Charlestowne Landing

I've lived in Charleston for almost 7 years and I have never been to Charlestowne Landing. I actually had no idea what it was so when Niki called and asked if Charlotte and I wanted to join her family for the day there, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. It was a beautiful day in Charleston... somewhat cool but it ended up being perfect. It was in the high 60's. Charlestowne Landing ended up being a historic site that gives you an idea of how things were "way back when". (I am TOTALLY not into history. I think it's cool BUT it's not something I can pay a ton of attention to.) We mainly went for the sites and to the see the animals that they have in their forest thing.

They had a ship replica in the tidal creek. Charlotte loved it!!!

Niki is super mom. I mean, she really really is. 

The Midgetts. Love this family.

BFFs playing on the ship. They just love each other so much.

It was a pretty long walk to the ship so we hitched a ride back on the tram thingy. Naturally I had brought everything INCLUDING the kitchen sink so it took us like 5 minutes to get loaded, then we rode to the beginning where we started, as we are getting off, I dump an ENTIRE 32 oz cup of water and ice. GEEZ. 

I think Gavin's favorite part of the day was riding the tram.

Charlotte loved it too.

Off to see the animals!!!!!!!!

We only saw maybe 1/4 of the animals. Everyone was sleeping... much like Charlotte and Gavin should have been. So instead of pictures of animals, pictures of people!!!

Charlotte loves them all.

Finally a really good family picture!!

They both love to be carried. Ty was such a trooper. He always had one of these two in his arms.

We really had a perfect day. Despite us being there during Gavin's naptime and the start of Charlotte's naptime, both kiddos were perfect. They love the outside, the animals, the freedom, and loved Ty carrying them. Thank you, friends, for always being worried about us and caring about us. Thank you for including us in your family! It really was a great day.

Momma's Night Out...

One thing that I occasionally miss about life before babies is not having to worry about what to do with a child while I got out to eat for a grown up dinner. However, I DO love having fabulous friends that would love nothing more than to hang out with my child for the night. 

So, Alysia and Lee came over and babysat Charlotte for me on a Thursday night while I went to a long overdue dinner with some friends. They came over at 6 pm and I gave Alysia as many instructions as I could think of. I always get nervous leaving Charlotte with people at night bc I worry she won't go to bed very easy for them. As it turns out, Charlotte did amazing... Max, however, did not. While Alysia and Lee were taking Charlotte for a walk, Max got the door to the garage open and got out. They found out that Max was outside bc Charlotte was standing at the front door about 30 minutes later talking to him through the door. As a storm was rolling in, Lee was chasing the cat all through the yard while Charlotte was crying. Eventually Max came back in through the screened in porch door which they had propped open. The storm scared him. Then, they realized the tv wasn't working... there was sound but no picture. Oh, and Alysia thought there was a bum, alien, or ghost living in our attic. :) It was an exciting 4 hours in the Jackson household but they did amazing. Charlotte (and Max) had a blasty.

I went to Fonduely Yours and tried fondue for the first time. It was amazingly delicious but extremely interesting. I had pictured myself fonduing before and the picture in my head wasn't the same as what I looked like actually doing it. I had no idea that you actually COOK the food. I was nervous when raw meat was placed in front of me!!! However, it was really cool and really fun! :) And did I mention delicious??? :) It was so great to be back together with some of my Trident ladies. I miss them all so very much. Since I haven't worked with them since December of 2011, it was so great to catch up over a long dinner. Everyone looked beautiful and we had a fabulous time. Thanks for coming, friends... sorry I was late... stupid traffic. 

Here is a picture from our night... Check out my sweet figure and the "pit stain" from my deodarant. Perfection. Regardless of how terrible this pic is, this was a perfect night.

Just Another Day in Paradise

Oh how we love our playdates with Niki, Gavin, and Parker. After a busy, stressful week of traveling and what not, Charlotte needed some kid time...time to just play with people her own size. So off to Niki's house we went!!!

Sweet baby Parker is always such a chill man. He just hangs out while the other two run circles around him in the bouncy seat.

After playing for awhile inside and getting every toy they own out of it's place, we decided it was the perfect afternoon for some white trashness in the front yard. As we went outside and opened the garage door, a frog/toad thing was hanging out in the middle of the driveway just begging to be picked up. Niki, being the crazy girly-girl she is, runs right over and picks it up for the kids to hold. I was dry heaving in the background...

