Easter Weekend in Myrtle Beach

Olivia left a note for the Easter Bunny:

"Dear Easter bunny,

Can I have $50 or $100.  I want it for a electric scooter.

Love,

Olivia W Merritt

PS:  Please work your magic"

Even though I told her children don't typically write letters to the Easter Bunny like they do for Santa, she insisted it was okay.  I even pointed out that Santa gets letters much earlier so that he can plan accordingly.  She said that since she was just asking for money, it shouldn't be a problem.  Even though she didn't get the money that she had hoped for, she was pleased with her basket.  New PJs, a "Clemson Girls Love their Tigers" t-shirt, a t-shirt filled with peace signs, not to mention candy and a few eggs with some cash inside.

McIver was excited about his Cocky golf club cover.

Ginny invited several families over for a picnic lunch after church.  It was great to see everyone and have a chance to really visit with them.  And, to see their kids in action!  These girls climbed in, around and all over the golf cart.  Olivia and McIver each had a turn driving them in the golf cart, with adults riding, too.  We also saw the baby alligator who was hanging out in the pond on the 8th hold.

Easter Weekend in Myrtle Beach

On our way to the Easter Egg Hunt at the Dunes Club

They love to ride the golf cart any chance they get.

Waiting for the hunt to begin ... The kids were separated by age so they didn't actually get to hunt in the same place which was probably a good thing.  There were three prize eggs in each age group with ToysRUs gift cards.  Neither of our children found the prize eggs ... another good thing.

Even though he didn't find a prize egg, he was happy with his loot.

The Easter Bunny was a big hit with Eliza.  She's the only baby I know who laughs and giggles and reaches out for the Easter Bunny to hold her.

Olivia was so happy running around like the Pied Piper with JuliAnna and Amelia.  They posed for several pictures for me.

After lunch in the dining room, we hit the beach.  Jane and her mom were kind enough to offer to move their beach chairs to the swash so I could keep an eye on McIver.  McIver loves catching fish with his net and even made friends with someone who offered to let him use their kayak.  He paddled around the swash for hours!

Olivia loves her godmother, Aunt Jane.  They trudged through the pluff mud together.

Amelia came to hang out with us for a little while, too.

We joined the Hudsons on the beach late in the afternoon.  They had brought loaves of bread to feed the sea gulls.  I'm thinking we'll have to do that next time because McIver had a ball!  Tex was pretty happy, too.

Easter Weekend in Myrtle Beach

We survived the torrential rains and traffic heading into Myrtle Beach on Friday afternoon.  Kelli and Robert brought their girls over to have dinner with us. 

Eliza needed a little snack first.

Will checked out the bird houses to show the children the eggs inside.  

McIver got off the computer long enough to love on Eliza.

GranDaddy gave Eliza a few tiny tastes of his ice cream.  I'm not sure if this was her first taste of it or not, but she made some terribly cute faces before deciding that she liked it!

Easter 2011

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Easter basket from Nanoo & Pop

Getting a package in the mail is always fun.  This one was from Nanoo and Pop ... an Easter basket filled with treats!

Baseball

McIver's baseball team is doing pretty well this season.  They have lost one game and are having a great time.  During pre-game warm-ups this week, Mac was out in left field (literally, not figuratively this time!) and almost, allllllmost caught a pop fly.  He was so proud of himself for getting his glove on the ball and stopping it.  Several of his teammates, who didn't realize that I was there watching, yelled over to me later to tell me.  Apparently they were as surprised as McIver and I were!

A mom from his team shared some of that black stuff for under Mac's eyes so we had to take a picture of it when he got home.  He thought he was something else!

Check out that mop-top!  It's kind of hard to tell in this picture because this is post-game.  Mac doesn't want to get his hair cut until after baseball season.  (The season could last all the way through mid-May since his team is having such a good season.  It's a double-elimination tournament which doesn't even start until the beginning of May.)  I'm kind of digging the long-ish hair, so we may end up just getting it shaped up and trimmed rather than a 'summer cut.'  

McIver's Poster Project

McIver's teachers have had each student in the class do a Special Assignment each week since the start of school.  McIver comes home on Monday with his SA binder, a new book and a list of questions to answer about the book.  There is also a rubric which the students use to be sure the work is done well each week ... Did I use my best handwriting?  Did I use correct punctuation and complete sentences?  Did I write my name and date on my paper?  It has been a great way to teach Mac how to use his time wisely and spread the work out over the course of the week rather than waiting to do it all on Thursday night.  I have loved seeing his progress.

The last few Special Assignments have had a new element.  One week they had to do a biography and dress up as their subject while presenting their reports to the class.  They have also done a project in-class with notecards and posters.  For the at-home poster project this time around, Mac chose a book called Tricks with Bikes.

Hard at work on the title of his book with 'bold/block print letters.'

I walked away and came back to find him in this position.

All dressed for baseball, but using his time wisely until it's time to leave for the game.

Gratuitous picture of Tex with his ear flipped back.

The final poster:

So proud of his hard work!

