Myrtle Beach 2014 - Part 1

This year we took our first ever family road trip!  When I was a kid we went to Myrtle Beach year after year, so when deciding where to go on our first road trip Myrtle Beach was my first thought!

The kids loved packing up their stuff and getting cozy in the car. 

We went with the Cappelli family and we all had a blast!  The ride down was so great!  The kids were all soooo good and we made great time (thanks to race car driver Nick)!

We made a few potty stops and the kids loved running around and stretching their legs.

And chasing Uncle Nick.

And chasing Uncle Nick some more.

After a good long day of driving we stopped in Winston Salem to have dinner and spend the night.  The next morning we decided to take a little time after breakfast and let the kids swim in the indoor pool.

The Besties had a great time swimming.

And Oliver loved playing sharks with his best buddy Uncle Nick.

Then all kids had a blast using Uncle Nick as jungle gym.

Then we packed everyone up and got back on the road!

 Finally, we made it!!!!!!!

 The view from our room!  I LOVE THE BEACH!!

Oliver wanted me to take his picture in our kitchen.

  When we arrived it was HOT out!  So I tossed the bags in the room, dug out the bathing suits, and we headed to the beach right away!

 AHHHH!!  WE MADE IT!!!!!!

Myrtle Beach was amazing for Claire's hair!  Look at those curls!

 My handsome devil.

Oliver loved his first time in the ocean.

 My most favorite people in the whole world.

The hot sun felt soooo good.

Of course, the Besties had a blast.

Even though the water was chilly, that did not stop these two!

And of course, Oliver was not too far behind.

Even Daddy went in.

After a chilly swim, the kids loved playing in the sand.

They had so much fun on the beach.

Did I mention that the hot sun felt soooo good!

Me enjoying the sun with my favorite girl.

Love my little beach girl.

Oliver loved playing with Uncle Nick in the sand!

After a few hours on the beach, the Daddy Besties started making dinner plans!

 After a nice time on the beach, we cleaned up and headed out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack!

Bring on the crab legs!

After a free dinner (Joe's Crab Shack had some issues but, it was all good because they comped the whole meal and that was just fine with us!!) we walked around and had fun being silly!

The kids loved this bear for some reason.

The Besties.

Oliver almost lost his mind when he saw the huge dinosaurs!

Then Claire turned into an 18 year old for her picture.

After a good night sleep we all headed down to the pool.  The weather was a little chilly so we hung out in the indoor pool!

Claire and Daddy practiced their swim strokes.

The hot tub was a big hit!

After a long morning of swimming, we decided to take a nice walk and find a place for lunch.  We ended up at Godfather's Pizza.  Oh, Godfather's Pizza...this place was a little icky.  After we ate our pizza we couldn't wait to get out of there!  But as soon as we finished it started to DOWNPOUR!!!!!!!  There was no way that we could have walked back to the hotel!  So Mark came through and RAN back to our hotel and got the Cappelli's truck and came back to rescue us!  This was quite the adventurous lunch.

After lunch, we relaxed a bit and had dinner in our rooms.  Then we packed up and headed to the strip!

Claire saved her money from the Toothfairy and all that she wanted was a hat that said Myrtle Beach!  And the strip was the perfect place to find it!

We couldn't wait to get some ice cream!  Even though there was no sprinkles we all enjoyed a delicious ice cream cone!

The kids wanted to go on the gigantic ferris wheel!  So Jessica and I took the kids up there!

The kids loved it!  I am not gonna lie, there were some spots that I had a little trouble breathing but for the most part it was pretty amazing!

I thought that Oliver might get scared but he absolutely loved it!

Seriously, we were up REALLY high!!!

After a great time on the strip, we all piled back in the truck and headed back to the hotel for a good night's sleep!

Our first few days were so much fun!  Check back soon for the rest of our adventures!

My Baby's First Tooth

Today Claire lost her first tooth! I cannot believe it! Her tooth started wiggling about a week ago but we haven't thought too much about it since then. Well, today while I was making dinner Claire came down stairs in a fresh clean pair of jeans. I asked her to go and change back into her sweatpants. I explained that there was no reason for her to dirty a fresh pair of pants at this point in the day. She was not very happy with me but she stomped away obeying her mother like a good girl. Then about 5 minutes later I hear her screaming and crying. I turned around (thinking she was still whining about having to change) to find her standing in front of me with her hands in the air, screaming with blood dripping out of her mouth!  I calmly put her up on the counter and called Mark from the family room. I thought that she fell and hit her mouth and I was worried that she bit her tongue. Oh no, that was not it at all. Apparently she was so mad at me about having to go change that when she took off her jeans, she bit them! This leading to her wiggly tooth to be jammed sideways in her mouth. Now, I can handle just about anything. You can puke on me, blow boogers on me, bleed all over me, or have a bone sticking out of your leg and I am just fine with it. But you wiggle a tooth at me and my knees go out!  So Daddy came to the rescue and yanked it out. Once Claire calmed down she was thrilled that she lost her first tooth! Then about 20 minutes later she got all emotional again. When I asked her what was wrong she told me, "I feel so bad I was so mad at you!" We had a long talk about how it is ok to be mad, it is just how you handle your anger that matters.  After that she was back to being thrilled about her first lost tooth!

