Beach Bums

We enjoyed a 10 day trip to Hilton Head recently and spent our days boogie boarding, sandcastle building, eating popsicles and Salty Dog ice cream, and soaking up the summer sun. Our friends the Gatlins joined us for a week which provided lots of fun and entertainment b/c between the two families we have 5 children under the age of 5 and 2 babies on the way! We brough reinforcement in the form of Debra the 'super nanny' and without her I'm not sure we could have ever gone anywhere! The husbands joined us on the weekend and provided lots of help and spent hours with the big boys out in the surf mastering their boogie boarding skills. We only had one rainy day which turned out to be great fun because we discovered the new childrens museum on the island which had lots to keep the kids busy- a pirate ship, airplane cockpit and building zone. Thank goodness for great kids museums! As the Gatlins drove away our next group of friends arrived. Scott's best childhood friend Ben Haigh and his wife, their twin 3 1/2 year olds and their best friends from Atlanta, Scott and Stephannie, along with their 7 week old 'baby Lukas', spent the next weekend with us and celebrate Father's Day! It was so fun to reunite with all of them and Nate has already announced that we need to name our new baby Lukas b/c he was so cute. Spending so much time at the beach and in the pool has made the boys absolutely fearless and they are both swimming like fish and jumping off the diving board(mostly Grant) which terrifies me! We head back in a week to celebrate the 4th and spend a few more weeks in the sand! Guess we'll be beach bums a little longer.... life could be worse!

Nate loved boogie boarding!

Nate and Grant with Jake and Tucker Gatlin at Hudsons for dinner- our little pirates for the week! Argghhhh!! They had so much fun together.Fearless Grant!
Happy Father's Day to Scott! What would we do without our Daddy? He's the best!

The Haigh/Martin/Snow group on Father's Day!

It's a.....

BOY!

Looks like I will remain the 'Queen of Everything' around here a little longer! Boy #3 is on his way and we couldn't be more excited. Nate has declared our house a 'Boys Club'! Bring on the father/son campouts!! Guess I should think about selling my barbies on ebay :) Below is the real ultrasound pic from today!

Deep thoughts... by Nate Snow

Last night as I was tucking Nate into bed, I informed him that his Daddy would be returning home from a business trip in just one more day! Nate's eyes lit up and he said 'I'm so glad Daddy is coming home... because if Daddy wasn't here then we wouldn't be a Family'. Sweet boy.

Nate loves for me to make up 'stories with no pages' when I put him to bed. When we returned from our cruise I told him a story all about Mommy and Daddy's cruise adventures. I told him about swimming with stingrays, and sleeping on a rocking boat every night, and eating lots of food... I then slipped in that we had even gotten ice cream from the Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop onboard- thinking he would find that fascinating to have ice cream on a boat! But instead he replied- 'Mom- if you had ice cream, then that means that kids are supposed to be on your boat too!!' (I had told him this cruise was just for Mommy's and Daddy's!) He is just getting way too smart these days....

Cruising with friends...

15 couples from our days at HBS- it was a great reunion!
An excursion in Jamaica to Dunn's River Falls was quite an adventure!
The 'classmates' from HBS Class of '03
All dressed up for the 'formal' night onboard

We just returned from a fantastic 5 day reunion caribbean cruise with 15 LDS couples from our days at Harvard Business School. These reunions have become an 'every other year' thing but this year we all got smart and declared it a couples getaway (no children allowed) and I've completely lost my voice from all the non-stop adult conversation the entire trip! I was also more tired when I arrived home from the crazy late night Settlers tournaments and disco dancing nights- not my normal routine with kids! A cruise was a new thing for me, but I have to say it was perfect for a group of our size. It was easy to contain everyone yet still allow everyone to do their own thing and meet up for delicious meals and events. We also had some fun excursions in Jamaica and Grand Cayman that proved to be very memorable! But a cruise is a cruise, and there of course were things that caught us a little offguard as 'non-cruisers' like the singing and dancing every night during dinner from our wait staff, the 'macarena' moment at dinner (Scott refused to participate), karaoke galore, and the cruise ship directors non-stop activities on board (belly flop competition anyone??). But we managed to stay clear of most of that and just enjoyed relaxing and visiting with old friends.The children were well taken care of at home by our dear Fely- I don't know how she does it- but she kept my kids entertained, my house clean and organized, and even had my refrigerator full of delicious food when we arrived home! The kids cried when we dropped her off at the airport! I considered that a good sign- they must have had a wonderful time with her. Thank you Fely!

Take me out to the ballgame....

Nate and his buddy Tucker

We attended a local minor league Warthogs baseball game as the last and final 'birthday event' for Nate last weekend and invited along our good friends the Gatlins from Charlotte. Nate loved his night at the game with his best buddies, Tucker, Jake and Nicholas and of course his brother Grant. They loved the action of the game, the carousel, mini golf, and treats. Nate had a hysterical breakdown when the mascot, 'Wally the Warthog' came to say hello! He eventually calmed down and made it through the rest of the game, careful to avoid that 'Wally' fellow. Afterwards though, he asked, 'Mom- when is my real party going to be'?? He is so confused with this concept of a 'family party'. He keeps waiting for all of his friends to show up with gifts... poor kid. Next year will be that much more exciting!!! This photo made me laugh- I really wanted a group shot with the lit field behind us but getting 5 kids under the age of 5 to smile as we stood in front of a carousel was an impossible feat!!! I think it perfectly describes our day-to-day life.... chaotic fun!!!