Swim Nazi

In one week Savanna went from being a timid swimmer to a confident one. She feels safe enough to jump off the diving board without someone in the water with her and she has learned to get her arms out of the water when swimming. She is well on her way to a freestyle swim. Janet Fleming, aka Swim Nazi, does a great job of teaching the children to be safe and to help others in the water. That was a perk for me as I didn't realize that she was teaching basic safety as well as swimming. We are so proud of Savanna for learning to swim with Miss Janet! She was so excited to show off all that she had learned too.

Father's Day

This day served double duty as it was the baby party day and the cookout to celebrate Father's Day. Tradition is that we let our fathers do their own thing for their day. All of the children and their fathers were in town so we just extended the party. Hamburgers and hot dogs were on the menu in addition to party leftovers. The next day we celebrated as our immediate family.

Baby party

All in the family...

Sadie is proud of her creation.

Lydia is having a little girl in September and my sister in law, mom, and I held a shower for her in June. My girls decorated little onesies for baby Ava and the guests followed by decorating onesies and burp cloths. It was so fun to see Noah and Alan (Lydia's husband) get in on the decorating. Everyone at our house is anxious to meet her and give her our love.

Girls getaway

The girls and I got away to visit my brother in Asheville for a weekend in June. It was time to get away and we were anxious to see his new house. We had a good time visiting with Forrest and got to see one of Savanna's friends who moved away last year. The girls enjoyed helping with Phoebe and I really enjoyed hanging out with my little brother. Thanks for having us. We cannot wait to come back to visit!

Hotlanta

And it was HOT! We crammed a lot of fun into a long weekend with our Nana, Poppy, and Uncle Forrest. We visited the World of Coca Cola, Zoo Atlanta, and the Georgia Aquarium. Our girls were so excited to see the animals that they were telling everyone they saw about it the week before. We took lots of photos.

Atlanta displayed several dolphins created by local artists around the Centennial Park area. We enjoyed seeing all of the interesting interpretations of these statues. Dolphins are one of the girls' favorite animals.

Zoo Atlanta is home to quite a few animals that we cannot find at the zoo in Asheboro and that was our mission...to check out those we couldn't see at home. Our mission was almost accomplished as we observed orangutans, pandas, kangaroos, and a sloth. We weren't able to see the tiger because she was a week shy of giving birth. Needless to say, she was resting when we were there.

I couldn't decide which picture to put up from the aquarium. We got a lot of great shots of some amazing animals. Everyone, including the adults, could have stayed at the aquarium all night. Lucky for us we were able to stay late and got a surprise behind the scenes tour. Highlights included the beluga whales, whale sharks, and dolphins. The little one was excited to touch the sting rays but her arms weren't quite long enough while our big kid was afraid to touch them.  

The World of Coca Cola was best for the big kids in our group but our girls were troopers and endured a bunch of grown up info to get to the end.....the tasting room. There were some interesting flavors from the European drinks! We attended a wedding at the end of our adventure and it was just as much fun as the city adventures. Thank you Spencer and Julianna for getting us to your wonderful city and hosting us at your fantastic wedding!

Happy Easter

Savanna designed this hat for her Easter hat day at school. We glued Easter grass all around the brim of the hat then placed Easter eggs with dinosaurs hatching out of them all around. There was even a stick with a leaf to represent a tree for the herbivores. Dinosaurs have been our interest this year.

Easter in Lexington is always fun and what a beautiful day to be at church then head to Nana and Poppy's house for lunch, paper airplanes, and time in the creek. The girls have such a good time with John and Uncle Forrest. They will explore anywhere!

Say it isn't so

Our first born is now a preschool graduate! I knew this time would come but it has come way too fast. I am ok with it for the most part because I know that she is excited about going to Kindergarten and will soak up whatever they have to teach her. She is curious about people and things around her. It is still one of those milestones for a mommy that hits you and reminds you that they will not be little and carefree forever. Maybe carefree isn't the appropriate adjective for our Savanna because she does like to be in charge and know what is happening. Perhaps I should describe this point in life as a time when it is all about the little things, when we are going to the park or meeting friends for lunch. We'll get through this transition and prepare ourselves for the next one but in the meantime we are going to enjoy summer! Happy Memorial Day all!

