Today Was A Good Day

We went to Cape Girardeau this week to visit Big Daddy & JoJo & all the aunts, uncles, & cousins there and of course, I forgot to take a single picture (sorry guys). On the way home we stopped at Hokie & Faye Faye's house in Martin & I managed to remember my camera for that leg of the trip. I am so glad I did because it was a great visit. Hokie & Faye Faye took Charlotte out back to pick peaches off of their tree. She loved it! It was a beautiful day & we wandered outside afterward looking at Faye Faye's tomatoes, hunting for turtles in the pond, and watching the hummingbirds. I love going to visit Hokie & Faye Faye's - it is simply beautiful there. I love the fact that Charlotte gets to run around on the same land that Matthew spent his summers as a child. Faye Faye told me that they used to have apple trees out back & all the grandchildren would pick the apples with them. It is nice to think that Charlotte got to have the same experience with her great-grandparents that her daddy did so many years ago. I am already looking forward to our next visit!

If You Give a 2 Year Old a Cup of Yogurt....

She will want to put her hand in it just to see "how it feels"....

Then she will want to rub it on her belly....

Then she will need to paint the table with it....

And watch out, she will want to use your camera to take a picture of her "painting"....

Then she will only finish her broccoli if she can dip it in the yogurt....

Then she will have to take a bath!!!!

Summertime

I love summer, and much of the reason is that I love all summer foods. Strawberries, blueberries, cherries, watermelon, Chilton Co peaches, tomatoes, corn, ice cream, I could go on & on! It seems I have passed this love of food onto my baby girl!

Merry-Go-Round

We went to the zoo over the 4th of July holiday & tried out the merry - go - round. Or maybe I should say we survived the merry - go - round. Charlotte said she wanted to ride, but once we got on it was a different story. If you will notice in the pictures, we never actually got on an animal to ride. She rode / clutched me. It was an experience for sure. After we got off & walked away, Charlotte kept saying, "That was fun... do again?"

Beach Trip; Part 2

We left the beach & headed into Fairhope for a few days. Katie came in town with Sam & Lily & we spent the days playing in the backyard with all the cousins. Then the real fun came.... We headed back to the beach with the whole gang - all 18 of us! Charlotte had a great time playing on the beach with all her cousins. She slept hard every night!!

Beach Trip; Part 1

We took a 10 day trip down home last month to visit family & get in some much needed relaxation at the beach. We drove straight to Navarre Beach to spend Father's Day with my Dad. We had a great time with my parents, Ben, and family friends the Goltermans. They all left after the weekend & we spent a few days on the beach alone. We had a great time - lots of playing, lots of eating & drinking, and lots of naps!!! Charlotte took about 2 days to warm up to the ocean, and by the 3rd day she was saying "Ready, Set, Go!" & running arms wide open into the waves. It was an adventure everyday - finding seashells, digging for periwinkles, catching horseshoe-crabs, chasing sand crabs, jumping waves, and building sand castles. It really took me back to my childhood where we practically spent all summer at the beach. It was wonderful to be able to pass all those things on to Charlotte, and I look forward to many more beach vacations in the future.

(kind of) New Toy

Our friends the Merrills gave Charlotte a cool sprinkler for her 1st bday last August, and of course, we just got around to using this summer. Charlotte thinks the dog is very cool as long as it isn't spraying water. Matt & I ran through the sprinkler a few times while she stayed safely on the porch. The dog now is a dry toy in the den!