Fun in the sun...

I sure missed my guys!  It is nice to be back into my "normal" routines =)  Colin and I took advantage of the nice weather and headed outside to play. 

 

He had a great time pulling his wagon all over the yard =)
Funny story:  So I had my camera taking Colin's picture, and he is used to me snapping away while he is doing his thing.  When I want him to look at the camera and smile at the same time, I really have to get creative!  When I say, "Colin!  Say 'cheese'" he will say "cheese."  No emotion, and he won't turn to me... So... that doesn't work anymore.  I read somewhere to get kids to say "monkey" and that way it looks like they are smiling while they are saying it.  But that is old now too.  So, I came up with new ways to make him smile at me.  This day I was all in his face with the camera and I was saying something like:  "Hey Colin!  Look at mommy!  Say, baboon!  Baboon!  Can you say it?  Say platypus!  Colin, say platypus!"....
He stopped paying attention to me and was looking towards the road.  When I finally looked up a guy was walking by.  Watching.  And he was almost past our yard.  So... he had heard my craziness as I was snapping away.  Embarrassing. 

Anywho... I got this picture while he was saying "baboon."  So, it is worth a little embarrassment =)

 

And less than a minute later he was finished with the photos.... Here he was saying "nooooooo!"

 

Ha!  Love him so much!

This morning we had a lot of errands, so when we were finished we went to the park to get some energy out!  I got Colin one of those Tervis Tumblers for kids, it has a lid.  And he loves it!  He is still a bit young to have a "real" cup, but when we are outside who cares if he gets a bit wet.

 

I did not realize how hot it was.  When we got to the park, I was soooo hot!  And the slides and everything was too hot to get on too.  So sad.  But Colin still enjoyed climbing!

 

Oh and kicking the mulch.  Looks like he's on a mission!

 

Here he is attempting to climb this thing...

 

Don't worry, he didn't get any higher than that.  His left leg that is up in the picture went right back down.  He just enjoyed being up on that first pole.

We went on a bike ride this afternoon.... we've been going almost everyday.  I am loving riding my bike!  Most of the time we go in the morning, like before 8.  But today we went around 4.  Oh my, it was sooo hot!  So, now I am going to prop my feet up and relax! 

Daddy's weekend...

Garet had a blast with Colin while I was on my girls trip!  I am so thankful that he is such a hands on dad!  And he loves spending time with our son!  I don't think they were at the house much - they were out and about a lot!  When I got home, Garet gave me a project they had been working on.... "Colin and Daddy's Alphabet Weekend!"  It was a book A - Z of their fun activities!  SOOO CUTE!  I won't put every picture on here... that would be a lot =)  but here is what each letter was and a few of the pictures:

All Alone - Colin by himself on a playground equiptment
Bridge - on a walk near our house
Clap - Colin clapping
Dam -

Elephant - randomly they found a [fake] one on the side of the road
Fire truck - look at that smile!

Giraffe - next to the elephant

Hand Dryer & Horseback Riding - in the bathroom, Colin was drying his hands... and at Chucky Cheese, Colin was riding a mechanical horse
I love my dog - Colin with Suzi.... she was licking his face
Jett rider - A ride at Chucky Cheese
Krispy Kreme - I posted this over on Beane A Day... I love this picture!  =)
Lottery - A lottery machine that Colin was standing in front of

Mr. Munch the Monster - Another ride at Chucky Cheese
Nascar - Chucky Cheese ride
On top - They went to Monkey Joes

Pajamas in the Park - This is obvious
Quiet please - Garet was singing in the car.... this is what he saw when he turned around:

Reptile - A play toy at the playground
Sandbox - (this was the same day as "Pajamas in the park")

Train Tracks - There was a kids train that they got a picture in front of
Up early in the morning - awww, poor Garet... he had to wake up so early... I feel so bad for him Ahh, it wasn't me =)

Vessel - They went and sat on a boat
W - a "W" (what we call a walk) with Suzi
XoXoXo - at the playground

Yogurt - Garet is obsessed with those self serve frozen yogurt shops
Zzzzzz - Colin sleeping

Isn't that sooo cute?!  I love my guys!  I am so glad that I can leave without feeling guilty, or worried =)  I had a blast, and they obviously had a blast! 

