The Todd Family: July 2010

For those of you have been keeping up with us since at least last year, you know that every year we travel down to the Beaufort area for a small family reunion my grandmother holds on Dataw Island (the island where she lives). This is an opportunity for us to get together with the family of my late step-grandfather (aka: Farmer Jim). Once again we had a fantastic time enjoying family and the beautiful area around Beaufort.

We left on Friday with plans to check into our hotel and then go to Hunting Island Beach with A.J. that afternoon. Noah slept for a good portion of the drive there, but Kaden was a trooper! He did not sleep a WINK the whole three hour drive! Kaden was very excited that we got to stay in a "hoteller" and once we checked in he climbed right into the big bed and made himself at home :) Once we had a chance to sit down for a minute and relax we loaded back into the car to go pick up A.J. who was staying with my mom at my grandmother's house.

The beach was so wonderful! There were hardly any people there since we got there so late in the day, and the ocean breeze made it just the perfect temperature. Patrick, A.J., and Kaden headed straight for the water when we got there, but Noah was not sure. He would not let water from the ocean touch him! He would take off running toward the ocean but make a dead halt once he saw the water running onto the beach. It was really cute, and by the end of our beach visit Patrick convinced him to at least get his toes a little wet :) For dinner that night we went to a place called Groupers to eat. It is right on the water across the bridge from Beaufort, so we got to see some awesome fireworks that went on at the annual Water Festival that was taking place in Historic Beaufort. Kaden and Noah loved the fireworks :)

Saturday was a HOT day! My grandmother rents the gazebo that is located at the marina on her island for us to hold the reunion at. We had a wonderful time visiting with family that we hardly ever get to see. The kids played with the giant bubble mix that my mom made and spent lots of time on the nice playground and looking for fiddler crabs down by the marsh. Patrick and I took our boys out on the dock to look at some of the huge boats that residents of Dataw Island own. We had a great afternoon, but we were all ready to get back to my grandmother's house and relax because it was stifling out there!

This weekend, once again, reminded me of how awesome my children are :) Not to brag, but we spent a LOT of time in the car with a one year old and a three year old over the course of 24 hours, and we honestly couldn't have asked for a better turnout. They either slept through the driving or played together in the backseat. They adjusted really well to being on a different schedule and just helped make the weekend so much more enjoyable than it already was. I love having opportunities to expose the boys to things they don't get to see or do here at home, and that is one reason why I love our annual Dataw trip. They get to see the beach, the marsh, big boats, and fiddler crabs - all things that they will hopefully look back on and smile about. Enjoy the pictures!