Myrtle Beach

Last week we were lucky enough to travel to Myrtle Beach, SC for a Mumford family reunion.  The week was filled with days at the pool, the beach, and fun evening chats.  Joseph and I even managed to sneak in a little day trip to Charleston.

Here are my siblings.  We are missing my little sister, Jessica, who just had a baby.

Here are all the grandkids, except for 2.  David was in cousin heaven.

These next few picture are from our trip to Charleston, which ties Chicago and Paris for "favorite city".

Do I look happy or what?  This was my first experience eating crab legs, and I LOVED them!!!  We also ate hush puppies, fried okra, kiebasa, and well buttered potatoes.  It was so good!

This is the old open air market.  Still a market after over 200 years!

Rainbow Row.  (No, I am not pregnant! )

It was so hot and humid, so this fountain cooled us off!

I love the how the trees went on forever at this park.

On our way to Charleston, we stopped at Magnolia plantation.  The grounds were incredible.  The amount of wildlife we saw was amazing.

Here is our tour through part of the swamp.  We did spot two baby alligators.

Finally, here are some snapshots of the beach.  It was funny that we flew across the US to visit the beach when we already live 20 minutes from the beach, but it was a very different experience: fewer waves, warmer water, and less crowded.

David boogie boarded for the first time at this beach. 

One last picture...

Security

We just returned from a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  On the way home, everything seemed to be in order; we had tickets, snacks, coloring books, formula, diapers, and plenty of pacifiers.  Just as we were ready to put all our things onto the security conveyer belt, I reached into the our stroller pocket and felt something metallic and large.  "That's funny," I thought, "what in the world could that be?".  When I looked in I cried, "Joseph!  It's the hotel knife!"  The day before, we had taken a 12 inch knife from our hotel kitchen to cut up a watermelon at the beach.  With all the chaos in packing up, we had forgotten to take it out of the stroller.  Fortunately, we were right next to a large garbage can, so with my undercover face, I slipped the knife into the trash.  Joseph and I both let out a sigh of relief!  

As we left security, I laughed out loud at how surprised someone would be if they saw that huge knife inside the trash.  Funny how an innocent picnic at the beach could lead to disaster!

Happy Birthday David

Yesterday, we celebrated David's 4th birthday.  We have been anxiously waiting for this birthday so that he could finally graduate from the tricycle to a "real" bike.  When he woke up, he came into our room and  with a concerned look asked, "Why did you guys put balloons on my bike?"

Here he is in action.  Our first bike ride was a disaster.  He plummeted off the curb about 4 times, and when we finally came back home he was sobbing.  That afternoon we tried again, and now he's been riding it nonstop.

For the birthday dinner we had a picnic on Lake Mission Viejo.  It's a small lake near our house where you can rent boats and swim.  Everyone had a good time except James.  He was furious about wearing a life-vest.  I guess we won't do the boat for his birthday.

Here's David with his rocketship cake.

It's official!  He's finally 4 years old.

David's favorite present was not the bike, but his new shake n' go cars "Red" and "Sarge" from the Pixar movie, Cars.  Today he told me that for his next birthday he wants "Doc".  I told him that 5 is a very long way away.  Good thing because I don't want this kid growing up any faster than he already is!

Happy 30th Birthday Joseph!

Joseph broke into a new decade on Monday.  We celebrated it California style with hot dogs and marshmallows on the beach.  We were lucky to have Natasha, Anna,  Alessandra (Joseph's sisters) and Holly (my oldest sister) in town along with their families.  

The birthday couldn't be complete without carrot cake...

David was so absorbed with his cousins, that he forgot to eat his slice!

We love you Joseph!  Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and father!  I couldn't be a luckier woman!

Baby's first bath in the big tub

I thought these were adorable.  Nothing's cuter than a naked baby!

David thought it was great too!

Matchies

I used to hate it when my mom would buy matching clothes for my sister and I, so I vowed that I would never put my kids in matching clothes.   Now, I can't resist.  David loves it too.

I found these "rocketship" shirts yesterday.  David couldn't wait to put them on this morning.

Yesterday, James officially began to crawl.  If he can't go around something, he'll opt to go over it.  Watch out world!

Happy July

Not much to report over here.. it's just been a very busy summer.  Here are a few random shots. 

James is REALLY close to crawling.  Hopefully he will be more content when he can cruise around.  I have forgotten what it means to "babyproof".  He enjoys putting every little speck of something into his mouth.  If it's outside it's organic, right?

Our summer has been full of cousin time.  David has had a blast.  Here he is with two of his 41 cousins (yes, that's right...41 with 4 on the way).

Hopefully James will like to wrestle as much as his older brother!

Whenever I leave James on the floor, I come back to find that Pilot has been "babysitting".  

Summer couldn't be complete without fresh tomatoes.  One of our tomato plants seems to be on steroids.  As you can see, it's almost taken over the garden.  

I love the lazy days of summer.  Long days, watermelon, barbecues, and no schedule.