Girls trip...

I just got back from a girls weekend with my best friend Marsha!  Marsha and I met in kindergarten, and bonded over shoelaces (I tied her shoes since she didn't know how to yet).  We literally grew up together.  We did EVERYTHING together!  In high school people would mistake us for each other - not really because we looked alike (aside from our hair color, I don't think we did look alike), but because we were always together!  We have been through everything together - so it was just a matter of time that we went on a mini vacation together!  We planned this months ago - we both turned 30 this month (her on Aug 9, me on the 17), which means we have been best friends for 25 years!  Our silver anniversary =)

 

We went to Savannah, GA and stayed on Tybee Island.  I left Garet home with Colin and Suzi (more on that in another post...) and headed out!  We got to enjoy the beach, and it was beautiful!

 

 The sun was out, but it wasn't too hot... there was a breeze... and it wasn't too crowded.

We ate some wonderful food!  One morning we went to The Breakfast Club, which was walking distance from our hotel.  It was so good!  I am normally a cereal breakfast girl - but this was so yummy!  There was also a cute place called Fannie's On The Beach that we had dinner at the first night we were there.  It was good food and good atmosphere.  We sat out on the balcony, it was a really nice night!

Saturday we laid out on the beach for half the day, then grabbed lunch, showers, and headed into Savannah!  What a neat town!  The buildings were awesome!  I love old, historical places like that.

 

There were some really neat stores too!  One was called Savannah Bee Company, and surprise, surprise, they sell honey! But different types of honey!  Now, I tasted a few, and can't tell much of a difference... but still a neat store =)  And I had no clue how good honey is for you.  There were lots of local art stores - which I love.  I don't know a thing about art, but I know I like looking at it!  And some neat jewelry stores.  Savannah is on the waterway, and those store fronts were just as awesome!

 

There were trolleys and horse drawn carriages too.  Very neat place!  That night we ate at Paula Deens restaurant: The Lady and Sons.  It was soooo good!  I even tried catfish!  I am NOT a seafood eater, but I have to say it was pretty good.  Here we are at the end of our meal.

It was such a great weekend!  I think we may have to make this an annual thing!  I loved being able to spend time with my girlfriend, and just relax!  She is a vet and works a LOT so both of us really enjoyed just taking our time getting around, without worrying about a schedule!  It was nice to get home and see my guys and Suzi, of course! 

Visiting...

Garet had a conference for the week, so Colin and I traveled on the train to Charlotte!  We got to hang out with my parents - and we had so much fun! 

We got to see some other family and friends too.  One afternoon, my aunt came by with my cousin (? she's my cousins daughter... 2nd cousin?) Maya.  Colin loved Maya!  She got a lot of his big hugs - and he crawled up in her lap for stories.

We spent some time messing up Grandmama and Papaws bed.  Colin just fell into the pillows and then just laid like this...

... waiting for his picture to be taken =)
This sweet scene...

... quickly turned to this...

He was saying "noooo"  (his favorite word now, by the way).  He wanted down.  I wanted a hug. 

Garet drove down with Suzi after his conference and surprised me!  He got there the night before my birthday... so I got to spend my whole birthday with him!  We got some pictures before dinner:

Here is me with Garet...

... and here is what was going on at our feet...

Just keep smiling =)

We got to hang out at a nice park near my parents.  Colin loved the slide!

He made a couple friends there.  And he climbed this chain ladder thing!

