Beach Vacation

Hello!!  Despite the unintentional blog break, we're still here!  I have so much to write about, all kinds of things that have been going on this summer, but I thought I'd start at the obvious place...vacation!!  Last week we had an amazing trip down to Orange Beach, Alabama.  When I was a kid we would vacation at Navarre Beach, Florida, and I haven't been back on a 'beach vacation' since those days.  Sure we've spent a day here and there at the beach while visiting friends, but this was a first for us.  A family trip to the beach for a week.  The beach is my happy place so I was beyond ready for this trip.  Sara Kate found out back in June and just about every day she would get so excited and say 'we're going to the beach tomorrow??'  And my standard response was, 'No baby, at the end of July.'  So we made her a calendar and daily she colored a day so she could track when we were going.  All she could talk about was seeing crabs (she talked about that alot for some reason!), play in the sand, and swim, and I don't think our trip disappointed her.  We did see crabs, we did swim, we did play in the sand, and we also went to a little zoo, celebrated Chris' birthday, and even saw dolphins from our balcony!  I'll try not to go overboard with pictures, but Chris captured some great images while we were there so I have quite a bit to share. :-) 

The view from our balcony.

We greased ourselves up pretty good every day and thankfully managed to get very little sunburn (spray sunscreen is amazing!!!).  The top of Sara Kate's head got red the first day because she wouldn't wear her hat and Chris got a little red on his back and lower stomach, but thankfully we ended up with very little red and a good bit of brown! :-)

I didn't get to sit back and relax much, as Sara Kate wanted me in the water with her or in the sand with her, but I sure loved relaxing in a chair with my toes in the sand and an ice cold beer in my hand!

 

One morning Chris had to stay in the room to wait on a call from his principal but he sat on the balcony and snapped some pictures, unbeknownst to me!

Sara Kate loved walking on the beach and sitting in the surf finding shells.  We came back with a huge bag of shells, and I even found a shark tooth in the sand!

Shark tooth

 

She loved playing in the sand with her sand toys.  We attempted to build several castles, but we did a terrible job.  Sand castle building is not my forte. :-)

I'm not sure what she liked more, the sand or the ocean, but we spent ALOT of time in the water.  'Mommy, come swim with me!'  The first couple of days the ocean was really rough and we got knocked over by several waves, but the last 2 days it was so calm and clear and the tide was low so we could swim out quite a ways and just float.  Perfect!

 

Our beach trip was great.  Lots of sun, sand, and swimming, and some wonderful memories made.  We're so thankful to my parents for the opportunity, but we missed my brother and sister in law.  Hopefully we can all join in the fun next summer.

1st Day of Summer!

Slide + Pool = BIG FUN!!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Summer!!

Summer is Here!

We have had lovely weather the last couple months but it seems the tide has turned.  It's been 90 degrees plus this week and all of a sudden it's hot!  Tuesday I had to work outside and it was hot.  And going for a run in that late afternoon heat was NO fun at all!  But summer means water...pools, sprinklers, and eventually the ocean.  Sara Kate seems to be a water baby like I was...she loves it and has no fear.  She's been talking about going swimming for months and I hope to get her enrolled in swim lessons soon.  Chris filled up her pool earlier today and set it in the sun to warm (this isn't the first time but the first time she's been in it on a hot day...she kept saying, 'the water is warm today!').  After dinner she was so excited she could hardly stand it and she went straight in!

She wanted mommy in so mommy went in too.  Thankfully it was warm or mommy would have watched from the sidelines. :-)

We played with the buckets and shovels, she 'swam' around me, we sat 'criss cross apple sauce' and she poured water in my lap, and she squealed with lots of delight.

She practiced blowing bubbles in the water...

And she even put her face in the water.

And what better way to end an evening of pool play than to take a bicycle ride!  Swim suit and all!  What a goofball!

I guess we will welcome summer if we have to, and I know this is just the start of lots and lots of evenings playing outside in the water!

"Bicycle"

A certain little lady in our house had a big day today!!  Aren't we cute in our matching stripes??  Haha.

We tempted fate and got ready to head towards Target around noon...and I say tempted fate because that's awfully close to when Sara Kate goes down for a nap.  But as soon as we pulled out of the neighborhood she said she was sleepy and needed to go to bed.  So we turned around and went home.  After she cried about having to take a nap (which meant she was ready to take a nap) she walked herself right to her room, closed the door, got in her bed, and went to sleep.  So a little after 1:30 we headed back out.  I decided I needed my toes done again so Sara Kate and I had another mommy-daughter trip to get our nails done.  Chris dropped us off and went and did manly stuff at Home Depot and Sara Kate and I "got paint," as she says.  Once again she picked purple and once again she sat in my lap and did pretty good.  And once again, she was so proud of her purple toes and fingers.

 

We headed to Target and had several things to pick up, but while we were there we decided to get Sara Kate a tricycle.  We were planning on getting her one for her 3rd birthday and never did because I kind of changed my mind a bit, but after she pulled out the baby riding toy 2 weeks ago and scooted herself around, it was apparent she needed something!  She didn't really see what we were getting, but she was very excited about picking out her helmet.  She was so proud of it and insisted on wearing it around the store the rest of the time we were at Target.  We laughed so hard but at least she was excited about it!  She waited patiently while daddy built it, wearing her helmet the whole time (it's it cute?!)...

then it was time!

She was so excited to ride her new "bicycle."

She's been on a tricycle before but she always needs some help.  This time was no exception.  She needed some help at first and got a little push from daddy, but she mostly got the pedaling down.

Steering is another story and she doesn't quite have the hang of that!

We spend lots of time outside (it's pretty much Sara Kate's favorite place to be!) so I know she will  have lots of fun on her "bicycle" this summer.

Memorial Weekend

I haven't blogged much lately but life has been busy.  The school year is winding down, the weather is heating up, and Sara Kate is as busy as ever!  We had an uneventful Memorial Weekend with beautiful weather and lots of family time.  I ended up with an extra day off on Friday because Sara Kate's school was closed and she had an eye appointment that morning.  There's lots to say about it but I'll write more about that later.

After we left the eye doctor we went to Chris' school and had lunch with him.  Of course the best picture I had, Sara Kate had her eyes closed!  :-)  But she loved visiting daddy and he took her around the office and showed her off.

The highlight of her day was coming up next...I took her to Berryville to visit her cousins!!  The whole way there she kept saying, "I want to see Hannah."  I kept telling her we were on our way there!  And of course she wouldn't nap because she was too excited.  Jenny had to work but Jason was home with the kids.  Hannah was equally excited to see Sara Kate...I just love those girls together.

Hayden tries so hard to keep up with the girls, even running around the yard in princess high heels, haha!

Hannah said she wanted to go to the river, which is something Jason takes them to do on Fridays.  They go fishing and have fun playing in the water and sand.  Sara Kate had an idea she was 'going swimming' with Hannah, as she found the packed bag that morning before we left home.  And she was beside herself with excitement at the thought!!  They live close to the Kings River so we piled in Jason's truck and headed down there.

Sara Kate went fishing for the first time, thanks to her Uncle Jason, and she loved it.

She kept saying she wanted to catch a fish and she did.  And she was so excited!  And she even touched it and held it, which shocked me!! 

We had a great time in Berryville and we appreciate Jason giving us time to spend with Hannah and Hayden!!  Chris and I had a dinner to go to that night (thanks to Meme for keeping Sara Kate!) and my parents got into town really late.  We went to bed before they got here and I had a dream they didn't get here until morning because dad decided to race a car on the interstate and their car started smoking.  Haha!!

Saturday was a lazy day.  Sara Kate had a fun time playing with Ghee and Poppa.

Once she went down for a nap, mom and I ran a couple of errands, including picking up Sara Kate a new swim suit, and Chris started cooking some yummy ribs for dinner.  After naptime, and as promised, we went and played in the water.  Check out that sassy pose in her new swim suit!

My mom bought this little bug thing that gets attached to the sprinkler and water flies out in all directions.  She was so excited and loved it...

Until water sprayed her in the eye and she was done!  Haha!  And then she wanted in the pool.  So we filled up the pool and she had a blast.  We had a wonderfully delicious dinner with Chris' parents here as well.  Love having our families both together.

Sunday was another lazy day.  To be honest, Sara Kate's nap time being when it is and the fact that she HAS to have a nap or else she's a gigantic pill, kind of put a hamper on us trying to do anything.  But that's the way it is right now so we'll deal with it.  We did get out that afternoon/evening for dinner and some play time.

We made a stop by Cabelas after dinner and Sara Kate loved seeing the fish and all the animals.  And I had fun being a goofball!  I was being a goof and the guy in the fancy gun room was like 'come check this $15,000 gun out.'  Say WHAT?!   He said it could kill an elephant and even had gold and silver on it.  Fancy!  So what did I do?  I continued to be a goofball!!  HA!!  And Sara Kate thought it was so funny.  She kept laughing so hard and saying "Mommy is silly, mommy is silly!"  So I'll pinch my pennies to start saving for my safari, HAHA!!!

 Dad and Chris went to Best Buy after dinner and mom and I took Sara Kate to the play ground.  She even made a little friend there!  We stayed until dark and came home to bath and bedtime. 

Today started out with a bang!  Dad and I went to the Fayetteville trails for a run.  Now I'm used to 3 miles about 3 times a week.  He pushed me and we went for 4.75 miles.  It was my longest distance and longest duration.  Felt good!

Mom and dad left around noon and we're always sad to see them go.  After they left Sara Kate walked from room to room saying, "Where's my Ghee and Poppa?  They not at my house?  Where's my Ghee and Poppa?"  So pitiful.

The rest of our day has included laundry, family time, and a project for Chris, fixing some door knobs in our house that broke...that turned into changing all the doorknobs in our house!  Fun!  And after a long day, a certain 3 year old thought we should fill the pool at 7:30!  So we did.  And she played some more.

Thanks to all the military men and women that serve our country so that we may have the freedoms that we have!  Happy Memorial Day!

Mommy & Sara Kate Day

Chris had to work most of today so Sara Kate and I have had a day of togetherness.  I had to run some errands this morning so we got ready and headed out around 10:30.

She cracked me up with her accessorizing.  She pulled out all the purple necklaces and bracelets that matched her outfit (which she called 'the colors') and insisted on wearing them.  It was cute, plus I was impressed with her matching, so I didn't argue. :-)

The main thing I had to do was run to Sam's to pick up flowers for church tomorrow.  Sam's is a mad house on Saturday so it took a while but Sara Kate was content sitting in the cart and 'eating snacks' (the samples on Saturday's are awesome!).  Then we took them to the church and got them all ready for Mothers Day.  She cracks me up sometimes...she can be such a little ham!

Anyone who knows Sara Kate knows that she is extremely strong willed.  She wants to do things her way and in her own time.  I love her so much but she stresses me out (which makes me feel bad!!)!!  So taking her to run around town, especially by myself, takes alot of will power of my own.  Before we left home this morning, we talked about being a big girl and a good girl and listening to mommy (listening is not always her strong suit).  I told her if she she was good and was a good listener we would do something really special.  That got her.  She was pretty good while we were out so after her nap I followed through, and we did something really special.  We did something we've never done before.  I took her to get her nails painted!!  I get pedicure's in the summer and it was time to start!  I started painting Sara Kate's toenails last summer (she talked about 'pink toes' all the time) so taking her with me to get my toenails done was a big girl thing!  She was so excited.  

She said she wanted purple, I think because she had on purple today.  I thought for sure she would pick pink when we got there but she was set on purple.  And she did so good.  She sat in my lap, soaked her feet with me, waited patiently while the guy did my toes, and sat pretty still while he painted her nails.  I was just going to have him paint her toes but she started talking about her fingernails so he did both.  She was so proud!!

 After getting nails done, I went through Sonic and got her a lemonade...

Then we went and did her favorite thing...we went to the playground!  Another example of her being a ham! :-)

She played for a while before we had to come home to fix dinner.  Chris is home now and they are cuddled on the couch watching 'Tangled' and she looks pretty tired.  We had a busy day!  I said she stresses me out but I do love her to pieces and I love our time together, especially experiencing new things and seeing excitement in her eyes!

Oh and here's her funny quote of the day, said with quite alot of animation: 

"I'm a BIG BIG BIG BIG Super Girl!"

Hope everyone had a good Saturday!