Niki tried to get Gavin to hold it. He wasn't wanting to touch it so much.

The look on his face is priceless. Charlotte is thinking, "Hey, what's this guy got?"

Gavin: "That's just foul."

Charlotte: "Move over, bud. I got this. Leave to the girl."

Priceless

Niki wouldn't give up on him holding it. He wouldn't do it... but once she let it go, Gavin kept looking for it.

Time for the sprinkler!!!!!

White trash baby in the yard with just a diaper on.

Gavin could live outside in the sprinkler... it's like his favorite thing.

Best Friends.

She's already bossing him around.

Just to top it all off, they were allowed to eat ice cream sandwiches and hold them all by themselves. Gavin couldn't sit still long enough to eat his thoroughly. He was in and out of the water, running around the yard.

Charlotte on the other hand ate all of her ice cream sandwich...

...and finished Gavin's that he dropped on the cement.

After ice cream sandwich time, they got cleaned up and had a few more minutes of downtime prior to their goodbyes.

Oh how we love our playdates. Oh how we hate that they are moving to Greenville.

To Grandma's House We Go

We got back from seeing Alex in Georgia on the evening of Monday April 2, 2012. We took Tuesday to go grocery shopping, unpack, rest, etc. Wednesday April 4, 2012, we  loaded up and drove the 2 hours to see Grandma and Grandpa Jackson and Great Grandma Mimi in Surfside Beach. I planned the trip so we could drive during nap time. Being that my child still absolutely positively HATES car rides, when I drive by myself, it is much easier to drive during nap time. 

We got to Surfside to Mimi's house right before lunch. Mimi was still at physical therapy and she had no idea we were coming to visit. Grandma and Grandpa Jackson had just told her that she would have some visitors coming to see her that day. She was very happy and excited when she realized who it was. We had a delicious lunch courtesy of Grandma Jackson. It was pizza with a cauliflower crust. She said she had found the recipe on Pintrest (sp?) but had tweaked it to perfection.

After lunch, Charlotte and Grandma and Grandpa Jackson made the trip down to the beach in the gulf cart for a bit. Since I was still completely exhausted from the trip to Georgia and was not feeling well at all (surprise, surprise) I stayed and rested at Mimi's house. They got a ton of pictures of Charlotte down by the water and enjoying the sand. They had a great time and loved spending the afternoon with her.

Once they got back from the beach, it was snack time!!!

I've gotta give my girl credit, she LOVES to share! (everything except oreos that is)

Deep in thought about the grape in her mouth.

She doesn't LOVE sitting on laps anymore, she's way too busy. BUT when there is food involved, Charlotte doesn't mind sitting on someone's lap.

Again, she is great with the sharing.

Charlotte was so very excited that Mimi's neighbors had decorated for Easter. They had eggs hanging from the tree. Naturally she figured there were oreos in all of those as well.

It was a beautiful day! :)

We were so happy to be able to drive up and see them. We started the drive home around 3:15ish. Charlotte slept about halfway home and was restless the other half of the way. I was hoping that trip down to the beach would exhaust and leave me with a very quiet drive home...not so much. But we made it. We were both exhausted that night after having been to Georgia and back and to Myrtle Beach area and back all within a few days.

Thank you for a great day! The food was delicious and Charlotte LOVED all of the attention she got... obviously.

Just A Normal Sunday In Georgia

On April Fool's Day, after we celebrated our Easter morning doing the normal Easter morning activities, we decided to go out and about in Columbus. We wanted to look at a few areas to see where would be a good place for us to set up camp, we wanted to get some food, and we wanted to just spend time together.

After driving around looking at a few places while Charlotte took her morning nap, we went to Cheddar's for lunch. LOVE ME SOME CHEDDAR'S. We used to have one about 20 minutes from my parent's house in Illinois but I haven't eaten there in years. SO, we ate at Cheddar's. The weather was beautiful... sunny and in the 80's... so we sat out on the patio. Charlotte LOVED that.

Reading the menu...trying to figure out what sounds delicious.

She is her mother's daughter. The girl LOVES ketchup. Dip it in ketchup and she will eat it... anything.

My daddy is so funny!! Even when he's trying to wipe my nose.

So serious... in fact, they may be fighting in this picture.

"Who's that?" (She actually says this now. Cracks me up.)

I think Charlotte looks so grown up and pretty in this picture. I love this picture of her.

Cheddar's had a little fountain/pond in the front. Charlotte was looking for "ish" in the "wah-wah".

