Fun Times in Charleston

Sophie at Folly Beach

Sophie's happy-Abbie not so much!

the girls playing in the fountains

Sophie digs in to some chocolate ice cream

On Saturday, we made it to Charleston. It's a LONG road trip and Abbie hardly slept at all. Then, that afternoon, we settled in to stay with some of our friends and Abbie wouldn't settle down and take a nap there either. We decided to head to Folly Beach and she was so tired. She HATED the beach. (It was Abbie's first time at the beach.) Sophie loved it and I kept having to try to console Abbie. It was sunny but a little windy. She didn't appreciate the cold ocean water but didn't mind the sand too much. I think if she hadn't been so tired and could have gotten used to the cold water, she would have been OK. Every few minutes, she would start crying again. Then, after about 45 minutes, I was trying to get Abbie a snack when a big wave came in so that all of our stuff was WET. I told Matt it was time to go. Sophie really enjoyed the beach but NOT Abbie. Maybe her next experience will be better.

Two days later, we took the girls to one of our favorite places-Splash Zone, the water park that we used to visit frequently when we were in Charleston. I wish that we had something comparable to it here. Well, Abbie HATED it too for the first 45 minutes. Then, Matt helped her get used to the water and she was fine with it. It's a great place for little kids with all of the spray play areas, fountains, lazy river, big pools, shallow wading areas, slides, etc. Overall, it was a lot of fun and it didn't rain on us that day.

While in Charleston, we also briefly took the girls downtown, saw some of our old friends and got together, went to one of the parks, took the girls by the Angel Oak Tree, and checked on our house. Overall, we had a good trip. We'll have to go back when the girls are older. There's so much fun stuff to do in Charleston that you just can't fit it all in. On this trip, Abbie visited 2 new states-South Carolina and Georgia. =)

By the way, we are going to put our house in Charleston up for sale. Please pray that it sells.

The Riverbanks Zoo

Abbie & Matt with the flamingoes

Sophie wanted to "take pictures" with her play cell phone as she saw others doing.

the elephants

me & the girls on a lion statue

For Memorial Day weekend, we headed southeast to Charleston, SC so that we could have a fun vacation. We also needed to check on our house that we are currently renting. We left on Friday and spent the night in Columbia, SC. Since we were so close to the zoo and we could get in free with our Nashville Zoo membership, we decided to go to the zoo for a little bit before heading on to Charleston. Sophie's favorite exhibit was the penguins. She enjoyed "snapping pictures" with her play cell phone. This was pretty funny! We also enjoyed seeing the lions, flamingoes, lots of monkeys, a grizzly bear, giraffes, and many other animals. The girls did great riding in a double stroller. We decided that we'll have to remember that for our Disney trip in the fall.

It's Graduation Time!

Sophie & Abbie

our crew after Sophie's preschool graduation

Miss Sandra & Sophie

Well, I know that I am way behind on blogging but it's been a very busy May. With end of the school year things going on, trips we were planning, things going on at church, graduations and birthday parties, it's been a wild but fun May.

My cousin, Summer, graduated from high school in Chapel Hill, TN and we attended the party afterwards. She will be playing basketball for Freed Hardeman University next year. We are really proud of her!! It was a beautiful day outside even though it had been raining so much before that weekend. Abbie got her first sunburn but I don't have pictures to prove it. I felt so bad but she was in and out of the house playing with her cousins and we didn't bring sunscreen since it was super cloudy when we left our house. The girls had a great time jumping on the trampoline with their cousins and playing outside. Yes, Abbie was on the trampoline too with supervision. It's amazing how much that younger child gets to do sometimes that you never would have let your first child do.