Visit with Mamoo

Will played golf Wednesday afternoon so the kids and I were on our own for the afternoon and evening.  Once homework was complete and Tex was sufficiently worn out, we got Olivia's hair cut and had dinner at Moe's.  At the last minute, we called to see if Mamoo was home and up for a visit.  She was so we headed on over...

She was enjoying perfect Spring weather on her porch.  McIver was eager to explain ALL ABOUT Pokemon cards to her.  Sweet Mamoo was as patient as can be even though she had no idea what he was saying!  

Our kids are so fortunate to be able to know three of their great grandmothers!

The Lake

We took McIver's tennis racquet to the lake last weekend to see if we could hit the ball further into the lake to wear Tex out more quickly.  Turns out that it was pretty windy so that was enough to make it harder for him to swim.  We really could only throw it a few times before he needed a rest.

He is one happy pup when he's in the water.

Olivia and her buddy thought they were going to go for a swim.  Check out that wind!  I was standing on the dock and getting wet from the waves splashing up on me ... is that what they mean by 'lake effect winds?'

They dipped their feet in the water, but ultimately decided against a swim.

Tex wants to be wherever Will is just in case he decides to throw the ball for him.

Sweet Cousins

Robert and Kelli came to Columbia last weekend to take their girls to Disney on Ice.  We had a quick visit with them and I got some really cute pictures of everyone.

Miss Amelia is a ham!

Olivia loved being able to feed Eliza.

Smile!!

Look!  I can stand up!

Good -bye hugs

Please play with me!!

Right in the middle of the craziness that is our mornings, Tex dropped his tennis ball in the dishwasher.  I don't even know where he found the ball.  We usually take the ball away from him after we play with him outside because he's just so darn insistent whenever he has the ball in the house.  He will follow us around the house dropping the ball at our feet in an attempt to get some attention.  And, it's awfully hard for the kids (and Will) to resist throwing or rolling the ball for him inside.  (Drives me nuts!)

"Do I have your attention now?!  NOW will you stop what you're doing and play with me?"

More Pokemon

I told McIver I'm not taking him to buy (with his money or mine!) more Pokemon cards until he has drawn a picture of each and every card (over 100) that he already has.  He has taken me at my word and spends much of his free time with his kindergarten 'tool kit' and his Pokemon notebook.

Mamoo is giving him a Target gift card for Easter so he will be thrilled to get to buy whichever pack of cards his little heart desires next week.

The Masters *new picture*

Will and I left the kids at the beach with Nanoo (Pop had already gone back to Macon on Tuesday to get back to work) on Thursday morning.  Some friends from Houston, the Butlers, were on their way to Columbia to stay with us and go to the Masters.  We took them to dinner at Mr. Friendly's on Thursday night and introduce them to the deliciousness that is their filet topped with pimento cheese.

Cameras are not allowed on the course, which just SLAYED me, because we were able to go inside the clubhouse, pro shop and some other behind-the-scenes areas with the Butlers.  So, these are the only pictures we have ...

In the parking lot heading into the tournament on Friday morning.

We spent a good part of the afternoon on Friday on the 4th hole and were able to see a bunch of the more interesting players come through.  There weren't a whole lot of exciting putts until we were back in the same spot on Saturday.  We actually ended up seeing Freddie Couples birdie #4, 15 and 16.

After the tournament on both days, we went to Ashley and Mark's house for a visit.  I didn't get to see Helen Randall, but we had a great time catching up with Ashley and Mark.  Ashley was a great hostess and had the perfect table set up with some delicious post-Masters snacks for us.

Stacey, Scott and Will went back to the tournament on Sunday with Mark.  I was back on child-duty and met Nanoo just outside of Augusta to pick up the kids.  Olivia and Mattie seem to have had a great time together during Spring Break.  We dropped Mattie off and then headed home to get the kids unpacked.

I watched the Masters from the comfort of my new living room sofa and wondered where Will was watching.  I hoped he was in the stands on the 15th hole because a lot of the great shots of the day could be seen from there.  Turns out, they had all been on #10 when Rory started to crash.  Then they headed inside and watched the rest of the tournament from the air-conditioned comfort of the clubhouse.

Will wanted to keep all of these goodies from this year's Masters, but I convinced him to let me take a picture and then toss them.  The pairings sheet, tournament book, breakfast menu from the clubhouse (where we ate Saturday morning) and swizzle sticks from our Azalea (a drink you can only get from the clubhouse bar - yes!  we were something else!).

Spring Break 2011 at St. Simons

Preparing tacos for the kids ... easy, quick and a hit for everyone.

After dinner, McIver and Morgan headed to their downstairs room to talk Pokemon.

So, the moms and dads took off with Tex for the beach.

We had such a great time hanging out with Tupp and Elizabeth.  This is our second year to spend Spring Break with them.

Words cannot express how much Tex loves the beach.

Nanoo had to have she-crab soup from The Crab Trap so we each had just a small taste before our dinner of Beaufort Stew on our last night.

Sitting down to our feast of Beaufort Stew.

After dinner, we broke out Elizabeth's new game of Taboo.  The grown-ups had a great time playing until almost 12:30 at night.  Then, these two girls came stomping down their stairs begging to play.  I took this picture at 12:30 AM!