Hilton Head Island

What is crazier than taking three active toddlers to the grocery store alone with mom?   Answer:  Taking three active toddlers on a 18 hour (each way) road trip/vacation!  Yes, that is how desperately we were needing a vacation!  Besides visiting family, we haven't taken a vacation in 4-5 years.  So, we decided to drive through "Low Country" and spend a week in Hilton Head, South Carolina.  It was a long drive, but worth it!  We tackled the trip all at once and let the kids sleep while we drove through the night.  Here is a few pictures of the kids in the van.

Isaac yawning

Julia is "chilling" and Isaac found a treasure (stick from sucker from the day before)!

The area was beautiful and the resort was right on the beach.  My parents flew in from Nebraska and joined us for the week.  The kids were so excited and surprised to see them there!  Julia kept staring at them and saying, "It's my grandma!"  Julia was also very excited to see the ocean.  She had been talking about going to the ocean/beach for months!

One of the highlights was definitely the beach.  Kai and Daddy would have spent all day making sand castles if they could.  Julia could not get enough of the waves.  Isaac was a beach bum and was non-stop action running from the waves to the sand castles (to knock them over). 

We also enjoyed swimming in the pool, riding bikes, playing at playgrounds, feeding the fish/turtles in the pond, and eating great seafood! Jared was able to get a little bit of golf in and I slipped away to do some shopping.  Julia and Kai really improved on their swimming skills.  They loved floating in the pools with their water wings and also would dunk their heads in the water often to find pretend "fishies."

We saw an alligator while on our bike ride!!!

Kai and Julia enjoyed an early birthday celebration with Grandma & Papa Jones.  We had a nice dinner followed by cake and ice cream.  They also opened a few early gifts.  They really think that the whole month of May is dedicated to their birthday!

We stopped in Savannah, Georgia, on our way home to let the kids run around for a while.  We went to the "Pirates House" for dinner.  The building was built in 1733 and had a ton of history.  The kids loved the pirate accessories and Kai kept saying, "Arrr!"

"Arrr!"

We added another daughter for a short while!!

Trying to resist jumping in the fountain

We were very happy when our van finally rolled into our driveway on Saturday morning.  We needed a few days to recover, but the memories made were worth it!

Spring in Dallas

After spending the past two months (or actually most of the winter as well!) playing outside in 70-80 degree weather I am remembering why people love Texas.  Just remind us of this in a few months when we are in a full sweat going from our car into our house!  The Christianson house has been active as usual.  We enjoyed a visit from Nana, Jared's mom, the first week in April.  She had her first experience of surviving a tornado storm.  The experience was heighten by having three exhausted toddlers, who had just been waken up from their naps, join us in the bathtub!  Nana was also able to join us for Isaac's baby dedication that we hosted at our house.  Since our church is so large, they now encourage families to do the baby dedication ceremonies with our small groups to make the experience more personal.  Jared and I choose Psalm 62: 1-2 for Isaac: "My soul finds rest in God alone;  my salvation comes from Him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken."  We followed up the dedication with a pot luck dinner and an Easter egg hunt! 

Nana w/ the kids

Getting instructions for the Easter egg hunt

Ready, Set, Go!

     After Nana flew back to Washington, we had a family picture shoot, which we are happy that we did to capture the kids at their young ages, but also happy that it is completed!
     The kids enjoyed FOUR Easter egg hunts this year and should be pros by now!  They are still deathly afraid of the stuffed Bunny that hops and sings "Here comes Peter Cottontail," but by the fourth Easter egg hunt Julia decided that "Bunny Easter is nice because he gives me Candy Canes (any kind of candy)!"  She even gave the "Bunny Easter" a hug.  Kai was all excited about giving the Easter Bunny a high five, but once he got near changed his mind!  Isaac on the other hand is terrified!  He kept a close eye on the Bunny and screamed when he came near!

     As we prepared for Easter, we wanted the kids to realize that Easter is not really all about a scary bunny who brings treats.  As a mother of two year olds, I constantly wander how much they really grasp and understand.  I was surprised that shortly after Christmas, Julia started saying, "Baby Jesus died on a cross for my sins!" I was shocked that she knew this phrase (probably learned from church or mom's day out program), but also felt guilty that I hadn't been the one to introduce them to those themes yet.  Yes, we tell them about God, and His son, Jesus, but I hadn't approached the whole "died on a cross" theme yet, because they don't understand death yet and I didn't want to confuse them.   I did have to explain quite a bit about Baby Jesus growing up and then as a man choosing to die for us because He loved us so much.  As I am learning, it is never too early to introduce Biblical truth to them and trust that over time the Lord will reveal to them what this really means.
     With that in mind, we explained the Easter story through the resurrection eggs.  Each of the 12 eggs had a surprise symbolizing part of the Easter story.  I'm not sure that the kids grasped the idea, but they did enjoy playing with them over and over!  They also loved making the resurrection rolls by placing a marshmallow (symbolizing Jesus' body) inside crescent rolls (tomb) and then finding the tomb empty after it was baked.  Of course these guys enjoy anything with sugar!

Kai sneaking a bite!

Once again, eating!

   We decided to go out to a restaurant for Easter brunch since Nana had already left and we didn't want to make a feast for just the five of us.  After waiting for an hour and a half (after being told it would be a 30 minute wait) we ended up leaving the restaurant and driving through Chicken Express and stuffing our faces with biscuits and fried chicken in the car!  Happy Easter!  I have to say that we were impressed with how well the kids did with the wait.  There are many days when the kids have trouble obeying and we wonder why we ever left the house or got them out of bed!  I am thankful that they were patient and we did get a few shots of them in their Easter outfits.

Here are a few more shots of typical days in the Christianson household!

Yes, that is permanent magic marker, not blood!

The instigator!