Jekyll Island

Stephanie and Alex rented a house on Jekyll Island this week and invited us down for Memorial Day Weekend.  Andy wasn't sure if he would be able to get off of work, but last Monday afternoon he called and said that we were going to the beach!  We got down there at around 4 on Saturday and spent the evening at the beach.  Bridget had a blast in the water, but Audrey was a little scared.  She preferred to play on the beach, but Bridget told me "I love the water!" and would let Andy or I carry her out into the waves.  The waves were huge because unfortunately, there was a tropical storm coming.

On Sunday, we only got about 15 minutes of beach time.  The tropical storm was on the way and the sand was whipping our legs.  In this picture, the white lines in the sand is actually sand blowing at us.

We decided to go to the Sea Turtle Center, which is a turtle hospital and rehabilitation center.  Being the turtle lover that I am, I loved it!  Afterwards we walked around the historic district of the island a little before the heavy rains started.  We went back to the house for lunch and then took the 3 bigger kids (Dylan stayed home for a nap) to a campground that was supposed to have alligators.  We saw this one little guy in a pond.

We tried a trip to the playground before dinner, but the wind was insane!

That evening, the power flickered out a couple of times due to the storm.  At one point while the power was out, Audrey, who was getting a little nervous of the weather, exclaimed "This is the worst vacation ever!"  On Monday, we walked around one of the parks and then went to the fishing pier.  We didn't catch anything but we did see some dolphins out in the water.  We had to pack up and leave because the sky was getting black again.  After the next round of rain and wind, Andy, the girls and I had to pack up and head home.  The buildings and such on Jekyll Island are a little old and run down, but there was a ton of wildlife and beautiful trees with Spanish moss hanging from them.  I think we will definitely be back for another getaway!

Even though we were only gone for a couple of nights, Amos really missed his girls.  When I got up on Tuesday morning, I couldn't find him.  When I went to get the girls up, he was curled up at the foot of the bed (he was there again this morning too!).

Here is the link to the rest of the pictures:
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Belated Mother's Day Post

I wanted to share some of my Mother's Day gifts before it gets to be Father's Day!  My weekend stared with Muffins with Mom at daycare.  I had breakfast with the girls and they gave me the gifts that they made at school.  Bridget's class made bookmarks, tye dye tee shirts and cards.  Here is B in her shirt - sorry it is out of focus but she wouldn't stand still!

And here is the inside of my card.  I love how Bridget thinks I like to "play superheros" in my spare time!

One of her teacher's has a photography business on the side and took this cute picture.

Audrey made me a magnet with her picture and also made an All About Mom card.

I was also treated to breakfast in bed on Mother's Day, which was nice.  Audrey brought me up some coffee and then walked in with a little pink plate and said "This isn't for you.  This is mine."  Luckily Daddy had a tray for me! ;)

Pre-K is coming to an end this week and then I suppose Audrey is officially a kindergartner.  We had an end of the year conference with Audrey's teacher and she said that the only thing Audrey really needs to work on for kindergarten is her scissor skills.  She said that Audrey is doing well in class, she catches on to new concepts easily and is eager to participate in class.  She shows good leadership skills and her favorite thing to do is be the teacher's helper.  She said that when they get to choose their own centers, she rarely chooses the art center and really likes the "Community Helper" center.  That is where they have a little play house and get to dress up like various community helpers.  She said that her interests lie mostly with social studies subjects, which surprised me because I thought she would be more into science.  She also said that Audrey is very compassionate with her friends.  One of her best friends mom has been in the hospital for a couple of months and is not doing very well.  She said that Audrey asks her friend every day how her mom is doing.  Audrey also talks about her sister a lot, which is sweet because Bridget's teacher says that B talks about Audrey a lot too!

Last Friday the school had  Pre-K Family Picnic at Fowler Park.  Andy couldn't get away from work but I was able to take a long lunch and spend time with Audrey while she decorated a beach ball, had lunch and ice cream.  I'm so proud of my big girl!

2012 Recital

I've been slack with my blog because I've been trying to get ready for Audrey's recital today.  Her class danced to a song from Tangled and although she did a great job, us Mom's were disappointed that their teacher didn't have their routine drilled into them by now. It was a wee bit chaotic, but like Andy said "They are 5, cut them some slack!"  I recorded it to my phone, which can upload to YouTube, so excuse the quality and shakiness!



Here are the photos:
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Proud Mama

There is a new autistic boy in the after school program at the daycare.  Yesterday, the schools had the day off, which meant that there was also no pre-K, so Audrey hung out with all of the after school kids all day.

When I went to pick her up after work, the after school teacher asked me if Miss Carla (the assistant director) had talked to me yet.  I was thinking "Uh oh, what did Audrey do??"  When I said "No..." she told me that Audrey was SO awesome that day.  First of all, Audrey was her teacher helper all day and was a wonderful help.  Then she said "There is a new boy here that is a little different than the other kids and doesn't interact well with other people.  There weren't a lot of girls here today for Audrey to play with so she took it upon herself to take him under her wing.  She was by his side all day and helped him out.  It was so awesome to watch!"

I have to admit, it made me a little teary eyed that my girl is so sweet and compassionate!  I am so proud that we are obviously doing something right with raising the girls! :)

Miscellaneous

I am so far behind on the blog, so this will mostly be a picture post.  These were taken the weekend before last when we went on an evening walk.  We made it about 4 houses down and then just stopped and let the dogs play with the neighbors dog.  When their sprinkler system went off, the girls couldn't resist.

It was fun until Bridget tripped in the driveway and knocked her forehead.  Luckily, the neighbor has granddaughters and had some colorful bandaids, a pink towel and a lollipop to make things better!

The next day, Andy took the girls to the Chattahoochee park by our old apartment to go hiking and fishing.

Audrey said that Daddy drove them past our apartment and she said "Yeah, you guys had to move from there to make room for the baby."  Never mind that she arrived 3 1/2 years after we moved from the apartment!

I love this picture of Bridget.  She was eating breakfast before daycare and playing on her laptop.  It reminds me of me on the weekend, drinking my coffee and checking my email!

Last Tuesday we noticed that Audrey's loose tooth was barely hanging on.  Andy asked her if he could pull it and she said yes, but she was holding back tears and trying so hard to be brave the whole time.  She was more worried about whether or not it would bleed than about pain.

Bridget was trying to help by holding her mouth open, but surprisingly, it was not helpful!

Since the girls like to fish so much, I figured we should take them somewhere where they could actually catch something.  There is a local place called the Rainbow Ranch that keeps stocked trout ponds.  We ended up keeping Ethan overnight on Saturday so we had a third little fisherman and the kids all had a blast! Papa came along to help out (I invited him so I wouldn't get stuck touching any fish - ha!).  There are so many trout in these ponds, that you pretty much get something on your hook the second it hits the water.  I was waking back to the car to get jackets when Bridget (Papa) threw the first line out and before I even reached the car, I heard them yell "You've got one!"  I had to tell them to reel slowly so I had time to get back with my camera!

I thought Audrey would be grossed out by the fish, but she was not!  When she got her first bite on the line, she started giggling like a maniac.  She was our "netter" who grabbed all of the fish when they came to the side of the pond and picked up the fish to put in the bucket.  She even was trying to pick the dying ones out of the bucket!

Ethan was a little scared of the fish, but he got a little more brave as the day went on.  He enjoyed "feeding" the fish in the bucket.  We went to get some more bait and he had put it all in the bucket with the dying fish!

I am proud to say that the girls ate their catch for dinner!  Here are the rest of the fishing pictures.  It was such a fun day!
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The night before fishing, a took the kids on a short walk to make sure everyone would sleep ok.  Sometimes I can't stand the cuteness!

A little side story: Ethan was wrestling with Amos on Saturday and kept calling him Billy.  We asked his parents if they know a dog named Billy that Ethan was mistaking Amos for, but they do not.  Audrey said "Well, maybe Billy is Amos' nickname?"  So, in addition to being called Roscoe all of the time, Amos was also called Billy this weekend!

