Nicholas' Day....

Last Monday was Nicholas' special day.... It was his 10Th birthday...

Peep helped me bake his cake. Dad took a vacation day. We got up early and Jeremy made a big breakfast for us. Meeshka always gets excited for his birthday, but I think reaching the double digit in years sent him to the moon. He was so excited! After breakfast Nicholas opened his presents. Then we set off to Hilton Head...

"Hey everyone, look at how cute I am."

I told Nicholas I had a surprise for him when we got to the beach. He got so excited that I started to worry he would be disappointed. I had Jeremy take the kids for a walk down the beach while I set my plan in motion. I had made a treasure map and brought a black pirate bag, that has a skull and cross bones on it with coins and jewels inside. I followed the map and placed jewels and coins at certain points. When I got to the big X I dumped the rest in a pile. All of a sudden the seagulls started swooping down and picking up the Booty. I started shewing them away. Hoping they wouldn't take the loot. I rolled up the map, put it into the bag and placed it at the starting point. I called Jeremy to bring the kids back. Nicholas came running, "Is it ready yet?" I told him yes. He looked around confused. I told him his surprise was that I wanted to take lots of pictures today. He looked at me funny then told me OK. He started walking down the beach and saw the bag. His face lit up! He was so excited and came running back to me to show me what he had found. His excitement was contagious. I told him to look inside. Maybe there was something in his pirate bag. When he got out the map and read it he was almost jumping up and down. "It's a treasure map!" At first he thought it was real. It was so sweet. Then he read what it said and at the bottom it read, "Happy Birthday Laddie." "How did they know it was my birthday Mom?" Then he went on and on how he was so glad that he had found the pirate bag and that someone else didn't find it. As he followed the map and found his little treasures he was just so excited. So was Mom... I was so excited for him and I was so excited for me. It warmed my heart to know that my little man hadn't lost the magic and wonder of childhood. He wasn't all grown up after all...

The kids had a ball looking at all the jewels. Nicholas was so excited the rest of his day about his treasure map and the pirate treasure.

Another special thing happened. Jeremy spotted a dolphin swimming just off the shore. He was by himself and swimming closer than I have ever seen one to the beach. For probably 20 mins. we followed him along as he surfaced and swimming back and forth. It was incredible. At first I was concerned for him but after watching him we think he was just feeding on a school of fish. It was a special birthday gift from the Lord to Nicholas that we all enjoyed so much.

Then it was off to Chee Burger, Chee Burger for his Birthday Dinner!

A special day for an incredible young man!