Naptime

Our playful Sadie bug is so busy during the day one might find it hard to believe that she will not take a nap anymore! The first picture shows her asleep on the couch with Savanna watching some afternoon TV. This happened after quite a few days of playing instead of napping. Only a few of my tricks have worked for her and they never last. Ever since we shipped those pacifiers off she has other things to keep her busy at nap, everything but going to sleep. Believe me, we pay for that gap in her day about dinnertime. The balloon picture is a nightime shot of her asleep with a balloon she had received earlier in the day. She also went through a spurt of getting up at night, turning on the light, and playing in her room until she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer. Excitement is a napping 2 year old and though it didn't happen today we have had 2 good days this week. I will take it!

Mom's day

To be honest, I look forward to mother's day and my birthday the most of any holidays besides Christmas. These are the days that I get to have a break from morning duty and cooking dinner to sleep in if I so please. My body is adjusted to mommy time so I don't usually sleep late but I do enjoy casually waking in the morning. I also get breakfast in bed, then head to church, and entertain all of the other wonderful women in our lives in the afternoon. I couldn't think of a better way to spend MY day! My sweet husband got me a waffle iron for mother's day and put it to use with the girls that morning. I got waffles, pink eggs, bacon, strawberries, and sausage for my breakfast treat. The pink eggs were so Sadie and Savanna, not very appetizing, but I love that they want to make things special. Without them there wouldn't be a mother's day for me. I love those sweet little faces!

Charleston

While we were at Kiawah we couldn't resist a day trip to Charleston. We headed to lunch on Shem Creek (our favorite spot) and then to explore the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier. Driving over the bridge from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant was fun for us all and seeing it from the distance was just as cool. The girls enjoyed the aircraft carrier and all the planes on display.
As we were walking through the chapel, which didn't contain much at all, Noah and I were discussing religion in the military and the chapel and whatnot. Savanna had just asked what the altar was used for and the next thing we knew Sadie was knelt down with her prayer hands. What a memorable spontaneous moment!
Then we walked through the submarine. That is definitely not the place for me! It must take a special person to live underwater in tight quarters such as those we toured. We couldn't be in Charleston and not head downtown to see what it had to offer. Most of the attractions were closed but a walk down King Street, dinner at Bubba Gump's, and then playing in the fountain at the waterfront park ended a very long and fun day for us all.

Key-A-Wah

How fortunate we were to be offered a trip to Kiawah island, just south of Charleston. The weather was beautiful minus a couple of rainy days and offered us lots of time to play and explore. There was a lot of wildlife to find and a beach close by. The girls enjoyed the playground. Most people ride bikes on the wonderful bike trails around the island. Noah rode his and Savanna got around on her scooter while Sadie and I walked. Just on the deck of our house we saw beautiful butterflies and several different lizards. Around the island and at the science center we saw alligators, turtles, and snakes. On the beach, there were lots and lots of jellyfish. We had a good time looking for alligators and even saw a deer across the street on our way back from the beach. The girls were such troopers walking and riding all over the place with us as we searched for wildlife and got the lay of the land. We definitely know where to go if we ever get to go back.

Up to the highest height

Savanna had kite day at school in March or April and it was the perfect day to fly a kite. We had tried in the last few years to get one in the air without any success but this was our day. It could have helped that our kite was a little better than the dollar store model.  The girls both gave it a try and were successful in flying it high in the sky. We had so much fun we took it up the street to a big field to fly it some more. We flew a kite at the beach in April and plan to take it with us this summer. I love watching the kites at the beach in the summer. They are so elaborate. We will be there with our ladybug hopefully flying high.