Happy 1st Birthday to Colin!

On Colin's birthday, Daddy had a long day at work and the only time he had all day to talk was in the morning so we decided to celebrate Colin's big day over donuts.  (Only the best donuts in the world: Fractured Prunes!)  Hey, it was Mommy's birthday too and donuts are my favorite.  We decided to serve Colin up a blueberry glazed.

Daddy was on west coast time so he was waking up just as Colin was taking his first nap of the day.  We knew we only had a few minutes with Dad so we had to wake Colin up from his sweet slumber for the festivities.  As you can see he was still a little tired.

It wasn't long before he noticed the balloons overhead.  "Are these for me?"

Getting birthday wishes from Daddy on video chat.

 

With Daddy on video chat and everyone awake we were ready to start...

Colin looking around at everyone as we sang "Happy Birthday."

Daddy walking to work while also trying to take part...

Yum, this is good!

"Alright, I'm ready to go back to bed. Why did you wake me up?"

"Because you are turning 1 after all!"

Uncle Connor trying to show Colin how to do 1 with his fingers.

Colin will just show his hat instead.

What's a birthday without a bunch of loot?  Colin sure had tons of it!

Colin perked up again once we spread all his gifts around the floor and let him have at em.  He wasn't quite sure what to do at first but then got down to business.

Checking out all the animals in his Noah's Ark.

 After all the festivities we headed down to the beach to grab a birthday shot.

Later in the day we went back down for some fun in the water.

Colin was fearless on his birthday!  Crawling back and forth along the water as the waves were crashing up on him.

Mimi and Pappy posing with the birthday boy.

It was a great birthday had by all.  We wrapped up the day with a crab feast!

Beach Bums

Following our awesome time at Split Rock, Colin, Mommy (& Lilly) headed down to Ocean City, Maryland to spend some quality time with Aunt Jen and Uncle Connor.  They were both working at the beach for the summer and were happy to have their big sis around to make them food.

Although they were probably both more excited about having their nephew to play with...

Colin and Mommy didn't usually leave the condo till around 2 or 3 after he finished his naps, turns out that schedule was perfect for Uncle Connor who slept till around the same time.

Uncle Connor and Colin eating together.

 Mimi joined us for most of the time and Colin did whatever he had to do to get her attention.

Colin, Lilly, and Sadie all love Mimi...Here they are patiently waiting (pounding) at her door while she got changed.

Speaking of the dogs, one of Colin's favorite activities while we were at the beach was taking the dogs out to go potty.  He enjoyed holding onto Sadie's leash which he did from the moment we left the condo until we got back inside (except a few times where he scared Sadie half to death).

Lilly and Sadie had fun with Colin but they both knew when to keep their distance. (Note: pen in hand)

We celebrated Aunt Jen's 19th birthday with a yummy coconut cake made by Mommy.  We also celebrated Mommy and Colin's birthdays but more on that later.

And of course we spent lots of time on the beach.

Playing in his new pool!

I love that sweet smile.

Check out the teeth on that beach bum.

When we needed a break from the beach, we enjoyed time at the beach bar listening to the music.  Colin loves live music!

 

 We also kicked back in the pool...

With all those smiles it's pretty easy to see we had a great time at the beach!  One last shot of our little man out to dinner.

See you soon, Daddy!

Sadly, Colin and Mommy had to part from Daddy on our last day at Split Rock.  We made sure to keep our happy faces on though...

Colin LOVES his Daddy and is really going to miss him while he's gone.

Fortunately, we are going to see each other periodically over the next five months so we can get our little family together again.  I'll be sure to post about each visit!

Daddy/Tim- We are so proud of you and all of your hard work.  We understand that you are doing important work and support you in all you do.  We cherish our times together and love you with all our heart!

Split Rock

This spring, Daddy found out that he was selected as a candidate at a special school for work. After our Myrtle Beach trip, we had just a few weeks at home before Daddy would have to leave Charleston until just before Christmas (that's right over 5 months!!).  Unfortunately, work took him away for a week during our final days together at home. Fortunately though he was able to take a few extra days off work in addition to his travel days before starting school so we loaded up both cars and headed north.  The drive wasn't too bad.  We followed each other and took lots of breaks.  Colin wasn't too fond of the whole experience, but hung in there till we finally made it to New Freedom.  We stayed the night and woke up the next morning just to get back in the car and drive some more.  Our excitement helped us get through the three hour drive since we knew once we got to our destination we'd be able to get these three together again....

The Derry clan had already been at Split Rock with Nana and Grandpa since Sunday when we showed up on Thursday afternoon.  We had four days together with the Goodwillie side of the family before having to leave and say bye to Daddy.

It didn't take long for Liam to begin sharing everything and anything with Colin.  He was so sweet and caring with him the entire trip. 

Soon after arriving we drove to the lake where Joergen and Colin spent some time getting reacquainted.

Colin got his first feel of the lake.

Grandpa was anxious to get Colin out on the boat so we suited him up and piled in.

The whole experience was nerve wracking for Mommy who couldn't help envisioning Colin flying out of the boat the whole time.  Daddy and Grandpa on the other hand were much more laid back.  Colin even got a chance to drive the boat. 

He survived the ride and was all smiles with Grandpa and Daddy afterwards.

Colin's new favorite place to be: on top of Daddy's shoulders while playing with his ears...

For our first night, Nana made an awesome meal which we ate on the veranda.

Lately, Colin's nightly routine is to crawl around for a good half hour following dinner.  On our way back to the room Liam joined Colin on his evening crawl. 

Later, Aunt Jen caught this sweet shot before bed.

The next morning, Colin chowed down on some eggs (that boy seriously loves eggs!!).

After Colin took his naps we spent another day at the lake.  Can you tell he was excited?

Swimming in the lake with Nana

The resort was having fireworks on Friday evening so we headed down early to get a good spot.  There's Colin on his favorite spot again holding on tight...to Daddy's ears!

Love this one of brother and sister with their little ones.

It was a gorgeous night so we used the opportunity to take some family photos.

Nana and Grandpa love.

Three generations.

With the grandkids...Liam and Colin are so funny together.

We also passed the time listening to the band.  Liam had no trouble getting in on the action...

While Uncle Anthony helped Colin sway to the music.

Turns out the fireworks didn't start till after 10:00pm.  Our 7:00pm on the dot sleeper was exhausted! After the first firework he started crying.  We tried to stay but ended up leaving before the finale because Mommy just felt so bad feeling Colin's little heart beat so fast. 

It must not have tramautized him too badly because he was all smiles with Aunt Jen the next day.

On our last full day, Colin and Joergen really started warming up to each other...well, sort of...

Joergen wasn't too sure what he thought about Colin sharing his toys...

After some deliberation he decided he definitely didn't like it!

It didn't take long for them to make friends again and check out their reflections together in the door.

Back to eyeing up what the other has...

And making up again with hugs (This is how Joergen hugged Colin the whole time, it was adorable.  I didn't quite catch the shot but he would lovingly lay his head against Colin's)

Our last day was hard on Daddy who was beginning to get depressed about leaving us for so long.

Colin made sure to give Daddy lots of lovin and let him know we'll be just fine while he's away.

What a sweet boy he is!

After having a little pity party for ourselves over our situation, we enjoyed another day at the lake and lots more cuddles with Nana!

Daddy's cousin, Anne, and her family visited for the day. It was great to see her and her husband along with their sweet girls.

It just so happened to be Nana and Grandpa's anniversary as well.  After a long day they finally had a few moments at the end of the night to relax together and open some presents.

Thank you Nana and Grandpa for providing yet another awesome vacation for all of us!