Tales from the beach

Last weekend we took a long weekend and headed to Myrtle Beach, SC. We usually hit MB every year once the vacation crowds have gone for a weekend of shopping, pool time and a little bit of beach time.

Last year Madeline wasn't too big on the beach. She liked looking at the ocean from a distance, but she wanted no part of the water or sand. This year started off a little shaky, but she did venture out to make some sand castles- as long as the water didn't touch her.


MB is great for shopping. Lots of outlets- and someday I'm sure that Madeline will actually enjoy shopping. Luckily many of the outlets have lakes with fish to feed, toys to ride on and goofy cut outs to pose with.

Out trip ended with a trip to Ripley's Aquarium. Now this Madeline LOVED. She is still talking about the sharks, Nemo and the sea horses. (Note: bad mommy- camera betteries went dead...).



Only one bad thing to report. Our first meal in MB was at the new Mellow Mushroom. YUM-O we thought- something good and familiar. The service was HORRIBLE, the pizza did not meet the usual Mellow Mushroom standard....and Madeline refused to eat the pizza...in fact she was scared of it. Chris would put a piece next to her and she would squeal and say NO. Sorry to disappoint, Sellers!!

Happy Birthday, Uncle John

Kids...they do know everything.

This weekend was the race in California. My brother and our friend Chris went to the race to do what else but drink beer. Madeline knows that Uncle John likes beer. And she knew Uncle John and Mr. Chris were going to the race. Here is proof of how smart a 2 year old can be. They can put 2 & 2 together to make connections between things they know (and proof that they do listen to what you tell them).

Madeline: “Daddy, look at the airplane.”
Daddy: “Where do you think it is going? Tennessee?” (her boyfriend just moved to TN)
M: “No.”
D: “California?”
M: “Yes.”
D: “Who lives in California?”
M: “Meme and PaPaw, Buster, Peanut, Snickers.”
D: “Who else?”
M: “Uncle John and Aunt Sarah.”
D: “And Mr. Chris?”
M: “Yes, he is at the race with Uncle John.”
D: “What do they do at the race?”
M: “Drink beer.”
D: “What else do they drink?”
M: “Tea.”
D: “They drink tea.”
M: “Yes.”

That’s end. End of conversation. Well at least she is optimistic to think that they drink something other than beer (but I’m sure any tea that was consumed had the words “Long Island” in front of it!)

Time for goodbye's

I hate good-byes. I have had my share of them in the past. Good bye to my "BFF's" in high school (whom I lost touch with), good bye to my college roomies (whom I miss very much), good bye to friends and family as I moved across the country.

And now it's time for another. This week we are saying good bye to our dear friends The Sellers, who are setting out for Savannah, TN. But this time is different. This is the first time I've had to say good bye to someone as a family, someone that all of us are close to. It's amazing how you can pray that God will put some friends in your life that will make a difference and that you know right away that you will still be friends with when you are old and rocking on the porch (drinking sweet tea, of course. Just give in, Becca).

But it's even harder this time cause I have had to tell Madeline that her boyfriend "Piton" is moving away......

We miss you already Sellers Family. See you at the inaugural "SG Reunion" in Gatlinburg!!

Kids say the weirdest things....

Kids are hilarious. They say and do the funniest things- and sometimes it's hard to not laugh (when they do/say something they shouldn't).

So here is the latest "Oh My moment."

We are on our way to church Sunday evening when I hear Madeline say, "Look at the butt, Mommy." Strange, I think. I know she can't get out of her car seat, so I am pretty confident that it isn't her butt I am suppose to look at. I turn around to see what she is doing and I had to contain myself before I could even say anything. Look what your daughter is doing I tell Chris. So he too turns around, Madeline says "Look at the butt, Daddy" as he quickly turns back to me and say "Oh my, where did she learn that."

What was she doing?

She had her knee straight out in front of her and she had the skin on her knee folded so it resembled a butt.

Now let me tell you, the adult in me thought that was hilarious, but the Mommy in me hid the laugh. She did her new trick again on the way home from school on Monday (this time she told me that she learned it at school). I very nicely told her that nice little girls don't talk about butts......

Celebrations!

August began with some wonderful celebrations!!!


Chris' b-day was started early in the morning by this greeting......

Does it get any sweeter than that? This was really the first birthday that she really understood what a birthday was. She sang to Chris all week!! The day was capped off with a great steak at Texas Road House with some dear friends!!

We also celebrated Drew & Laurie's wedding!! Thanks to Angela, Aunt Bernie, Uncle Durwood, Samantha and Nonny for watching Madeline so mommy and daddy could go to the wedding as adults!!!

California- hot temps, high gas, one pound burgers and Sweet Tea???

We made our whirlwind trip to Cali to visit the family last week (5 days, 5 airports). This trip was a real test- as I made the flight alone with a 2 year old (wow JT- I admire you and your long flights). Luckily for me, Madeline is fascinated with the airplanes and the hope of seeing the pilot. Although she knows that planes go in the sky, she wasn't too keen on the idea of US going in the sky. So to calm her fears, I assured her that we were going on the new plane that did not go into the sky. Then the landing came, and since we never took off, there was no need to land, right? Each segment ended with her standing in her seat yelling "Good Job, Pilot."

As I have mentioned before, there are a few thing that I do miss about Cali...so of course my trip included a trip to Mervyn's, See's Candy and Me & Ed's pizza. However I was devastated when I got back to NC only to realize that my stash of Linguisa was still in my brother's freezer in Cali.

Here are the highlights of out most recent trip:

High Temps- The thermometer was topping out about 105 while we were there...but hey, it's a DRY HEAT (after living in the dry heat and the humid south, I can safely say that HOT is HOT).

High Gas....the picture says it all.

One Pound Burgers- My parents have a restaurant near the house that they frequent--and so that meant that we became frequent eaters there (in Fresno for 2 1/2 days...we ate there 4 times). Luckily the grub is pretty good and they have a nice variety. My brother and sister-in-law joined us for dinner, and my brother decided to take on the "El Capitan"- a mammoth one pound burger.

Yep- he finished it. He was suppose to get his picture on the wall, but they were having technical difficulties with the camera (or maybe it was operator error).

Sweet Tea- McDonalds here in the south has recently added Mickey D's sweet tea to their menu. No surprise as sweet tea is a staple in the south. Our many airport stopovers included a trip to Pittsburgh, PA. I was really surprised to see Mickey D's sweet tea on the menu(mid- Virginia is about the cut off for sweet tea). This made me wonder...is it possible that the rest of the U.S. is getting to experience the heaven that is SWEET TEA?????

AHHHHH, there it was, in Modesto, CA--my brother surprised me with a Mickey D's sweet tea. So enjoy all of you non-southerners.....



(Side note- My dad said they had a poster in the McDonalds in Fresno advertising the "New Southern Style Chicken Biscuit" --followed by the Spanish translation, of course).


So, Chicken Biscuits and Sweet Tea in Cali-is that enough to entice me to move back? No, I think I enjoy the humidity!!