Father's Day

"There's two things I know for sure, she was sent here from Heaven and she's daddy's little girl."

I should let Aaron write this post but I'll do my best to share the day. Father's Day started with homemade gifts from Carrington. To continue the tradition, Carrington put her hand prints on a canvas. This year the color scheme was orange and purple (in true Clemson fashion). A homemade card with Mickey Mouse clubhouse stickers was also added to the package.


After we got moving, I made Aaron a grand slam breakfast. Blueberry waffles, eggs, bacon, coffee and his favorite, chocolate milk. Carrington enjoyed every bite too!

Now that everyone had a full stomach, it was time for a bike ride around Greenfield Lake. Home to several alligators that we've seen on our rides. That day they were taking a break from being the biggest attraction.

I didn't take pictures of the rest of the day but I helped mow the lawn (no way would I take a picture of that, it might be used to remind me of how helpful I can be), we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon in the air condition, had an early supper and were in bed by 9pm (7:30pm for Carrington).

Back where I come from...

I feel like the entire post could be a country song. Last week we (my two cousins, Carrington, and Bear Dog) took a trip to Virginia. It was a whirlwind trip that landed us in Roanoke, Christiansburg, Fredricksburg and Richmond in four days time. Country songs that come to mind to describe our trip - Fast Cars and Freedom, Summertime, She Thinks my Tractors Sexy, Christmas in Dixie (just kidding), Country Boys and Girls, Life is a Highway, and some many more.

The first stop was in Roanoke so all us girls could have a nice relaxing pedicure. This should have come at the end of the trip when my feet were very tired but it was nice none the less (sorry, no pictures).

The next stop was my Grandparents house in Christiansburg. We had a delicious country style dinner and then headed outside to enjoy the earth's bounty.

Blueberry pickin'

She ate all her berries, not one made it into the bucket.

Taking in the world from a different view

Trying to be country girls.

Three Stooges!

Takin' a wheelbarrow ride. Yes, that does exist

Summer Living...laid back and chillin'

Next stop...Kings Dominion here we come!!!

Kings Dominion Amusement Park

Welcome to Kings Dominion...let the fun begin!

One little girl didn't get the memo
Came alive and ready to ride!

Look mama, no hands!

She enjoyed making her presence known by ringing the bell

Kelly preferred a bumpier ride

Boat Swing. This one doesn't go upside down.

Carousel Ride

Meme looks like she is holding on for dear life

The cup is much larger in real life and was full of blue icy sugar to keep them going

This was Carrington's melting point

Kelly paying to show off her musclesDid she make it to the top?

We've got a winner!!

Mama and Carrington having a great time!

Tadpoles

Whatcha lookin at?

Meme was green after riding the Intimidator. Katy was all smiles. I wish I had gotten the entire roller coaster in the photo. It's the tallest and fastest roller coaster on the East Coast. It went 305 feet straight in the air and came straight down on the other side. Serious puke machine!

Hooked at the shoulders. They did not leave each others side that day.

Sweet ride. She asked for the Clemson orange car!

Going again...

Off road in the Humvee

Patiently waiting for the little girls

One last ride!

You make me smile...

The girl has been full of herself lately so I thought I would share.

A few weeks ago my family was here. We were all eating dinner and Aaron was telling everyone how he is "Hill-a-beans", I'm "Queen Bean" and Carrington is "Sugarbean". That prompted my mom to say, "if mama ain't happy than nobody is happy". Carrington decided that was the perfect time for her to reply with a "YES", for the first time in her entire life. We were all rolling! My mom said the statement again and Carrington replied, again, with a "YES". We haven't heard her say "yes" since so at least she knows when its crucial to speak up.

Our child has turned into a Monkey. It was once all about climbing on everything (which she still enjoys) but now she has turned to swinging on everything. First it was the back of the lawn chair while I was sitting in it, then it was the edge of the table by holding on and swinging her feet back and forth, tonight it was her swing set, off the edge and over the rock wall.

Her face looks like she taken to participating in amateur boxing. It's been a rough week of keeping her feet on the ground instead of her face. On Monday, she was helping Aaron load bikes into the car. They were taking them off the back porch, and she was standing on the steps. Bear decided he needed to get out of the way and in the process pushed Carrington down the steps, face first. On Tuesday, I wanted to see if she was ready to stand on the step stool and help me cook. The next thing I know, she is going head first over the top. This afternoon, she was running the speed of a cheetah, in the house, and landed face first on her lip (first busted lip), and tonight, she went face first down the rock wall on her swing set. Maybe it's time for one of those head mask thingys that boxers wear.