More funnies:

Andy: "Audrey, do you have to go potty?"  Audrey: "No, I'm just holding myself so I don't pee on myself."

Audrey: "I told all of my friends that you are my stepmother."  Me: "I'm not..."  Audrey: "I thought you said you were.  Did you used to be a stepmother?  You look like one."

Andy: "Can you put my bowl in the sink?". Audrey: "I am not your maid!"

Easter 2012

We had a fun Easter.  The girls dyed eggs on Saturday night and spent Sunday morning going through their baskets and gorging on candy.  Before Audrey saw her basket, she said "I hope the bunny brought some Lalaloopsies because I collect those."  Luckily, the bunny is aware of this!

When I told the girls that the bunny hid the eggs that we dyed, Audrey said "You and Daddy can go find them." She was too busy playing with her new stuff.  Luckily they had a good time once they started their hunt.  We had the Bryants, Farbotkos and Hoffmans up for dinner.  Andy decided that he wanted to cook the entire meal instead of asking everyone to bring a side like he usually does.  He was in charge of meat and I did the sides - I think it turned out pretty yummy!  Here are the rest of the Easter photos.

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This one is my favorite picture from the day.  Everyone is goofing off.

I've got a lot more pictures and updates that I'll have to work on tomorrow, I just wanted to put up the Easter pictures before the next holiday rolled around.  I will leave you with another funny Audrey-ism.  She was making a mess doing something and I said "Audrey, why are you such a mess??"  Audrey: "I don't know.  That's just the way my brain wants to be."  Can't argue with that!

Catch up post

We have been busy, busy, busy!  Bridget had her 3 year check up a few days ago and is still in the 25th% for weight and 50th% for height.  Daddy took her to to the checkup so I don't have her actual stats.  Based on her growth patterns, they estimated her full grown height at around 5'6", which is my height (Audrey's was estimated at 5'9").

Last weekend, Audrey got to try on her recital costume.  Her class is dancing to songs from Tangled, so they have a purple Rapunzel dress.  Audrey was the first one to try hers on and another mom and I were commenting on how short the dresses were.  Once the other kids put theirs on, it became apparent that it was only short on my tall daughter - the tutu came almost to the other girls knees!

Here is a sneak peak of her leap and pose.  Sorry it's so shaky - little sis was on my lap.

After ballet we had the neighborhood egg hunt.  Bridget had her face painted like a bunny - a very serious bunny.

On Sunday we took the canoe out and paddled around the Chattahoochee near the dam.  Audrey proved herself to be my daughter - she was so excited to go and had fun for the first half hour or so, then the complaining started.  "Don't go over there, the water is too deep."  "Don't get too close to that rock."  "It's really hot, let's start heading to the dock."  "Don't you think we should head to the dock before it gets dark?"  It was about noon, so I think we had plenty of time!  She also sat and ate all of the snacks that I had packed.  By the time Bridget wanted something to eat, we didn't have anything left!

This past week was spring break.  I scheduled the girls dentist appointments for Thursday and took the day off with the intention of doing something fun with them.  We had it all planned to go to the zoo, then Audrey woke up that morning at 1 am and threw up her entire dinner.  She threw up once more before passing out in my bed and then felt fine when she woke up.  We ate breakfast, packed up a bag of snacks and such for the zoo and headed on to our dental appointment.  About 5 minutes from the dentist, Audrey threw up her breakfast all over my car.  Since the dentist is near Grandma and Papa's house, I called them and asked them to get their shower ready for Audrey and I dropped her off there and sped back over to the dentist so at least Bridget would make her appointment.  It was her first time going so they let me go back with her.  The hygienist let her play with all of the instruments and chatted with her about silly stuff - Bridget did great and the dentist said that her teeth were perfect.  We will try again with Audrey next week.

Here are a couple of photos from my phone.  This is what happens when Daddy is in charge.

Where's Amos?

My three girls

On the way home from daycare, Audrey asked me to hand her back some sunglasses and lipstick so she can look like me.  I turned around and it was like looking in a mirror.  ;)