My Brood of Boys: July 2014

Things are always different in Port Aransas, and you never know what you will get from year to year. Bottom line, it is never perfect but there are always several really good things about it.

Let's start with the good. Benjamin and Evan loved the beach, and were both more adventurous in the water than last year. Benjamin even asked to get a Boogie Board so he could learn to ride the waves. No surprise that he was pretty good at it!

Evan was more interested in the sand than the water, but he definitely seemed happier and more independent at the beach compared to last year.

Sawyer did not love the beach, unfortunately. He was sick with a cold and did not want us to put him down in the sand. He was a daddy's boy for most of the trip.

The boys were thrilled to order from the ice cream truck twice. Its funny to see how quickly they can eat it before it melts. The boys were also plenty happy to visit the ice cream shop one evening after dinner. There was simply no shortage of ice cream on this particular trip.

Now to my favorite part. The birding center was awesome this year. I have always loved it and think it is one of the very best things about Port Aransas. It is quiet and peaceful, with little signs of tourism. It is a place just to view nature in the raw. We always see varieties of birds that we have never seen before. Well, this particular visit was the most special. The lighting was great, there were no mosquitoes, we viewed the changes that took place with great multiplication of large rodents, and we FINALLY saw the Alligator. Of course, we connected the appearance of the alligator with the abundance of yummy jumbo-sized rodents. Actually, we believe he was stalking them at the time, just waiting for nightfall to attack.

No lack of excitement here!

There were lots of things to see. Especially one particular, very big thing...

We were trying to see his head, which was under the pier. We did see the head, and the beady little eyes were locked on a poor little nutria.

Lots of other creatures were there.

The nutria, a large rodent that frequents marshlands, had taken over the birding center. We saw about 100 of them, whereas last time we only saw a few. It seems they had mowed down large areas of reeds. I can't wait to see what it looks like next year.

Guess we did eventually run out of light, but look at this happy face!!

There were a few more cute photos.

Somehow this blue hat just works for Evan. Oh, the many faces of Evan....

We had the pleasure of riding home with Sawyer while the "big boys" went with my parents to the Aquarium. It was some nice two-on-one and kissey time.

Speaking of my parents, here they are doing their classic beach thing. We owe them so much for all of their love and support!

Oh, Sawyer, please have mercy on us and stop being SO DARN CUTE!!

Sawyer recently turned two! It seems that this age is really the beginning of boyhood and the official end of babyhood. I'm kinda sad about that, but not too sad. After all, it means that we are on our way to becoming a diaper-free family for the first time in six years. I also see far more freedom in our future with three little boys instead of little boys and babies. The age of two also represents super-cuteness. I'm thinking Sawyer is at his peak of cute right now, and I can remember this being true for the other boys. When Evan was two we would always say, "you are soooo", and Evan would finish with, "CUTE!". I can also recall Benjamin's cutest photo at the age of two.

It was fun counting down to this birthday because we would ask, Who is having a birthday?", and Sawyer would say, "meeeee", in the cutest way. Then, when prompted, he would say "two". We did this for a couple of weeks and the other boys enjoyed it as well. Besides just being plain cute, Sawyer is talking a lot more and communicating very well. This makes life much more enjoyable.

Here is some recent evidence of cuteness: