Charlotte, NC

Emilia and I took a trip to Charlotte as our only long distance trip this summer. We spent about a week visiting family in Spartanburg, SC and Charlotte. A huge prompt for this voyage was my sister's treck across the country from Texas during the same time. She brought her beautiful family, and it was a joy meeting my new niece, Aliza Joelle. She's just darling, and I loved holding her.

Grandma Carolyn, Mamaw, and Papaw enjoyed reading to Emilia once she coerced them into it.

 Playing with bubbles in the wading pool before Arabel came.

It was so hot (105-107 degrees!) that we waited until the sun was setting before we let Emilia cool off in the pool. She loved it!

 Emilia, Arabel, and Mamaw

 Emilia holding 10 week old Aliza. She did a good job for not being around little babies.

She needed the practice for sure! I captured a little video, too.

 It was great for Arabel and Emilia to play together in the pool...once again, after it cooled slightly when the sun was setting. They thoroughly enjoyed pouring water over each other.

Trips, Harding, Family, Easter Eggs, Spring Sing, and More Family - Part II

After our trip West to the great land of Searcy, Arkansas, we were anxious to see the rest of our family. We agreed to meet Uncle Paul and Aunt Leigh for lunch at Lenny's for some sub sandwiches, then hunt Easter eggs on the front lawn, and finally go to Spring Sing (all before 2 p.m). After all that, we decided to grab some drinks and snacks at Sonic before taking off to Nashville. The kids did a GREAT job, considering all the shuffling around and lack of naps. Emilia was so tired, she slept the entire 5.5 hours all the way home!

Checking out Harding's campus

Lunch at Lenny's!

"It's Ana!"

"It's Tate!"
sorry you can't see Tate in this picture

Everyone. Rachel's sister-in-law and good friend joined us!

Easter Egg Hunt!

Helping find Easter eggs. Please disregard the abundance of eggs behind me.
It was Emilia's first hunt, and she wasn't sure what to do.

Look at all the eggs!

The Harding Bison!

Waving to Harding's Bison!
I was very surprised that she wasn't scared.

Picture Time!

Anymore eggs?

All the siblings with kids...sans Philip and Justin.

Arabel!

Ana and Emilia

Trips, Harding, Family, Easter Eggs, Spring Sing, and More Family!

Phew! Just reading the title can wear you out a bit! Emilia and I (among other family members) did all of that in just over 24 hours!! Crazy?? I think we are! Thus, we are both tremendously exhausted (she went down for bed an hour early without a fight), but it was so worth it!

Rachel and I had a great plan to spend some time together... she flies to Nashville, spends a few days, then we drive to Arkansas (5 1/2 hours away) where Justin can pick up her and Arabel, after we see a singing/dancing production from our Alma Mater. Please keep in mind (as we apparently did not when planning this excursion) that we have two younguns, almost 7 months and 19 months. Paul and LeighAnne caught whiff of our idea, and jumped on board so we could have a fun cousin/sibling playtime. We were all very happy they did!

I can sense a long post, so to keep things to a minimum, I'll give you the highlights and post the pictures (because, as we all know, that is the main reason you look at this blog, right?!?).

The trip down needed some breaking up, so Rach and I decided to have a little Subway picnic at a rest area. The girls loved getting out, breathing "fresh" air (how fresh can it be hundreds of yards from an Interstate laden with cars and exhaust?), and running around. This, of course, was a great time to snap pictures.

 Free from the car! Yay!

Timer pic... the wind was blowing my hair as I RAN to the blanket.

We stayed with Rachel's in-laws Friday night, resting up for a HUGE day of festivities on Saturday! To break up your reading, let's put that in post #2!

iMovie Fun

Tuscaloosa, AL

If you're not into college football, there is nothing special about Tuscaloosa. However, it is exactly half way to my brother's new house in Gulfport. Since Paul and LeighAnne moved from California, we promised to get the cousins together as much as possible. This weekend we made good on our promise.

After arriving Friday night and taking in a good night's sleep, we awoke ready for a day of fun. First on the list is, of course, breakfast! After asking around (once for breakfast tips, several times for directions), we finally made it to the Waysider's Restaurant. If you didn't know where it was, there is no way you could find it. We were probably the only out-of-towners, which we knew made for some really good eats. We weren't wrong! (but maybe that's because we were hungry when we got there and had to wait another HOUR for our food...still a good restaurant, though)

Breakfast, check. Next on the list was the Children's Hands On Museum. The museum was a definite draw for us staying overnight in Tuscaloosa. It's an old building converted to different playhouses: kid-sized post office, hospital, general store, school house, etc. The kids got to run around, play, and touch whatever they wanted! We welcomed the 0-3 play area, too.

What General Store would be complete without a game of Checkers?

We came on a day when the man with the banjo would play and sing songs. The girls loved watching and listening to him.

Ready for school

Tate will be 3 next month!

Girls loved to slide. Multiple slides = fun!

Why use the stairs when you can climb up the slide?

Several hours of museum fun left us with very tired and hungry children. We had to detour to AT&T to fix my broken phone, then went to dinner. It wasn't long before the little tikes were fast asleep in the car. We all left to go home after dinner, excited to get in our own beds, but grateful for the time together. Hopefully, we'll get to meet up again soon.

Charlotte Trip #2

Emilia has only traveled to Charlotte one other time (at the age of 4 1/2 weeks). This time was a **ahem** little different. Since Philip had to work, I made sure to have plenty of bottles and toys on hand to keep the girl occupied for six hours. I wasn't about to prolong the trip, so I am happy to say that she and I made it from door to door in six hours (living in Murfreesboro has its perks).

We enjoyed seeing Mamaw, Papaw, and Aunt Rachel (who was visiting from Texas). Of course, Emilia loved the attention, and everyone else loved seeing how much she had grown. Emilia and I also took a trip to my old school, where I taught before coming to Nashville. Since school had just ended for them, teachers were there tying up loose ends before the summer. It was good seeing old friends!

Mamaw and Emilia

Emilia's very first baby doll. She loved it!

On our way out of town, we stopped in Spartanburg to visit with Papa and Grandma Carolyn for a little bit. It had been two months since she'd seen them.

Cousins Part II

I have a few videos of the first meetings between Tate, Ana, and Emilia. Here's one. Tate was so cute with Emilia and loved playing with her.

Emilia and Ana for the first time. They were so cute and I caught them holding hands.

Tate thought it would be funny to attack Aunt Rachel from behind. Emilia didn't think it was so funny!

Cousin Tate enjoyed saying hello to Emilia. She loved smiling at him!

Uncle Paul, Papaw, and Emilia.

Grandparents, Cousins, Rolling Over... Oh, My!

Our first trip to Aunt Rachel and Uncle Justin's house was fun and exciting. Mom, Dad, Paul, Rachel, and I haven't all been together since Rachel and Justin's wedding. Thus, none of the babies have been together. It was sad that Philip couldn't be with everyone, but next time he'll be sure to come. Tate had fun getting to know Emilia and Ana together - and we all had fun taking turns and playing with the babies. It was also great for Emilia to get to know all her aunts and uncles. Of course, we took tons of pictures!!

Aunt Rachel and Emilia

She was "talking" all weekend!! Loved it!

Papaw and Emilia

Uncle Paul and Emilia

Aunt Leigh, Ana, and Emilia

Uncle Paul and Cousin Tate

Emilia and Ana

Everybody (Philip was there in spirit)!

Okay, so after the day's busy activities, Emilia took it upon herself to roll from back to belly!!

I didn't see it coming, so I only got the after shot.

The First Plane Ride

At 3 1/2 months old, Emilia experienced her first airport and plane ride. She was so precious - looking at everything, taking it all in. She finally got tired, falling asleep while we waited to board.

Emilia was my key to boarding before everyone else. Traveling with an infant definitely has its perks! She watched everyone else go by our seats, charming them with her smile and bright eyes. She did such a good job and didn't cry once!

Sweet Baby

She finally fell asleep - right in time for take off. Lucky me!

She slept until we leveled off, then enjoyed glancing around the cabin, taking in the sights. As we landed, she fell back asleep. A perfect bookend to the trip.