Beach Trip ~ First Week of July

As always, we had a blast at the beach this year!

(And for those of you who have been fussing at me for updates, this one is a doozie, as usual!) :)

We always love our trip to PCB, but this year, it was an especially-needed break from our move. We moved June 15, and we were at the beach the first week of July, for the 4th.

We visited with the Wilsons and the rest of the crew at Baypoint the first weekend we were there.
Below, Banks, Emarie, Alli Lane, and Boots are ready for Steve to take them on a ride in the golf cart!

We love it when we are able to visit with loved ones! We spent the evening of the Fourth with my Randall relatives. We even watched the fireworks over the pier, even though it was raining ~ so, we all sat in our cars and watched.

Jeremy and Brad love their girls!
Below are Malley ("Moe"), Jeremy, Mimi, Maitland, Brad, and Alli Lane. Boots, on the other hand...


...fell asleep on the drive over, and never woke up! Bless her little heart.

Bathing Beauties

Argh! Frustration! I hate it when Blogger refuses to rotate a picture for me!

We always love to go to Groovin' on the Green at Carillon on Monday night and have a picnic!

We had a ton of fun on the beach, too ~ splashing in the waves, running to the waves, running from the waves.... building sandcastles, napping, picnicking under the tent.... Happy times, with our happy little girls!

We always eat at Boon Docks! 'Gotta get my fried pickles fix, afterall ~ not to mention the delicious seafood and the girls special surprises from Pickles! ;)

Boots' "ready" pose before running full-force into the water

Boots preferred to nap in my arms every day ~ and I wasn't about to complain!

Alli Lane just laid in her chair, closed her eyes, and she was OUT. By the end of the week, she was completely covering her entire body with a towel for her nap. There is NOTHING like a good nap on the beach!

Sweet Sisters

There were a couple of minor temper tantrums thrown in the mix ~ but, what can I say? She's TWO.

Our last picture on the beach for this year. Brad was taking stuff up, and the girls were waking up from sleeping HARD on the beach (no that is not a bruise on Boots' face ~ it's a mark from how she was sleeping, and she isn't even completely awake here). So sad to leave, and already counting down the days til we return next year!

WE ARE IN SAVANNAH!

There are several of you who are fussing at me these days for not updating the blog in the past 6 weeks. :) Well, I promise some posts will be coming soon.

We moved to Savannah on June 15, and we have been super busy ever-since. My Mom kept the girls while we made the Augusta to Savannah transition then came down to help unpack here; Brad's parents kept the girls for a few days while we were getting their things settled in the new house. I wanted their rooms and their playroom in good condition before they got here. THANK YOU to all 3 of you ~ we couldn't have done it without you!!

The very next week, Alli Lane had her orientation week at her new school, Hancock Day School; Boots started her summer MDO programming at First Christian. So yes, we jumped right into "life" as soon as we got here.

Since then, we have had our annual beach trip, I went to Jackson and New Orleans with Emily, Alli Lane has been to two camps (Starlight Pottery and BC Cheer Camp), and Boots continued to go to MDO. Most importantly, on July 19, Brad started working here; his group has 2 units ~ the main one is at Memorial, and the other one is at Candler. We have continued to settle into our new house and surroundings, and we are really enjoying it all. Granted, I still don't have anything hanging on the walls or anything sitting in the bookcases, but that will come. We are loving our new house and our neighborhood; in fact, on our 3rd night here, there was a neighborhood Luau down at the clubhouse, and we had a blast getting to know our neighbors. There has also been a Girls' Night Out, and we have a Redneck Party in August ~ like I said, lots of fun. :) I think Brad's favorite part is being able to head to the pool in the evenings after supper with the girls ~ only about 200 yards away!

So, that's what we have been doing. I promise to post pictures very soon. I have great ones from the beach, and I want to get some of the house on here, as well (after I "fluff" a little bit, though).

Hope you are all well! Keep checking back! ;)

Our Last Weeks in Augusta

It seems that we have been insanely busy these last few weeks. School ended, as did ballet, Wednesday nights at church, and several other school-year things. But other things began ~ summer activities ~ like swimming lessons (with swimming miracle worker Jean Umansky!!), playing and swimming at the water park at the Y, and playing at home A LOT. :)

Alli Lane has been doing a lot of reading to Boots ~ in fact, most of the time, Boots prefers AL to Brad or me!

My girls



SWIMMING LESSONS ~ They both took 2 weeks and are doing a bump-up before we leave. AL took with Jean last summer, too, and it has been wonderful both times!! You can't ask for more than an instructor who is 1:1 with you child and genuinely cares about her ~ who has had so much experience with this that she knows that teaching a child swimming lessons isn't just about swimming, but also about water/pool safety and what to do in alarming or possibly scary situations. Jean is wonderful, and I am not kidding ~ I may just drive back to Augusta for a few days next summer to let her work with the girls again. :) Not to mention, both of my girls adore her and literally beg to go to swimming lessons. Now, I ask you ~ did you ever beg and plead with your mom to take you to swimming lessons as a child? I highly doubt it! :)

Alli's days of ballet with Miss Jessica came to an end. She had a blast again this year ~ and it was a little different, since she was one of the older children in the class. She was definitely in "leader mode" in ballet this year!

Doing a split, of course

With our house on the market, there have been many times I have needed the girls "contained" so I could clean and straighten. This has meant LOTS of movies and coloring and playing in Mommy's bed!!

There has been the occasional tea party, as well. Daddy gets to join in the funwhen he is home! ;)

Wednesday Night programming at church came to an end, and all of the children's choirs did a precious program in May one Sunday night.

I even had a Girls' Night Out ~ dinner at TakoSushi!

Below are, left to right and front row then back row:

Elizabeth Gregg, Lisa Patton

Jen Hughes, me, Amy Tisdale

When we have gone to Savannah this past year (which has been at least once a month for Brad to work and for us to check in on the house), we have stayed with the Lewises most of the time. Other times, we have stayed at the Marriott Courtyard, Room 138. It is almost like home, as well ~ in fact, AL was devastated the last time we were there, when I had to tell her that we don't actually own the room and that other people stay there when we are not there. :) Of course, I try to be very well prepared each time we stay at the hotel, so that the girls are entertained and don't get too bored while we are there. I always have new art projects, activities, and books on-hand!

Brad had to work in Savannah on Mother's Day weekend, but I took the girls to Atlanta. It was a short, but nice, visit.

At Nana and Papa's house

We have spent a lot of time coloring and doing arts and crafts, as usual. Whereas AL really loves the creative crafts, of course, Boots is a step away from being obsessed with coloring! She sits in the blue chair with her tray and colors for hours.... (She is way too busy to do it all at once, but she comes back to it repeatedly throughout the day.)

AL was busy finishing up with her school year; her class made swimsuit coverups with their little handprints as fish!

As we have done every other summer, we have spent a lot of time, already, at the Y. We are really going to miss the Y, even with a great swimming pool just down the street from us in Savannah. The girls love the waterpark there, and in some of these pictures below, Brad was helping them practice what they learned with Mrs. Jean during their swimming lessons. Somehow, the Y didn't make it into my post about our "spots" around Augusta, but it should have!

Although I am not consciously trying to potty train Boots yet, she is beginning to show an interest in using the potty. Sometimes, we get lucky, and she actually goes in the potty. But more often than not, she realizes she needs to go after she has just gone in her diaper. That's okay, though ~ at least she is getting interested, and we can focus on training after we are settled in Savannah. Boots especially loves it when AL reads to her while she is on the potty, which AL loves to do! She feels so important. They are so precious and love each other so much!