It surprised me that he could do it by himself!  Don't worry, my mom was right there to the right.  And I snapped this and then ran over in case he fell.  But he didn't.  And I got a picture of it =)

We always manage to get super dirty when we are outside at Grandmama and Papaw's house.  I just let Colin go.  Why not.  He has so much fun, and we can always change clothes.  This afternoon, however, he was so wet and dirty that we just stripped before we went inside. 

Love that he still has on his shoes =)

I posted over on Beane A Day about how Colin loves his smoothies!  My mom let him throw in the blueberries, strawberries, and the banana.  Then he got to push the button to blend it.

We had such a great time!  It always goes by so fast. 
We decided to travel early Monday morning to get back here.  So, we were home by 8 and had the whole day to play!  While in Charlotte, my mom got Colin a cute little backpack.  Today we went to the library, so Colin carried his books in it.  Here he is looking so grown up!

Thanks for a great week mom and dad!! 

Good bye 20's...

Well, 20's, it's been fun.  There have been good times and bad, laughs and tears, many moves, many new friends, we've been through a lot. 
I met my husband! 

(with G with his friends/roommates)

And I graduated from college:

The day after I turned 22, Garet and I moved to St John, USVI - this was the night of my birthday... we had our HUGE duffle bags packed for our new adventure:

Living the island life was awesome!  We were hoping we would have "perma-tan", didn't we 22?

I married my best friend, we had our perfect wedding outside at Lake Lure, NC

As my 20's rolled on, we made a crazy, but great, decision to move to Alabama, so we said "bye" to our cute little house in Wilmington...

We started going to an awesome church (which we still miss!) and we made some really good friends (which me miss too!)  We really settled in and loved living in Huntsville with sweet Suzi!

During my 20's, God blessed us with a baby!  After struggling with infertility, we were soaking up every bit of the pregnancy!

28 - you were the best year (after the year I met Garet, of course!), this year brought us our sweet angel, Colin!

What a gift from God!

And then I met you, 29.  The last year of my 20's.  We had many good times, and some bad times, but overall everything seemed to work out. 

So, 20's, it was fun while it lasted, but it's time for me to say good bye.  I am moving on.  Can't wait to see what the next year holds for us... be good to me 30!
 =)

What a day...

After our train ride yesterday morning, we got to hang out with my parents for a bit.  It was nice to already be in Charlotte by 10 in the morning!  After Colin had his nap, my aunt and uncle came by, and then my sister in law and niece came!  Since Kailey does hair... and Colin's hair was getting out of control... we decided to have it shaped up. 

I was soooo nervous that all those precious curls would get chopped off!  But I trusted Kailey - and she did awesome!  At almost 2 years old, Colin has now had his first haircut.  Here he is before:

We kept telling him that he was getting a haircut, so he started pulling on it.

We put the cape on, and he immediately wanted it off.  So, I had to hang on to his legs so that he wouldn't try to pull on the cape.  He did awesome!  He sat still and let Kailey do her thing!  (For those interested, I did well too.  I was nervous, but it went really well)

Doesn't he look so excited?!

(and don't worry Kay - I have a baggie of the hair =) )

And here is the after of my sweet boy!

While Kailey was cutting Colin's hair, I was holding the cape on, and my mom was snapping pictures, my dad and Morgan got some bonding time.  Here is Morgan with her Papaw!

After the hair cut, we got to play!  Colin is learning how to share.  He is in a big "NO" phase.  Everything is "no" and "no" can also really mean yes.  So... when Morgan wanted to play with Colin's car, I had to remind him how we share.

And he did well after that.  Here is Colin and Morgan reading together.

 Morgan is so adorable!  She has so much to say now! 

Then my cousins Carla and Robin came, with Robin's daughters: Zoe, Maya, and Ava!  It was so great to see everyone!  Ava got her first haircut too!  She is about 5 months older than Colin... here they are taking turns in the car:

Before dinner, all the kids were playing... it was so fun to have the little ones running around and playing.  They all did really well together. 

I was so tired by the time I went to bed!  What a day!  But we had so much fun!