"No passy beach"

This year we went to St George Island FL for our summer vacation. This year the crew consisted of my parents, my sister and her family, and us. We rented a house with a private pool that is only 3 doors from the beach (across one street). The kids loved playing in the sand and in the pool - mom preferred the pool to the ocean (much closer to the a/c, no salt water and a lot less sand).





If you like a vacation where you do absolutely nothing, this is the place for you. There are a few souvenir shops and restaurants on the island. Since the closest Walmart was about 2 hours away in Panama City FL we made only one trip there. While in PC, we went to dinner at a place called The Treasure Ship. Although it was very crowded, the wait wasn't so bad because there were things to keep the kids occupied. There were a couple of people doing face/body painting - Daniel got a dolphin on his wrist, Emma had a ladybug on her arm and Rachel & Abigail both had a puppy painted on their arm. There was a pirate making balloon animals, too - Daniel got a parrot, Emma a butterfly, Abigail a puppy and Rachel a turtle bracelet. The stocks made good pictures as well.







The closest major city is Apalachicola FL. This is where we went grocery shopping (our choices were a small IGA store or an even smaller Piggly Wiggly). Apalachicola also has a few good restaurants; as well as more shops and boutiques. We celebrated Abigail's birthday with lunch at the Owl Cafe. That morning Michael and Andrew took Abigail & Rachel out on wave runners.



Darrell, Michael & Andrew were able to play a round of golf a couple of times during the week (the closest of which was about 25 minutes away). Andrew and Michael when surf fishing several times, but I think they only caught a few small fish they didn't think were big enough to keep; as well as a couple of crabs. There was a playground on the island and once Emma found it she wanted to go every day (good therapy for Daniel as well). She always decided that week that she likes ice cream (or ice crame as she says it) and she would ask for it morning, noon, and night.




We did our own little photo shoot with the kids on the beach. Here are a few of the pictures we took. You can find more pictures from this "shoot" and others from our vacation by clicking on our photo gallery on the sidebar.





All in all I think everyone had a good time. Although next year I think we're going back to Gulf Shores - much more to offer in the way of entertainment, eating and shopping.

About the title of this post, for a couple of months before we left we kept telling Emma that she wasn't going to have a passy at the beach. Any time you'd ask her about the beach, she'd say "No passy beach." We had planned to let her have one on the way down (for our own sanity) but once we got to the beach, we were going to try to not let her have it all week. Well, when we left on Saturday morning, we took her straight from her bed and into the car. She had no pacifier in her mouth and we didn't even make sure we had one with us in case of an emergency. She only asked for it a couple of times during the week, but she didn't push the issue. We just told her that she was a big girl and didn't need a passy any more. All seemed well until we got home. We didn't get home until after 11pm Saturday. As soon as Darrell put her in the bed, she said "passy?" Darrell had seen the pacifier on the floor but he was able to get it out of the room without her knowing it was there. Sunday morning, I went in to get her out of bed and she had a pacifier in her mouth (apparently she'd had two with her when she went to bed the night before we left and one had fallen out during the night, but one had stayed in the bed). I got her to leave it in the bed when she got up, then I put it away later. She's only had a pacifier during a nap one time this week. So, it looks like we've finally given up the passy. Our next goal is to try to have her potty trained before Mother's Morning Out starts back in September. I'll keep you posted.

Pool Pics & Emma's "blacelet"

OK, so it's taken awhile to get these pictures, but, as promised, here are a few of the pool pictures from Emma's birthday...



I think Daniel & Rachel are making "water" angels. Emma on the other hand is just watching the reflections in the water.

Also, here's my favorite picture from Emma's birthday. Darrell is putting a bracelet on her that my parents gave to her - she now has her very own "blacelet" as she says it.

Happy Birthday Emma!!

Today is Emma's 2nd birthday! Aunt Linda and cousins Abigail and Rachel came down from South Carolina to help celebrate this weekend. Mom, Linda and I took the kids to the pool for about an hour Saturday afternoon. (I forgot to take my camera in but my mom had hers so I'll attach some pictures later.)



When we asked Emma what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said she wanted to ride the Choo Choo. So, after everyone took a nap, we went to Stone Mountain to ride the Choo Choo Train and eat a picnic supper. Although it was very hot while riding the train, the red faces were from being at the pool during the hottest part of the day. About halfway around the mountain, they stop the train for you watch a short little show. Emma seemed to enjoy the ride & show, while Daniel could take it or leave it. In fact, he almost fell asleep during the ride.




Tom, Camille, Hayden and Sophie were coming down to help Camille's parents get their house packed up and ready to move to Nashville this week. Before going to Lithia Springs, they came to mom's house help us celebrate Emma's birthday with cupcakes, ice cream and presents. I think everyone had a good time (although we didn't get to spend much time with the TN crew, maybe next time).


