Ripley's Aquarium

Yesterday we went to Ripley's Aquarium in Myrtle Beach on the way home; with lots of neat exhibits, it was the perfect way to pass the time till our flight. Here is a picture of us that I ponied up $20 for (along with a keychain and magnet):

Our flights back to Boston were uneventful, if traveling with a three year old can be described as uneventful. Charlie's better moments included screaming "THE PLANE IS GOING DOWN! WE'RE GOING DOWN IN THE WATER!!" during our final descent into Boston.

I Felt We Needed A Break From...

Charlie splashing in the ocean pictures, so here are some Charlie feeding imaginary seagulls in his underwear pictures. Enjoy!

Dinosaurs Alive!

In an effort to get off the beach this afternoon we took Charlie to the IMAX theatre in Myrtle Beach to see the 3D dinosaur show playing there. Charlie lasted about 10 minutes before he decided the movie was better watched without his 3D gasses because, as he put it, "The dinosaurs need to get out of my face!"

All Beached Out

From Recently Updated

Surf's Up!

The surf was rough this morning but Charlie loved every minute of it!

Not Meant To Be

Between a dirty lens and a few well placed tantrums, a decent picture of the Robinson/Kaplan cousins before the Kaplans hit the road was not meant to be.

Because You Can Never Have Too Many Beach Pics

Boogie Boys

Alligators, Everywhere Alligators

We spent the morning at Alligator Adventure in Myrtle Beach; personally I felt that once I had seen one alligator I had seen them all, but Charlie, Ben and Rebecca were all thoroughly engrossed.

Best Buds

Not as Easy as it Looks

Unless, that is, you skip the water part.

The Video Game Addiction Begins

The Beach - Day 1

(Guest blogger: Charlie's Aunt Mandy)

Abby is too lazy to do her own blogging tonight. Here are some pictures of the kids' first outing to the beach.

Splashing Fun

The outdoor splash park at the Weymouth Club was open today in light of the 85+ degree heat; not all of the fun water sprinklers were on but Charlie had a fun time nonetheless. Please ignore the hives all over his face from repeated sunscreen application...

Airplane Day

The countdown to vacation has begun! Or, as Charlie calls it, "Airplane Day". Every morning goes something like this:
CHARLIE: "Is it Airplane Day?"
ME: "No, it's a school day. You have two more school days until Airplane Day.
CHARLIE: "I don't want a school day! I want a Airplane Day!!"
Plenty of pictures from Ocean Isle Beach NC to follow!

Three Year Stats

We had Charlie's 3 year check up this afternoon so here are his stats:
Height: 41 1/2 inches (99th percentile)
Weight: 36.2 lbs (85th percentile)
Charlie of course turned into a spastic babbling idiot the minute the doctor walked in the room and literally spoke nonsense baby babble the entire time, with not one coherent word, prompting me to reassure the doctor, "umm, he does actually talk..."

Chicken

CHARLIE: (picking his nose and eating it) "Mmmm!"
ME: "That's gross, don't do that!!"
CHARLIE: "No, it's not gross it's good!"
ME: "What does it taste like?"
CHARLIE: "Tastes like chicken!"

Pictures

While we went to a wedding last night Heather & Matt babysat and Matt took some great pictures of Charlie. (Thanks, Matt!) Here they are:

Cell Phone Addict

We took Charlie to the Disney Store this evening because we had a $25 gift card from his birthday burning a hole in our pocket. After searching around the store Charlie picked out a Cars cell phone and has had it attached to his ear ever since. He flips it open, presses the buttons, puts it to his ear and says "Hello? Hello?" before flipping it closed and putting it in his pocket. Two seconds later out of the pocket it comes... Here he is with his latest accessory (and a nifty new Red Sox cap to boot):

Charlie's First Encounter With A Salt & Vinegar Chip

Batter Up

We spent quite some time with Charlie out in the yard this afternoon playing baseball -- his general technique is to swing way too soon and then to scream "Bad throw!!" but he did eventually hit a couple. The following slideshow includes a few tantrums as well:

Security... Towel?

As if Charlie's security blanket wasn't enough, he now has a security towel: a large Buzz Light Year beach towel that he got for his birthday. He has insisted that it be tucked over him along with his security blanket for the past two nights before bed, and now as if him waking up at night calling "Fix my blanket! Fix my blanket!" weren't enough, last night he woke up calling "Fix my towel! Fix my towel!"

Oy.

Raspberries and Libraries

As Charlie's vocabulary expands so does the opportunity to mix up his words. Case in point, this afternoon he demanded, "Mommy! Blow a library on my tummy!" Even after I corrected him it took quite a while for him to switch from "library" to "raspberry", and he is bound to make the same mistake again. Over the past few weeks I have noticed quite a number of similar mistakes as he comes up with new words and sentences every day: "gun" for "gum", "jaws" for "claws", "Shane" for "mane", "fat" for "bat", "alligator" for "elevator" and so on. He'll get it sorted out all in good time...

Charlie's Birthday Bash

Following is a slideshow and then a plethora of videos from Charlie's 3rd birthday extravaganza! Happy birthday little man!

Charlie & The Gator

Charlie Has A Chinchilla On His Head

Happy Birthday Dear Charlie...