Oak Island 2011



Our minivan on the South Port - Ft Fisher Ferry

 
 



Mommy and the boys looking forward to visiting the Ft Fisher aquarium




I'm not gonna ask what the big ax is for...





Little boys running on the beach



Griffy got sea foam in his face!





Little boys playing in the surf



Johnny and Griffin walking at sunset



Hey!  You're in my seat!



Grandma and Grandpa Milbauer walking with Griffin
(It happened to be their 37th wedding anniversary!)





Grandma Heide and Griffin diggin' in the sand for clams





Grandpa Wayne and the boys



 

The Wellhouse Family



 

Grandpa Wayne and Griffy checking out the shoreline



Griffy back on Momma's hip after some boogie boarding



John and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary

  

Momma rescuing Griffin from the surf



We had a great time at the beach!  I'd love to say it was relaxing, but hauling two young kids back and forth to the beach all week was actually pretty tiring!  Especially, since Griffin insisted on being carried the whole time.  He's still not quite sure about the ocean.  (I'm certain I have a tan line of a baby on my hip!) 

In his defense, the waves were quite ruthless at times given there was a hurricane out at sea.  John got a work out holding Sawyer up in the waves as well.  Sawyer is not real sure about the ocean either.  He will play in it, but he wants to hold BOTH hands.  Whew!  They are a handful, literally and figuratively.  BUT they are at a very fun age.  Everything is an adventure and they love nothing better then chasing each other on the beach.  (And they sleep SO WELL after a few hours on the beach!) 

We took the ferry in South Port and went to the Ft Fisher aquarium.  The boys met an albino alligator and a baby loggerhead sea turtle.  Sawyer got to pet a sting ray and a horse shoe crab.  (I touched the sea anemone, but Sawyer wasn't up for it.)  They loved seeing all the fish and Sawyer learned all about the seashells we collected.  Griffin liked the sea horses.  When he saw them he would make the clip-clop sound he uses to describe horses.  Oh well, he's got the "horse" part right!  Sawyer and I also found a great piece of seaweed on the beach, so we made a little aquarium to take to his pre-school class.  It was complete with sand and shells in the bottom and the piece of seaweed was the center piece. 

John's cousin, Paul, and his girlfriend, Jenny, joined us at the beach for the weekend.  It was nice having "adult" company and it was good getting to visit with them.  (Especially when the little boys were sleeping!)

Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Heide flew down for the day on their anniversary, which was a nice treat.  We were driving over the bridge to pick them up when we spotted a green plane that turned out to be them coming in for a landing! They spent the day at the beach with us, picked up some fresh seafood on their way out and made the trip back home in ~45 minutes.  (Sure beats the 2hr 45min drive!)

All in all it was a fun time.  I would have loved to stay a few more days. The weather was so perfect all week.  The day we left it was sunny, clear and about 85 degrees.  It's really hard packing up and driving away on a day like that...oh well, makes me look forward to next year!

We hope you have all had a great summer!

Love,

The Wellhouse Family

(John, Andrea, Sawyer and Griffin)

The end of June and 4th of July weekend - 2011

The Super Hero bedroom is finally all done!

The Batman side will be for Griffin when he's big enough.

The Spiderman side is for Sawyer, of course!

A dresser for each little boy completes the room.

Sawyer showing us his (empty) blueberry bucket...got a ways to go yet!

Griffy and Daddy picking blueberries

The boys eating out of the bucket, makes it kinda hard to fill!

Sawyer picking blackberries. They were delicious!

Daddy hanging with the boys around the campfire.

(The "wilderness" in the background is our back yard!)

Pretty nice campsite!

(My tent from college is still in pretty good shape.)

Momma and Sawyer tickling Griffin

Daddy and the boys at the Herman's pool.

Momma playing motor boat with Griffin.

The Wellhouse boys

Trying to see if the shark has BIG teeth...serious business.

Daddy and Sawyer at the 4th of July celebration in Garner
(Griffin stayed with Grandma, too late of a night for little boys!)

Mommy and Sawyer chillin' on our blanket

(Not exactly, it was still about 95 degrees F at 7pm!)

Griffy mastering the art of corn-on-the-cob...

AND mastering the art of the cheesy grin!

New haircuts!

The buzz cut is all the rage for summer!

Although it is hard to get used to seeing Sawyer without his big mop of hair, he's so much cooler now.

Summer is well underway and fall is closing in fast. We've had a great time picking berries, camping and going swimming. Sawyer is finally going underwater and blowing out through his nose, but still has a ways to go before he is swimming. We've been going to swimming lessons three times a week since mid-July...it's a slow process. Griffin isn't far behind. He loves the water, has NO FEAR, and jumps readily from the side. (Whether anyone is there to catch him or not! Yikes!) We'll try to get in as much swim time as we can in the next few weeks and hope that these water babies get the hang of it soon!