On Sunday, we had a great lunch at Grammy & Papa's house. Everyone took an afternoon nap (except Abigail). We ended the evening with pizza at Everybody's in Decatur (yum!), then back to Grammy and Papa's for watermelon.

Blissful Summer!?

So, yesterday the kids and I went to the grocery store. I was quickly reminded of why I try not to take both kids to the store by myself. First, Emma always pitches a fit if I don't get a cart with a car on the front for her to ride in. As they were getting in, I told them that if they didn't behave they would have to ride in the seat of the cart instead of the car. Of course, all through the store I continually have to tell them to sit down, stay inside, stop fighting, etc. Did I put them in the seats? Of course not - I didn't really want to listen to the crying. At the checkout, I made the comment that this is why moms don't like summer. The lady behind me chuckled a little and then reminded me that they grow up too fast so enjoy them being little while you can. I know she's right, but sometimes it's hard to think that far ahead.

Later, I took Daniel to the pool for his weekly therapy session and all was going well until . . . the Boys/Girls Club group walked into the pool area with about 40 kids. The noise and number of occupants in the room more than tripled in a matter of 2 minutes. Daniel doesn't like loud noises so he immediately shut down (covered his ears, clung to the therapist, and kept looking around for me). After a couple of minutes, the therapist was able to calm him down enough to be able to finish their session.

When we got home I thought the kids would take a great afternoon nap because neither had had one yet and they were both so tired. I let them play for a few minutes and listened as they went upstairs and into Daniel's room to play. It got so quiet that I thought they had fallen asleep. So, I went upstairs to check on them. Instead of finding a Kodak moment, I found the Crayola kids. Somehow they had gotten into some markers that were on top of the chest of drawers and had proceeded to write on whatever they could find - the walls, door, floor, sheets, their clothes and their bodies! Fortunately they are washable markers so I was able to get most of it off of the walls, door and floor. However, washable doesn't mean that it washes off of them. Today (after two baths) they still have some marks to show for their work.

It's going to be a long, hot summer!!

Emma's 1st Haircut

My parents get a haircut every 4 weeks or so. The kids and I usually take my dad to the salon and my mom meets us there. Daniel actually sat still for his haircut tonight for a change. Emma's hair was getting so long that it was beginning to pull some of the curl out and her bangs were always in her eyes. So tonight we had Kiki give Emma her first haircut - including a shampoo. This picture shows a classic "Sophie face".

And here's the final product. . .

As you can see, she loves her new look ;o) (isn't this the typical look of a woman when she first gets her haircut?)

Memorial Day 2006

My brother & his family came for a visit over the long weekend. I tried to get some pictures of the girls together to see if Emma still looks like Sophie. I don't think she looks as much like her as she used to (maybe it's the curls); although she does still have some "Sophie faces." We didn't have much time to spend with them so we had to take advantage of whatever photo ops we could get.



On Saturday, we decided to take a picnic lunch to Stone Mountain and then we went on a ride there called Ride the Ducks. This is pretty much how Emma looked throughout the ride. Daniel liked it alright except that the Captain had the sound turned up pretty loud and he doesn't like loud noises at all. Once out in the water, Hayden & Sophie both took a turn steering the boat but neither Daniel nor Emma would budge from their seats.

Diva Emma

Hollywood here I come!!

School's Out!!

So, today was the last day of school. Daniel will really miss going to school every day. We've had several people tell us how much of a change they've seen in him. One area he's really done well with is his speech - he has new words all the time. One thing I want to work on with him this summer is his fine motor skills. Next Fall he'll have the same teacher; although the parapro will be a different person (we'll miss Ms. Phyllis).


Yesterday, Emma and I joined Daniel's class for a picnic on the playground (along with a few other parents). We had a great time meeting and playing with Daniel's school friends. Emma was so excited to be able to play on the playground that she didn't eat much lunch. It was soooo hot outside, but it didn't seem to bother the kids. Emma loved blowing bubbles and climbing on the playset. After playing for a while, we went inside, had a snack and watched a video from Field Day. It was fun to be able to see how he acts at school when mom & dad aren't around (although it wasn't any different).

birthdays and graduations

What a party weekend we had - four different parties in two days (one birthday and one graduation party each day). We helped Mason celebrate his 3rd birthday with a day at the Yellow River Game Ranch. As you can see in this picture, Daniel wasn't too crazy about being so close to the baby goats (even though these were on the other side of the fence).



We also helped Kayley (2) and Ally (1) celebrate their birthdays - we also had to tell them goodbye because they are moving to Maryland this week. Daniel & Emma both had a ball at this party - mainly because it was at "their" park.



We have several friends who are graduating from high school this week and we enjoyed sharing in their celebrations this weekend as well. We celebrated with Jimmy and Brandon at Jimmy's house and with Noah and Jason at Noah's house.



Thank you for including us in your parties this weekend! We are so blessed to have you as our friends! We wish each of you God's best!