Hilton Head

This post is long overdue, but way back in early May we made our annual trek down to Hilton Head to visit with BB & Grampa. Our flight down was not an easy with a 18 mo old not having his own seat, but overall Charlie did great.

The annual family shot-with an addition this year-baby Luke! ;-)

crashing a friend's infinity pool. the boys love it. not too shabby.

Meeting Luke for the first time. Owen & Charlie loved playing with him and Charlie learned how to be gentle.

striking a pose. daddy's favorite shot

and on our way back home. Sad to leave, but thankful for a great time as a family.

Easter

Owen & Mommy getting ready for the festivities.

We all gathered at the Krugs' house this year for a celebration. The day started out with attempting to take some family photos. We asked Charlie to smile for the camera and this is what we got....what a stinker!

Owen & Soren

And they're off!

This year Owen got the concept of collecting eggs. As opposed to last year when he stopped at each egg, ate the contents, and continued to the next one.
Charlie took over the play house to find eggs.

Poor second child. We didn't realize until Easter morning that Charlie didn't have an basket....so we went with a shopping bag instead! Thankfully he didn't notice.
Checking out the goods.

Dinnertime

The guys

the girls

Nils & Charlie

After the kids finished their dinner, we put on a movie in the hopes of having a nice, quiet, relaxing dinner of our own. It worked! Seven kids in a daze!

Silly faces, a money and a horse...

Lately we like to play the "silly face" game in which Owen rolls his eyes and this is what we get from Charlie. The effort he puts into it makes us all laugh.

Charlie loves his books. His latest favorite is Curious George. Here we had an afternoon where Owen slept late and Charlie and I had some time together-doesn't happen too often in our house.

A trip to the UNH horse barn. Oh, and Owen dressed himself on this day-gotta love the oversized Star Wars shirt, madras hat and monster boots....

March

Everyday around 5:15, you can find Owen and Charlie perched on sofa in front of our big picture window, patiently waiting for Daddy to come home! ;-) This time they decided to put on "daddy hats" first.

One day Owen wanted to help me make oatmeal for Charlie. He kept making sure that I knew that he did NOT want any oatmeal, but that he just wanted to help me make it. When we were finished, I turned around and caught him in the act!!

A rare opportunity where both boys were sitting still long enough to take their picture!

Two buddies!

A New 'Do and Spoon Exploration...

Charlie is becoming more and more independent, so we figured it was time he learn how to feed himself with a spoon. This is a photo from his second attempt. I'm not sure how much of that yogurt ended up in his mouth, but he had fun with it and is getting better everyday.

Charlie had his first haircut tonight and these were the only shots I could get of him. This was after we realized that with Owen's first haircut we had documented the entire event with pictures and video. After tonight's haircut, we realized that maybe we should at least snap a few photos. Poor Charlie. How tough it is to be a second child!

Oh, and yes, he's still got that belly!

A trip out west

Eric and had a chance to get away for a week and head out west. First stop, L.A. to visit Marc, Simone and little Luke. We were so happy to see them and to finally meet our little nephew!
I was in love with these trees in L.A. They looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.

What a cutie!

Out for the daily walk.

What a good looking family!

Then we headed through the desert to Scottsdale, AZ.

Enormous wind turbines. There were hundreds of them.

On the top of Camelback Mountain.
It was a wonderful getaway and we came home feeling very refreshed! Thanks BB, Grampa, Nana & Pop pop!