Sawyer had his first all-night camp out in June. Ok, granted it was in the backyard, but we have to take baby steps. (For me and for Sawyer!) I dug out my old camping gear from college, it worked out pretty well. Sawyer did great! We made a campfire, cooked outside on the grill and finished off the evening with REAL s'mores. I couldn't believe how comfortable Sawyer was sleeping in a tent outside. (I wish I could say the same for me...took forever to get to sleep!) And of course Sawyer was awake at sunrise...as is always the case when camping. Griffin and Daddy only hung out with us until around bedtime. Griffin is definitely NOT ready for camping. If something was dangerous, he was all over it. The fire, the pointy marshmallow holders, the tippy camp chairs, the fragile lanterns...geeeez. Maybe in another year or two he'll be ready! (We sure hope so!)


The 4th of July was fun. John (who was a true sport), Sawyer (who was not real interested) and I took part in a flash mob at Lake Benson park during the pre-fireworks celebration. It was part of the "Rock Your Park" competition. Garner, as was to be expected, didn't quite pull it off. They sort of missed the point...it's supposed to be a surprise! They all but announced it! Aaaaaaaaaaaargh! Oh well. As for the rest of the evening...the live music was good, the NC Symphony was great and the fireworks (albeit very late per the schedule) were quite impressive. Sawyer had never seen live fireworks before and was amazed! He chattered non-stop about them. "They're like a star explosion!" "Someone is shooting fireflys!" I tried to explain the meaning behind them and the 4th of July...it was lost on a 4 year old. Oh well, there is always next year!

We hope you are all having a safe and fun filled summer!

Love,

The Wellhouse Family

(John, Andrea, Sawyer and Griffin)

Strawberries, Plane Rides and Summer Fun 2011

Griffy's first taste of fresh picked strawberries. Yummmmmmmm!

Sawyer is amazed at how big and juicy they are this year!

The boys with our loot.

Brothers at the window
(Believe it or not this was not staged. Awwwww.)

Hanging out in the garage while Dad is grilling.

Sawyer playing football

Grandpa and Sawyer waiting for lunch after a short plane ride to the Pickin' Pig in Carthage

Grandpa and Sawyer getting in the airplane after lunch

The littlest co-pilot

Griffy on the lawn mower at the farm

Sawyer on the lawn mower at the farm

Griffy sees Sawyer getting on "his" other lawn mower....

"Oh no you didn't get on my mower!"

Grandpa & Griffy

"No, no, Griffin, motor oil is not for babies!"

Boys on Grandpa's backhoe

Whew! Made it! It's tough being the little guy.

Driving the back hoe is serious business!

Griffy in his big boy booster seat.

(He had to have one just like Sawyers)

As usual, we've been taking advantage of all that summer has to offer. The boys have truly enjoyed all the fresh fruit and veggies. Sawyer remains a wonderful little eater, Griffin is a bit more of a challenge to feed. They both loved the strawberries though! (Obviously!)

Sawyer had his first plane ride with Grandpa in May. Shortly after that trip, Sawyer and I both joined Grandpa on a quick trip to the Pickin' Pig in Carthage, NC for lunch. It was a real nice treat!

John's parents came to visit for a week in June and somehow, unfortunately, I managed to not get a single picture. ; ( We really enjoyed their visit and were sad to see them go home so soon!

Sawyer is growing and eating like mad. He is in the 95th percentile in height (75% in weight) and looks much older than four. Sawyer is doing great in school and never ceases to amaze me at what he is learning. We were at the park on Father's Day when he informed us that another Dad at the playground was speaking Spanish and just said "let's go" to his child. When I asked him, sort of out of the blue, which planet has rings...he said "Saturn". I have no idea how he knows that...I guess someone is teaching him well! I think what I am most impressed about with Sawyer, is what a great big brother he is to Griffin. If Griffin heads towards the stairs, Sawyer will be the first one there to hold his hand and help him to the top. If Griffy falls down, Sawyer helps him up and hugs him. When Griffin climbs up to the top of the play set to slide down, Sawyer is there at the bottom to catch him. I guess that's what being a big brother is all about!

Griffin is our little clown. He makes the silliest noises! He does a rocket ship blasting off, a monkey (ooh-ooh-aah-aah), a purring kitty, a roaring lion/dinosaur/anything fierce looking, a dog panting, a horse blowing, wails like a firetruck siren and thumps his chest like a gorilla. At his last check-up he was in the 50th percentile for height and only 25th for weight. He is a little guy, but he is scrappy. One of his favorite things to do is spin around on the round stool in the kitchen. Then he wants to get down and walk. He wobbles like a little drunk and laughs when he falls over! Strange kid. Griffin also loves being hung upside down by his feet. He lays down, puts his feet in the air and fusses until you pick him up and swing him around. AND he loves beer. He begs for beer. He will come running, full speed like he's on fire, across the yard if he sees you with a beer. (Even in a glass...the bottle is not the appeal, it's the beer.) When Sawyer was his age we learned that once we let Sawyer taste beer he no longer wanted it. Makes sense, babies don't like beer. It's not sweet or creamy etc. So, we tried that approach with Griffin. No go. He loves the stuff! Doh!


I hope you all are having an eventful summer!

Love,

The Wellhouse Family

Andrea, John, Sawyer and Griffin