Sophie also "graduated" from preschool. She's not really graduating but they have a little ceremony. She'll be back there next year in the same class with the same teacher but she'll go on different days. Each child in her class had told their teacher what he or she wanted to be when they grew up so that was announced as they walked across the front of the auditorium. That part was really cute. There were a lot of boys who want to be superheroes and many of them want to have 2-3 jobs when they grow up like policeman, fireman, and Superman. Sophie however, wants to be a doctor when she grows up. Many of the little girls wanted to be princesses when they grow up. Our immediate family as well as Nana, Uncle Phil and great-aunt Mary Tom were part of Sophie's fan club that day. Sophie was really excited about the graduation and wanted us all to be there. The 3 year old classes sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children" before they went across the auditorium. We love Miss Sandra! She's known me forever and been through lots of highs and lows with our family.

More Party Fun

Mary Frances & Sophie in the jump castle

Mama & Abbie (in Sophie's new princess fold-up chair)

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Anna Kate, Mary Frances, Sophie & Ellie had fun playing together.

After everyone left, Sophie took the mike and had a blast performing her original songs.

our family

Sophie's Cinderella cake

We had a birthday party for Sophie with some of her friends and family about a week after her birthday. We had planned to have it at a park with a picnic shelter but it was a rainy weekend. Our plan B was to have the party at our church in the Family Life Center (gym) and borrow a friend's small jump castle. So, that's what we did. Everything worked out fine. The girls who came had a good time jumping in the jump castle, playing Hullabaloo and some old-fashioned games such as Duck, Duck Goose, Hide & Seek, and Red Light, Green Light. We all enjoyed cake and ice cream and Sophie opened her gifts. After the party was over, Sophie discovered a microphone and started singing. If I had known that it was going to be there, we could have made the girls singing part of our entertainment. =) Sophie was really excited that some of her cousins, friends and other family could be there!

Birthday Fun

Sophie & Brody at Chuck E. Cheese

Sophie & Abbie riding a horse at Chuck E. Cheese's

Sophie with her new bike

Sophie's 4th birthday was last week. As her birthday got closer, she kept thinking of more and more things that she wanted me to do for her birthday (i.e. making special foods, taking her special places, etc). After a while, I finally said, "OK, I don't think I can take anymore special directions right now." She was so excited that we were going to bring cupcakes to her school last Thursday for a little party there. She reminded me about making the cupcakes many times. Then, she really enjoyed helping me make them!! Abbie, my mom and I were all able to go to Sophie's school for the little party. Sophie loved serving the cupcakes to her friends, wearing a special hat, being the line leader and all of the other special privileges you get on your birthday.

On her actual birthday, it was very rainy!! I had thought that we might go to the zoo but there was no way. I ended up taking the girls to the library and then meeting Matt and my parents and Chuck E. Cheese's for lunch. Sophie was very interested in going there. We had lunch and played games. It was the first time that we had been where Abbie was able to ride a few of the rides too. We ran into Brody and his family at the restaurant. He and Sophie were born on the exact same day. We go to church with their family. They were also having a birthday lunch with the grandparents! When we left there, it was pouring down rain so almost everyone got a little wet!

For her birthday, we surprised Sophie with a big girl bike and a few other goodies. I didn't know how she'd like the bike but she wanted to try it out some the next day. It's a little big now but she will grow into it. She also loved the bride and groom Barbies that she got from Nana and Paw-paw. She has received some nice surprises too from other family members. We were busy with wedding showers this weekend for my cousin, Keri, who is getting married soon but we are having a little party for Sophie this coming weekend with some of her "girl" friends and extended family.

Abbie's 15 months old!

Here's a few pictures of Abbie that I just thought were really cute! We went for her 15 month check-up last week. She weighs almost 23 pounds. She is right in the average range for everything right now. We were glad that she had a good check-up! At one year, they were concerned that she was on the small side but not anymore!! All of us girls had a stomach bug that took us almost a week to get over (the week before Sophie's birthday). I waited until we were better to take Abbie for her check-up. Matt missed out on the stomach bug and he was out of town that week. Abbie is a very active toddler who gets into everything. She can look sweet and girly but she also doesn't mind getting dirty. Recently Sophie and I were watering some trees outside. Abbie loves water so she came over to put her hand under the hosepipe. Within minutes, she was pretty much soaked from head to toe and very dirty too. Abbie didn't mind getting dirty and wet one bit! =)