Monkey Business!

I don't know where she learned to do this, but she is fearless!!!

Hilton Head 2009

We went to Hilton Head for a few days and had a BLAST!!! This was the first trip that the three of us have taken alone and not gone to visit anybody. The family time we were able to spend and the memories we made are something that I wouldn't change for anything! I loved every minute of the trip and didn't want to come home! I am looking forward to many more special trips with my wonderful family!!!

We went to the pool everyday. S's favorite thing to do was water the plants with her watering can and watch the turtles in the lagoon.

We also went to the beach everyday! This kid LOVED the beach!!! S is climbing over a huge sandcastle!! Dinner at the Boathouse - Yummy! We also had dinner at The Old Oyster Factory - more good food:)
I thought this was funny! M dressed S for the first time in a bathing suit and she came out with it on backwards! As if that is not funny enough, I did the SAME THING last year the first time I put one on her. Not an easy task dressing a little girl:)

Dancing Fool

S has really gotten into showing off her dancing moves lately! It is so cute to watch her turn her music on and go to town.

In this video, George is helping S with her music selection:)

Weekend Water Fun!

This past weekend we had a lot of fun in the water. On Saturday we went to one of S's friends' 2nd birthday party! What a blast!!! The weather was perfect and the kids had a great time splashing in the water and helping with the present opening:)

This girl loves some bubbles:)

Water fun!!
The Birthday Girl!!!:)

The kiddos - RS had to leave just before this pic.

One of our very sweet neighbors let S have a water table their kids no longer use! It was such a great surprise b/c I had just been on Craigslist looking for one since S had loved one that one of her friends had at a playdate. I got it cleaned up a bit and put it out back on the deck. S LOVED it and it kept her entertained for a long, long time while I actually just sat and watched and M grilled the steak. Only when she got too cold did we come inside! Ahhh.... a toy great for the whole family!

Black Bear

M and some guys he worked with had a surprise visitor at their office today - a black bear!! Keep in mind this is like 1.5 miles from my house! Apparently this is a baby bear and animal control has been trying to catch him for a couple of days. The guys chase this bear for a while through neighbors' yards and across streets. They lost him when he went through some briars, but were able to get this picture of him before he got away!

Ahhh... just another day at work:)

NC Roadtrip - Part 2

Thursday night we headed to Raleigh to visit my cousin Lauren and her husband, my other cousin Kylie and her boyfriend, my aunt and my uncle. Lauren totally treated us like royalty! She made us a wonderful dinner complete with wine and brownie sundaes - YUMMY! We had a great visit that night. However, sleeping didn't go so well and S was awake and ready for action at 4:50AM the next morning. UGGGGG!!!! Oh well, such is life!

The hostess with the mostess, Lauren.

Kylie, my uncle and me.
Me and the entertainment of the evening, I mean S! S playing with the kitty cat.

NC Roadtrip - Part 1

This past week Gigi and I took S to visit her Papa in New Bern, NC. It is quite a drive and S did well all things considered. S kept us very busy and on our toes the entire trip. It is an understatement to say that Papa's house is not babyproofed! I was worn completely out by the time we got back home, but I loved our trip and it was great to see Papa!!

Me, S and Papa

Lovin' some snacks:)

Gigi, S and Papa

Watching the boats at the river.
The playground downtown that S and I visited every morning.

Throwing flowers into the river.Helping Gigi vacuum.Playing on the stairs.

She LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the beach!!!!!

Long Lost Love

Oh, Texas Roadhouse, how we've missed you!!

M and I use to frequent Texas Roadhouse almost every Sunday after church. However, with S's nap schedule, it has been a very, very long time since we've been. Probably a year or more!

But, today that changed and we went after church this afternoon. It wasn't too crowded since a lot of people were travelling for the 4th. It was everything we'd remembered it to be and more!:)

S was totally into posing for pics while we were there. She had one more July 4th outfit that needed to be worn since we didn't get to do all of our planned stuff this weekend so I'm glad she was in a picture-taking mood:)

4th of July

This year things did not go as planned for the 4th. We had so many fun things planned to do and then, wham, S got the stomach bug:( This was the first time I had to deal with a vomiting child and it is most definitely not on my list of top 10 things to do.

Before she got sick, our church had a celebration for the 4th of July with hotdogs, sprinklers and a live band. S really got into the music and loved dancing around the gym where we were all gathered and hamming it up!

After the bug passed, we were able to have an alternate celebration to enjoy some July 4th festivities. We headed up to a state park and cooked out as a family since I really did not want her or us around other people indoors. S had fun playing in the rocks and blowing bubbles. They also have a lake at the park with a huge slide going into it, but we are still a few years away from that I think!

Pool Time

This past week we had 2 pool play dates.

The first one did NOT go very well. I had not bought anything for S as far as flotation because I wanted to get a feel for what her other friends were using and what worked. So, we went to the pool and all I had was what I had for her last year. That did not last very long and all she wanted was for me to put her down and let her be by herself (which I obviously could not do). It was a short playdate for us as S went downhill very quickly when she realized she wasn't going to be allowed to be Miss Independent.

I got some good ideas of what kind of flotation I was going to get S from several different friends and ended up going with this one - Stearns Puddle Jumpers .

It was a much better playdate the second time around. S was happy to be able to "swim" by herself and was jumping off the wall to me in no time at all. I think she is part fish! However, there is a downfall to the no fear attitude coupled with the independent attitude S has. She does not always listen very well and in this case went straight down the stairs and into the pool by herself without me being in it! I watched it happen and she did have her new swimmer on, but nonetheless she was in serious trouble after pulling that little stunt! Oh the joys of raising a strong willed child:)

Downtown Adventures

S and I have ventured downtown a couple of times recently. We usually don't go down that way since it is a bit of a drive and we lose like an hour of playtime in the car. But, we have fun when we do go.

I met some moms at the interactive fountain thing and thought S would have a blast!! Boy was I wrong! It wasn't as though she didn't like it, but she was more interested in pushing her stroller around or being pushed in it by me. So, after a bit of trying to convince her that it was fun to play in the fountains, I finally gathered her up, changed her out of her bathing suit and we headed to the children's garden. I was surprised that this was actually something she enjoyed. Obviously a day of not knowing my child or a day that my child was not being quite herself:) I'm glad she liked the garden and the whole trip wasn't a wash! After playing for a while we headed up and had lunch together and then indulged in my FAVORITE ice cream shop!

We've also been to the zoo. We started out at the playground outside which is awesome b/c it is covered for the most part except for the swings(which is actually where we spend the majority of our time) so it wasn't as hot. Even at 9:15am it was getting hot!! When the zoo opened at 10, we headed in. S really, really had a good time. I let her walk by herself but ended up having to practically drag her away from the giraffes. Since we've been, she "talks" about the giraffes non-stop:) I think it is her favorite animal right now!