Hilton Head Beach Trip

Our trip south was great. Although the ride was llllooonnnggg, it was worth it! The weather was perfect (hot and humid) for our trip.

We left Friday and stayed in Wilmington, NC that evening. We woke up Saturday and drove to Myrtle Beach and played there for about an hour (that was kind of impromptu, but we were so excited to touch the water, we couldn't help it). From Myrtle Beach, we drove down through Charleston (worth going back to someday) and then on to Hilton Head.

While in Hilton Head, we biked a lot, spent time at the beach, spent time in the hot tub, drove around (and finally got the hang of the traffic circles), ate, hung out with Dana and Nate, saw so many cool things.

We left Wednesday afternoon, drove even further south to Savanah, GA for lunch (definitely didn't get to spend enough time in that cool city). Then we drove to Amy K's that evening in Columbia, SC, stayed over night and then drove home on Friday. The drive home was long, but we made some cool stops along the way - Pipestem State Park in WV and drove over the New River Gorge Bridge.

The boys were so good in the car the entire time - they made the trip so much fun. Poor Jackson arrived home with double ear infections, but is on the mend. We all arrived home totally wiped out and in need of some heavy-duty sleep. This trip is one we'll remember forever!

Beach Wildlife

Our beach trip was full of wildlife encounters. The scariest was probably the alligators - they didn't even look real. We saw so many different things they deserved their own collage!

Park

A quick post before we head out on vacation. These photos are from Sunday @ the Hollidaysburg park. Our trick in getting Jude to smile is to tell him, "Jude, no smiling!"

Fresh from the Garden

We planted lettuce several weeks ago in a small garden box that Jeremy built. It's right outside our house, so we've been watching it grow -it's ready to harvest. The boys have been taking a little piece every time they're outside. It's kinda funny. Here they are enjoying some lettuce with ranch.

This is the garden box full of lettuce just waiting to be made into salad! The coolest thing about this is that we made all the compost ourselves - Jeremy's been manning that job for the past year - tough work, but look what we got out of it!

Wormy

Here's a little video of Jude trying to find a worm he was playing with. He's really into bugs and creatures - he usually calls them "eeeeks."

Some other cute observations of Jude's ever-growing competencies:

1. He's putting together 2-3 words and sometimes even 4: "Grady coming," "Here Daddy," "My turn," "No like," "Love you, Mama (my favorite, of course)," "Gum, please," are some of his most common sayings.

2. He's got the concept of "2" He can identify 2 trucks, 2 whatever (including 2 boobies).

3. He loves the farm/tractor movie that Jackson was obsessed with when he was 2. I can recite that movie in my sleep and have special dances for all the annoying stock music that's in the movie.

4. He's a really good observer - he remembers things that happened in certain places and he knows directions fairly well - like every time we come into Ashville, he says, "home." Or every time we turn onto our road, he says, "look for horse."

He's just growing so quickly everyday and I must do better capturing some more of it on video.

Kindergarten Graduation

Today was a special day for Jackson - his Kindergarten graduation! It was a really great event and he is excited for summer vacation to officially begin! We're going out to eat tonight in his honor - to McDonald's - his choice!

What a Day!

I did it! Finally graduated! Today! I feel so good. We all went to graduation this morning @10am and then came back to our house for a party and Mother's Day celebration. I have to say, "Thank You!" to so many people (and this is a good place to do it since you all read it:). First, to Jeremy and my boys: I'm not really sure how you found it in you guys to always be ok with me staying late @ work to work on projects, or spend time on the phone doing conference calls, or whatever. It's your patience and support that I appreciate so much. I think my diploma should read "the Amy Hudkins Family" - I surely did not do this on my own. To my parents: you are always there for us - whatever we need. Thanks for your unending support and encouragement and also for all the food you brought out today - and Happy Mom's Day, Ga-Ga! To my in-laws: thanks for everything - you're always right here for us! Thanks for the Reflexology kit and all the food you made for today! Thanks Ape and the gang for the gift certificate - you know I'll put it to good use! To Dana and Natester: you are always encouraging me/us to greater things - thanks for your inspiration and support. Thanks for the good-smelling Burt's Bees stuff (I think I need a bath tonight:) and the gift card - :) And to all my friends, who are like family to me - you are always there to listen, encourage, brainstorm ideas, proof read, etc......thanks.
I love you all and I'm so blessed to have you all in my life.