Shopping at the Walmarts...Carrington, you want to go shopping. She replies by saying "please" and making the sign language motion for "please", and runs straight for the front door. Walking into Walmart tonight I asked her..."would you like to get a toy?" I didn't think she would put two and two together. Boy was I wrong! She looked right at me and said "please, please, please and was signing "please" as fast as she could. I said ok, we can pick out a toy. I honestly thought that would be the end of it. Nope, two seconds later, and the entire ride to the toy section she repeated, "toy, toy". Once we got to the toy section, she pulled at the buggy belt and asked to get out. So what did she get...a Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. Her first Mickey Mouse!!

SWAGGER WAGON

For all you out there with a mini van or if you are considering taking the plunge.

Island Vacation

I truly want to stay on vacation for the rest of my life! Aaron and I went to Hilton Head Island to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. We stopped by his parents for a night before we left to spend the weekend at the Marriott on HHI. We also dropped Carrington off with her grandparents so that we could have time together - go out to dinner, sit by the pool and ocean and not chase after our one year old, and sleep in as late as we wanted (which was never much past 7am)!


We were in the pool within an hour of pulling up to the Sims house. Carrington saw her cousin, Baylor, jump off the diving board one time and immediately she was at his heels ready to jump off behind him. She hasn't mastered jumping far enough out to not hit her head on the board so we had to give her a little push each time. You will see Aaron in the pictures below, as the day progressed she would jump in without anyone in the water to "catch" her. It amazes that to be so young, she is willing to "dive" right in.

Mama and the waterbug

Welcome to the Marriott!

The flowers are gorgeous. However, Aaron and I have decided flowers on the road aren't the best idea. We were dying on the way home yesterday because the flowers bloomed and the pollen got all over us as I was holding them for FOUR HOURS! Our eyes, nose, mouth and throat were burning.

Dinner date at Aqua on our Anniversary. I wore the blue dress on our rehearsal night and got to wear it on our 1st anniversary. I was pregnant our 2nd anniversary and our 3rd anniversary we had an infant so no night out. I hope to wear this dress on our 30th anniversary!

Happy couple at dinner

Dinner date #2!!!

The restaurant was located on the beach.

After two nites away from my little girl, I was ready to have her with us so she could join in on the fun. Aaron drove back to his parents on Saturday morning while I was lazy and stayed in bed reading.

Back in the pool!

The hotel had a blowup slide that went down into a pool. I saw it the day before Carrington got to the hotel and knew she would love it.

Waiting in line, very hard at her age.

Up she went, with a little help from mama

It was hard to get her past the sprinkler. She wanted to sit there and let the water hit her.

Down she goes...

Dada's turn with Carrington

NO FEAR!

She would get to the bottom, clap her hands and say "yeah". She also asked to go back several times so we spent a good half hour at the slide.

Dada's girl

Ordering room service. If she wasn't climbing in and out of the chair, she was picking up the phone to talk.

She also enjoyed the mirror and would walk up to it and say, "baby". In this picture, I was asking her to kiss the baby.

On Saturday evening, we headed to Sea Pines for dinner. The weather looked like the sky would drop out at any minute but the lighting made for some great pictures.

Headed straight for the water!

One lucky mama!

It was fun watching Aaron climb this tree.

She was tired of sitting still

Very daring but it made for some sweet pictures. I begged her to stay still, and Aaron was hiding behind the tree in case she decided not to listen to my instructions.

Boats, Boats, Boats

A boat more her size

She has taken to coloring which makes for a good entertainment resource when we are out to dinner.

Sims FamilyHello Mustard

Hello Ketchup. Did you know this could be used to make calls?

And helloooo spaghetti!

Chocolate ice cream monster face!

On Sunday we took a family bike ride around HHI. Carrington was so relaxed in her bike buggy that she took a morning cat nap. Future cyclist...that sure would make dada happy!

Our island vacation makes me ready for our next vacation to Disney. Although, I know that will be at a completely different speed than sun, and the sand, and a drink in my hand. Bring it on!