Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Our Maggie Moo turned six year old yesterday! She started the day early before Daddy left for work with presents including an American Girl locker and desk. 


She celebrated with a doll luncheon at American Girl with Gram complete with an appointment for Rebecca, her doll, to get a new hair-do. Both Maggie and Gram had such a fun morning. I was jealous to miss it!


Maggie also completed her final swim lesson. She has LOVED swimming for the past several months and has really turned a corner in her confidence. She swam the entire length of the pool independently, and her sweet teacher commented how much Maggie has matured in her ability since she started.


For dinner Maggie requested macaroni and cheese on a hot dog bun and Popsicles. The rest of the family also enjoyed hamburgers and okra, but Maggie stuck to her favorites only. 

We are looking forward to more celebration for our girl. Aunt Peach and Maggie will share a little family birthday on Saturday, and Maggie's friend party is the Saturday before school at the park.

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

St. Simons Island with Daddy

This year Gram very generously gave her spot at our annual beach trip to Daddy. Since we have been living with Gram and Grumps all summer during our renovation, we had spent a lot of time with them, and Gram thought it would be fun to get away with just our little family for a week. (It also left Gram with a quiet house!)

We usually only vacation together on our Disney trip each year, so it was SUCH a treat to have a more relaxing time at the beach. Gram supplied us with a condo and a meals/entertainment budget for the week- we could not be more lucky to have her!

We did a wonderful job of balancing activity with complete laziness. The vacation lasted a full week, and each day was perfect.





Some of our favorites memories included our annual trip to the water pack on Jekyll Island. Daddy loves a water park, and this spot is straight out of the 1970s. Tuttle and Maggie could not get enough of the water slides and wave pool. Even Jacob went down one of the big water slides and insisted on doing it again. And again. And again. I did not risk taking my camera, but everyone left happy, exhausted, and ready to devour some food at Southern Soul BBQ.

Another hit was our family day at Jekyll Island that started with bike rides in a fun bike contraption for the whole family. It was a lot of work (mostly for Jay), but we all loved exploring the island and checking out all the beautiful buildings. Our next stop was putt putt golfing, a first for the kids. It quickly turned into a healthy competition between Daddy and me. It was so close across all 18 holes, but Daddy came out victorious in the end. We wrapped up the day with lunch at the harbor. The crab cakes were one of my favorite meals all week.






Jay is 100% a pool person, but he was a good sport visiting the ocean a few times. The kids spent their time building sand castles, searching for crabs, and flying a kite with Daddy. Both times we went the water was at low tide, so we ventured out onto the sand bars. Jacob loved pointing out each and every fish and hermit crab that had gotten traps in the little wade pools. :)





I think we swam at the condo pool almost everyday. Remarkably on the first day Jacob became confident with his Puddle Jumper floatie and spent the rest of the week completely independent in the pool. He loved jumping in and swimming to the ladder. Maggie has also become much stronger in the water. She is sad that swim lessons are coming to an end. 

One of the biggest highlights of the week was Tuttle fishing at the pier with Daddy. They left early one morning to get supplies, and we met them there a few hours later. I had prepared Tuttle that he may not catch anything and not to be disappointed. He caught THREE fish, including one of his very last try. What a fun experience at the beach!




We ate one meal out a day, and I am obsessed with beach outfits, so this was my time to shine. While Maggie and Tuttle would tolerate my pictures, Jacob was usually not interested in participating.







Jay and I both agreed that a beach trip needs to added to our summers from now on. When asked her favorite part of the week, Maggie told us the purchase of her tie dye tshirt complete with a whale jumping toward the moon topped her list. I am still laughing about this highlight. 


A huge THANK YOU to Gram for this amazing gift this year.

Friday, July 13, 2018

Ten Years.

Jay and I celebrated TEN YEARS of marriage on Wednesday. I cannot believe a decade has already passed since our amazing wedding day in Athens.


We made our anniversary extra special by wearing my wedding dress and a tux to dinner. It was a celebration alone that I fit into that dress after ten years and three kids!


Kevin Rathbun Steak did not disappoint. We were a sight strolling through the restaurant in such fancy attire, but everyone was very complimentary about our decision to recreate our wedding day. Champagne arrived at our table immediately and all the food was delicious. Unfortunately my dress prevented me from eating too much! :)


Jay and I have created such a wonderful life in ten years. From our beautiful children to an almost renovated house we are so blessed and are looking forward to many more decades of adventures together.



And a little sneak at my AMAZING floors! Eek!


To keep the festivities going, we are headed to the beach for a week tomorrow. Gram was so generous to gift her annual beach vacation to Jay this summer. We never do a beach vacation as a family because Disney usually exhausts our vacation budget, so this is such a treat! We are hoping Gram and Grumps enjoy a quiet house for a week.


St. Simons Island, here we come!

Thursday, July 5, 2018

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated a perfect July 4th yesterday from start to finish. Our morning began very early with a 5:30am wake up call to get dressed to cheer for Daddy at his 14th Annual Peachtree Road Race. The kids kept themselves busy handing out "free high fives."




Tuttle tolerates my yearly flag picture. I know sooner rather than later he will probably be running the race, but I will still make him stop for this tradition.



Jay had been training in this hot summer sun for the last few weeks to prepare, and he finished with an impressive time. Running comes so naturally to him. Cheering is more natural for me.


Our other favorite July 4th tradition is lunch with the Poole Family after the race. Since the starting time was earlier this year, we opted for breakfast at The Flying Biscuit instead of our normal Taco Mac meal. We were seated in the back room which accommodated our loud bunch. :)


Our afternoon consisted of long naps for Mommy and Jacob and pool time for Daddy and the big kids. It was a win for everyone!

Gram and Grumps treated us to a cookout complete with hotdogs, hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and cupcakes. They better be careful or they may never get rid of us. 

Happy 4th of July!

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Success

We picked up our boy on Friday afternoon from a week at Camp Glisson. He had the BEST time and could not wait to share all his favorite details. He loved Lake Hale, the pool, camping out, and the creek walk. He especially loved the girl counselor, Laura, in his living group. Unfortunately both of his counselors came down with a stomach bug, so Tuttle did not get to say goodbye to them. He was upset, but I suggested he write letters and hopefully they would return next year as counselors.


We celebrated his return with lunch at Dairy Queen, a tradition that started 25 years ago.



After a full day at the pool on Saturday, we joined Gram and Grumps at their church for their Patriotic Sunday Service. Grumps was recognized for his service with the Air Force. Jacob loved clapping for all the veterans, but he did not last through the first prayer before he needed to take his busy britches outside.


There always has to be one. In our case it is usually Jacob.


Gram and Grumps treated us to brunch at a local Marietta spot, Come And Get It.


This evening we had an impromptu decision to teach Maggie to ride without training wheels. It literally took about five minutes before she was zooming down the street completely independently. 


We could not be more proud of our Moo Girl. She already has plans to get up early for a morning ride!