than I can count. Ethan likes to lay on a pillow when he plays just like Scott. Isaac really likes to win, and was not above stacking the deck.