Staycation 2013

One of the benefits of living in a tourist area is that you live where other people vacation!  Yes, we have to deal with more traffic in the summer, but we also get to go to the beach anytime we want and we have beautiful weather.  So we decided to have a "staycation" this year.  And it was a huge success!

We stayed at one of the Marriott properties in Sea Pines and did everything the tourists do.  We rode the trolley to Harbour Town for ice cream.

We visited Lawton Stables and Callie got to go on a pony ride.  I was very impressed with her and she loved it!

We had breakfast at the Harbour Town Cafe (several times).

We played on the Harbour Town playground.

We made numerous trips back and forth to the pool and the beach.

Callie goofed off in the condo with Auntie Em.  It was so wonderful to live in bathing suits for a week!

Lauren, Justin, and Emi were all able to be there at different times throughout the week, which was so much fun!  We did miss Devin (aka Dude) though.  Bryan was able to drive down after work and play with us for the afternoon and evening.  Cade slept better in the pack-n-play in the bathroom than he does at home!  Which made for a very happy baby.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for planning our wonderful staycation!  It was a blast!

Two!

Ready?

Set?

Go!

Ooh! Look at me!

I make funny faces.

And pretty faces.

Love this smile...

High five!

Thanks to Auntie Em for taking great pictures!

Three Months and Sixteen Pounds?!

My little man is going to be a linebacker one day.

Only 3 months old and he already weighs 16 pounds.  

That just means more of him for me to snuggle!

Thanks Auntie Em for taking great pictures.

How cute is he?  Watch out girls!

So serious...

Sticking out his tongue must be one of the things he has already learned from his sister.

So tired.  Can't take any more pictures.

Cade-man, don't grow up too fast!

Two Means Twice As Much Fun

July 20, 2013

Callie turns 2.

And Cade sleeps through the whole party.

Callie had a pool party for her second birthday.  A big thanks to the Reed's for letting us have the birthday party at their house!  Callie literally stayed in the water for almost four hours.  She floats around by herself now and is not afraid to be in the pool by herself.

Aunt LaLa and Callie swam together and had a little chat overlooking the May River.  (I'm pretty sure Lauren staged this picture and asked Emily to take it, but they won't admit to it!)

And then Daddy caught her and decided it was time for some real fun.  Good thing she is not afraid of the water!

The only thing that got her out of the pool was cake - cupcakes to be more exact.

And if cupcakes weren't enough, Mama D brought cake pops.

How many cake pops did she eat?  Who knows.  All I know is that I have about 20 pictures of her eating cupcakes and cake pops.  That's the best part of birthdays, right?

We had practiced blowing out the candles for several days, but when the time, Daddy had to help.  She loved the attention and everyone singing to her, but she wasn't too sure about fire being shoved in her face.  Smart girl!

Callie has become an expert present opener.  This is her new method.  Thankfully no one gives a 2 year old anything breakable.

The kitchen set from Aunt Debbie, Claude, and Hannah has provided hours of entertainment!  I have eaten more grilled cheese sandwiches, oatmeal, and drank more tea than I could ever have thought possible.  And it has taught us so many new words - fork, spoon, bowl, plate, pot, oven mitt...

My parents, Bryan's parents, and us all went in together and got Callie a swing set for the backyard.  We are so busy and have so little time at home, that it took Bryan almost 2 weeks to build it.  But now it is up and she loves it!  She asks to "wing" and "yide" all the time.  (S's are a little tough to say!)

After a big birthday nap, Bryan and I took Callie to play putt-putt.  This was on our summer bucket list and I thought it would be fun.  Of course I should have thought about the fact that we were driving to the island at 6 pm on a Saturday with all of the tourists.  After sitting on the bridge for a while, we finally made it to Pirate's Island.  I was really impressed with how well Callie did!  She actually tried to hit the ball, and she made it through hole 16 before she got tired and decided she was all done.

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

The Days of Summer

Summer has flown by and these two crazy kids have kept me on my toes!

We did get to cross several things off of our summer bucket list in July.  I took Callie to the Beaufort County Library for the first time.  She got a library card and picked out a few books that she was very excited to take home.

I painted Callie's toenails.  And I have decided this is how she is going to learn her colors.  She now knows pink and purple, thanks to nail polish.

Amanda and I took Callie, Cade, and Brantley to the Savannah Mall one morning to ride the carousel.  Callie absolutely loved that, but she was not sure about the train ride.  When they started to pull away and drive, she started crying and Brantley tried to climb out of the window.  So Amanda and I were "those moms" running along side the train trying to calm our children.  Wish someone had that on camera!  It should be interesting to see how she reacts to the different rides at Disney next month!

Callie and I went to the Bluffton Farmer's one Thursday afternoon and shared a freshly squeezed lemonade.  After one sip, she didn't want to share with me anymore!

We spent a lot of time at the beach...

 and the pool...

and the beach a few more times to watch Daddy kiteboard.

On one trip to the beach, Callie decided that she needed to help Bryan with his kiteboard.  He loved it!

The 4th of July was a busy morning and a lazy night.  Callie and Cade both woke up very early that morning, so I took them over to Berkeley Hall to see Bryan at work and watch the Firecracker Race.  Callie had fun seeing all of the runners and she cheered them on.  Then we went to Berkeley Hall with Mom, Dad, Emi, and Alyssa and spent most of the day playing in the pool.  Cade napped on the chair, had lunch, and then went swimming for the first time.  The kids were so exhausted from their early morning and fun time at the pool that they had to go to bed early.  I think this was the first year that Bryan and I did not see fireworks!  Mabye next year.

We did hang around the house a few days.  Cade loves to play in the "octopus".  I remember Callie used to sit and play for hours in that thing, so I'm glad Cade likes it too.

He has also mastered the door jumper.  I think that is his favorite activity!  I just move it around the house - upstairs, in my room, in the pantry - so he can be near us.  He loves the interaction!

He also is getting really good at kicking the ball and playing on his playmat.  He is working on holding his head up, but it is hard!  And he has not even thought about rolling over yet.

Bryan got out bubbles one day and Callie thought it was hilarious!  She didn't really understand why Mom made the bubbles move outside though.  :)

And we still make our weekly trips to Lovin Spoons.  Callie gets excited when we turn at that light.  She knows where we are going and that she is going to get some fro yo!

One random Friday night that we were actually home, we went to the Bluffton Shrimp Festival.  Callie got to climb on a shrimp boat and eat delicious shrimp from the Toomer's restaurant.  Of course, she will eat anything with "dip" right now.  I think it is her new favorite word.  Everything that she eats, she asks for dip.  And she could be asking for ketchup, ranch, hummus, peanut butter, honey mustard - it doesn't matter as long as it is dip!

My babies are growing up too fast!