Christmas 2013

Christmas was so much fun this year! Oliver really understood what was happening and was SO excited to open presents. We did a lot of traveling this Christmas...twice to South Bend for Don's family Christmas and Christmas Eve with my family. We reserve Christmas Day just for our little family, however. It's so nice to have a nice, quiet day to enjoy each other and our presents. By the sheer volume of presents he received, Oliver is one loved little dude! Merry Christmas from our family to yours! 

Oliver was so excited to play with this workbench that Santa left him!

He was also a big fan of the chocolate in his stocking and had 2 pieces opened and eaten before I even knew what happened!

He also got a Colts football in his stocking!

He was a big fan of unwrapping presents!

Nice and cozy in his froggy blanket from Gigi

Chillin' with his frog and fire truck

This is one small glimpse into what our house looked like pretty much all day. You couldn't walk anywhere without stepping over a piece of some new toy Oliver received...ha!

Thanksgiving 2013

Once again, we headed to my favorite place for Thanksgiving...Pokagon State Park. I am especially loving this place now that Oliver is a little bit older and better able to participate in some of what Pokagon has to offer. We had a fantastic long weekend...a much needed break! We swam, we made s'mores over the campfire, we watched the tobogganers, we hiked, we checked out the Nature Center, we painted a fire truck in the craft room, and on and on. Such a special time for the 3 of us as we prepare to become 4 very soon!

Our little family before Thanksgiving dinner

Loving the milk and rolls...ha!

He had to burn off the energy somehow...luckily we were eating in a private dining room!

Doing puzzles at the Nature Center

Checking out the turtles with Daddy

Playing at the playground

Off to hike on our own while Oliver was napping with Grandma

On our way home, we came across a small town holiday festival so we decided to stop. Oliver got to enjoy a Christmas cookie and loved, loved, loved this little pony, Mistletoe. They also had reindeer, but he was obsessed with this cute guy!

Halloween 2013

This year, we asked Oliver what he wanted to be for Halloween, and he decided on a football player. Luckily, we had most of the pieces of this costume on hand! Our little Peyton Manning had tons of fun and got loads of compliments!

The helmet was a little too big. :)

Ready for some trick-or-treating!

Tired after a long night of collecting candy

Columbia Zoo

After we left Charleston, we met my dad, brothers and Oliver at the Columbia Zoo. I hate to admit it, but we have never taken Oliver to the zoo. He enjoyed some of it, not so much other parts. It was a beautiful day, though, and a nice way to wrap up our time with family.

He definitely enjoyed these animal statues!

He's a big fan of anything he can climb on!

My goofball brothers

Still climbing...

He definitely takes after his mama...he was fascinated by the underwater exhibits!

He liked the elephants!

This female lion just stood and stared at us for the longest time.

This guy didn't care so much about us!

Oliver really wanted to ride the carousel...and hated every single minute of it. He cried the ENTIRE time.

Lots of giraffes

Charleston, SC - October 2013 - Part III

We spent the next couple of days just roaming around downtown Charleston. We did a little shopping and a lot of eating! We also headed over to Isle of Palms on our last day. I definitely need to go back there and spend more time! It was so nice to just spend a few days together, without the constant interruptions of a certain two year old. :-) Sleeping in past 6 am was pretty amazing, too!

A pink fountain, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month

I loved, loved, loved looking at the beautiful houses in downtown Charleston! Such amazing architecture!

Pinckney Island

More houses, right along the harbor

Battery Park

There are some unbelievable churches in downtown Charleston!

This was definitely my favorite!

Relaxing with my hubby!

Isle of Palms

I'll definitely be coming back here...beautiful!

Charleston, SC - October 2013 - Part II

After we checked things out around our resort, we headed over to the USS Yorktown, a WWII aircraft carrier. We spent the rest of the day walking around, checking out the amazing history of this aircraft carrier, as well as the USS Laffey, a battleship, and the USS Clamagore, a submarine. We were lucky that this is all state-owned since we were visiting during the government shutdown...ha!

Walking across the harbor to board the aircraft carrier

The USS Laffey

We sent this picture to Oliver, and he was very excited that Daddy was "driving an airplane."

There were lots of aircrafts to check out on the deck.

Don was loving all this...

The USS Clamagore

Just call him Captain Don

Honestly, Oliver would have loved this as much as Don did. We will have to take him back in the future.

The thing is gigantic!

In the submarine

A piece of the original flag that flew on the USS Laffey

The marina

It was pretty amazing to see the history that has been preserved inside these ships and to think of the battles the men onboard fought through. You can't help but be proud to be an American.