Now Oliver on the other hand was a total wreck! He just kept yelling, "Somebody hold me!" He was trying so hard to be tough for his Sissy, but he was so scared! While Mark removed Claire's wobbly tooth, I explained to Oliver what was happening.  I explained that your teeth get wobbly and fall out and then new grown up teeth grow in. And he just kept saying to Claire (through his own tears),"It's ok Claire! You are going to be a grown up!"

So overall,  it was a pretty exciting night here at the Komo house!  I still can't believe Claire is old enough to have lost her tooth :(

 Here is my baby when she first got her teeth!  She loved to show them off!  We would say, "Show us your teeth Claire!" and she would make this face.

 As you can see, she still loves showing off those teeth :)

Once we ate dinner and watched Harry Potter (Mark has been reading it to Claire every night before bed and they finally finished and now she can watch the movie) it was time to put that tooth under her pillow for the tooth fairy.

First we cleaned it up and put it in a special box.

 Then Claire wrote the Toothfairy a special letter.

With some beautiful pictures on it.  In case you are wondering, that are a mouth full of teeth in the lower left hand corner.

Then we sealed up the box and headed upstairs.

Claire put the box in her bed,

then put her pillow on top!  We are all set for the Toothfairy to make her first visit.  Claire had the brilliant idea to put the tooth under the pillow that she is NOT sleeping on and I LOVED that idea!  I wonder what the Toothfairy will bring!

Then Claire read me some Junie B. Jones and went to sleep.  I seriously don't know where the time has gone.  While Claire was reading to me I just kept thinking, "My baby is reading a chapter book to ME while I lay in her bed. And under her pillow is her tooth!  Just yesterday I was reading to her and giving her tylenol because her teeth were just coming in!" I love her more everyday, if that is even possible.  I am so lucky to have this special little angel as my daughter, even if she is missing some teeth.

 

My Kids...

I have been a little behind on my blogging and I am not at all happy about it.  I have some people who miss me when I don't blog and I hate to let them down ;) But mostly I hate that I am missing documenting so many things that the kids are doing! 

Claire is growing up so fast.  She is such a little lady now.  She carries a purse everywhere and really wants to dress herself.  We have compromised that she can dress herself for family parties, when we stay home, when we go to certain stores, etc.  But for school and important events I get to choose.  Claire is so kind and caring and she is so good to Oliver.  She is always helping him and teaching him new things.  Claire is doing so well in school. BRAGGING MOTHER ALERT! Her last report card was perfect! She is excelling in reading and writing. We are so proud of her!

Oliver is growing up WAAAYYYY too fast!  He is still obsessed with dinosaurs and any type of vehicle. Oliver also loves his dance class.  He wakes up everyday and asks me, "Is it a dancing day?"  Oliver is going to be my little entertainer.  He is usually being some sort of a dinosaur, animal, or vehicle.  Today he was an elephant.  We usually have to ask him to be a little boy so that we can get him to bathe or eat.  Also, Oliver is such a smarty pants! BRAGGING MOTHER ALERT! He knows all of his letters, all of their sounds, and he can put them together to sound out words to READ them!!!!  He loves any kind of book or game that has to do with letters or reading.  We are so proud of him!

So as much as I would love to say that I am going to blog everyday again, I know that I won't.  But, I do promise to blog more frequently!

Happy Birthday GG

The weekend before last we had a wonderful time celebrating GG's 89th birthday!  It was a nice evening and GG really enjoyed having her family in one room to celebrate!

Claire was sick with the stomach flu so Mark had to stay home with her.  They were definitely missed but we had a great time.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GG!  WE LOVE YOU!

Grandpa's Birthday

February 19th was Grandpa's birthday.  It was a big important birthday this year (don't worry Dad, I won't say which one it was).  So to celebrate this landmark birthday we decided to go to a fancy dinner!  It was really nice, we got all the kids fancied up and headed to Black & Blue!

The Komo boys (minus Kevin).

My Komo boys.  Oliver was such a good boy and he loved all of the delicious food!

The kids were so well behaved (and we went nice and early so that we didn't bother the other people trying to dine in peace).  Claire couldn't wait to get her hands on baby Kayden.

 Mom and Dad.

Our best attempt at a shot of the kids with their grandparents :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!

Family Skate

Over the February break (I know I am a little late with my posts about the break) we took the kids ice skating for the first time!  Well, Claire went once when she was about 2 and a half (click HERE to see Claire's first time ice skating) but this was definitely Oliver's first time on the ice!

 Here is my man going out for the first time.

He was doing alright with a little help from Mark.  But then Mark decided that Oliver should try it out on his own...

and Oliver was NOT pleased.

After I took this picture he did cheer up and ended up doing a great job and having a great time.

Claire on the other hand was a pro in no time.

She ditched her walker right away!  I tried to hold her hand while we skated...

but she didn't want anything to do with that.

After a few laps we all wanted to give our feet and ankles a rest.

I love these two monkeys.

It was a perfect way to spend the day!