After lunch, we went shopping for some new shoes for Alex and for some new jammies for Charlotte. Then we drove around some more. We ventured into Phenix City, AL which looked like it might just be the Meth Capital of the World so I told Alex that we will live in Georgia, not Alabama. The reason it's cheaper to live there is obvious. After making it safely back across the Chattahoochee River into Columbus, we enjoyed some ice cream together. It was fabulous.

Then it was back to "the house" where Alex is staying. He lives on Lake Harding so he and Charlotte wanted to play outside by the water.

She wore her new zebra romper...which, in true Walmart fashion, had straps that were too long. it was cute regardless.

She just LOVES playing with her daddy.

The amazing part about the location of this house is that it is on a peninsula on the lake. There is water on three sides of it. This is Alex's boss' front yard. Don't hate.

The girl loves water... any water.

She got in waist deep before Alex could get a good hold on her.

Check her FULL DIAPER

After playing in the water, running around like crazy in the grass, and hearing of neighbors shooting snakes in the water with their shotgun, we went inside the guest house and cleaned up. We got pizza from a place called "The Store" up the road. It's a pizza place/gas station/grocery store/convenience mart. Quite the place. Charlotte was asleep by 8, Alex by 8:15, and me by 9. What a day!!!

The next morning we got up and had breakfast and took our time packing. Charlotte and Alex were enjoying their last morning together for a few weeks.

We loaded up the car and headed to Atlanta. We stopped on the way to eat lunch then headed to the airport. I felt pretty sick all weekend long, so Alex was able to come to the gate with me to help with Charlotte. He hung out with us until the last possible minute. Charlotte and him enjoyed ice cream and walks throughout the airport. What a great weekend we had. It's always hard to say "goodbye". We miss him so much every single day...

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

On April 1, 2012, we were in Georgia visiting Alex so the Easter Bunny decided to come visit Charlotte a week early so that Daddy could be there too. It was so great waking up on "Easter Morning" all together and seeing that the Easter Bunny was able to find us even though we weren't at home this year.

Good Morning!! It's Easter Bunny time!! ...well, after a morning sip of juice.

Charlotte's loot! The Easter Bunny sure loves her. Since we were traveling via airplane to see Alex, we decided to get Charlotte a new Easter basket on our way to Alex's place from the airport. Isn't her new little Easter basket/pail adorable???

"Hey, what's all of this stuff, guys???" (She LOVED that ball!!)

The Easter egg hunt...

Doing an Easter egg hunt in a small one room guest house was perfect for Charlotte since this was her first official egg hunt. For someone older, they would have been bored. But I am glad the Easter Bunny chose to hide the eggs inside.

There were mini oreos inside of half of the eggs and fruit snacks in the other half.

The oreos were a hit... she ended up giving all of the fruit snacks to us.

She is just so adorable when she crouches down.

She really loved the oreos. Charlotte is great about sharing and usually openly shares everything. However, she decided that she does not share oreos. They are for her and her alone. So funny :) She was happy to hand over the fruit snacks though.

Story time with daddy...

She was rocking her first french braid the day before... March 31, 2012... We just left it in for the Easter bunny stuff. How cute is that, though???

After a perfect morning of opening her Easter basket, finding Easter eggs, eating breakfast with mommy and daddy, and reading books, it's time to catch up on what's been happening on Mickey Mouse.

We had a great Easter morning! Love these two. Even though we couldn't be at home, we made the best of our day together...something we always tend to do.

Reunited And It Feels So Good!!

These are actually 2 different pictures but I wanted to put both on here because I love how neither one of them even moved between shots. They were so excited to see each other, they stayed the same for the pictures. SO CUTE.

Charlotte and I flew to Atlanta, GA, on Friday March 30th. Alex met us at the earliest point he could meet us :) He was pacing by the little separators that keep the common folk back from the arriving peeps. (I can't think of a better way to describe it.) But as soon as we saw him, we started trucking towards him, PUSHING people out of our way, knocking down the elderly, kicking small children. No one was going to stand in our way! It brought tears to my eyes. I kept saying, "Look! There's daddy. Look!" Once she saw him, her face just LIT up. She went right to him. Like the last time we saw him, she was quiet for a few minutes and would just look at him wondering if he was real.  Then she started talking... NON STOP.

YAY! Here's to a weekend of fun with the one we love!

Cue the band... "Reunited and it feels so good!!"