Summertime

What a fun summer we've had! We have been spoiled rotten with 2 beach trips. The first week in June we spent with the Argo side of the family at Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach. The weather was BEAUTIFUL and it was still cool in the mornings and evenings. We quickly found that going to the beach with 2 kids, especially when one is a baby, is quite exhausting. By the time we set up camp in the morning, we needed a nap! Maya loved the water, of course, and enjoyed swimming around in her life jacket. Jonas tolerated it, but it was still a bit cold. He wasn't particularly fond of the waves. He has such fair skin that we had to keep him inside mostly. Maya had a blast playing with Maggie and Julie, Casey's brother's girls, and Casey and Joey had fun making fun of me and throwing the football back and forth. A highlight was the nightly cruise around the campground in the golfcart, where the little girls would hand out of the cart to give high fives to passersby. Maya termed the outing "cruving" instead of cruising, and so we all had to start saying that!

Our second beach trip was 2 weeks later, with the Bailey side of the family. Edisto was our destination this time and we had a full house! We had: Casey, Jennifer, Maya and Jonas; Wes, Jess, and Eva; Karen, Katie and Kasey; Mom and Dad; and Ashley and Todd. Needless to say there was a lot of noise, mostly from the babies. Katie and Kasey did a great job of babysitting and Maya had a blast playing with them. Eva and Jonas tolerated each other and shared the baby toys. We went to Botany Bay, an untouched beach, and the river one night. Those were fun outings! I'll describe more later...

Ugh.

Ok, I think its safe to say that I'm officially the worst blogger ever. I haven't written on this thing since July, and since then we have had another child! That has got to be the worst neglecting of a blog ever. I will try to do better.

Jonas Jackson is now 3 months old now, and he is a joy! He is approaching 12 lbs, which still cracks us up. We can't believe that Casey and I keep having such little peamite children when we are anything but small. He had a rough start with jaundice and a milk intolerance, but after we got him on soy milk he has really been a joy. He is all boy - stinky, sweaty, and tempermental, but I adore him. I especially adore him because I am home with him all day!! We have decided to take the poor plunge so that I can be home with the kids, and I am loving every minute of it.

Will post pics soon!!

Jennifer

Edventure

Wow! If you've never been to the Edventure Kid's Museum in Columbia, SC, you really need to go! What an amazing place. We took Maya today along with our buddy Kurt and his kids, and it was so much fun! Granddaddy came along for the ride too, and thank goodness, because we needed him to keep an eye on 4 kids! We arrived at 11 and stayed until 5, only pausing briefly for a quick lunch at McDonalds. The kids had a blast playing with all sorts of things, from climbing through a gigantic human body, to playing the drums with native Africans, scupting things out of moonsand, shopping in a mini grocery store, exploring a firetruck, etc, etc! We had an amazing time, and the only tears were shed when it was time to go home. I think Casey had as much fun as the kids. I will do my best to post a video of his drumming. What a hoot! It was a long, exhausting day, but so worth it! What fun!

Fun in the Sun!

We are visiting Grandmama and Grandaddy in Columbia and seeing our old buddy Kurt from college, so today we headed out to Fort Jackson to try out the waterpark. What fun! We got there about 11 and headed in, and immediately found the kiddie pool, which we couldn't get Maya out of for the rest of the trip! She had such a blast NOT having to wear swimmies in the 1 ft. deep water, and going down the water slide, and running under the mushroom fountain. She especially enjoyed "swimming" underwater, pulling herself along under water with her face submerged. Too cute! Of course, I didn't bring the camera. Ugh. What was I thinking! She had a great time playing with her buddies, Phoebe, Kylie, and Logan. She was most displeased when she had to get out and dry off to reapply her sunscreen. My child is such a fish. Sadly our trip was cut short when it started to thunder and they made us get out. Try explaining that to a 2 year old. Needless to say, she was screaming until we got to Chick-fil-A and started playing on their playground. What a fun day!

Neglect

Wow, I haven't written since May 24th. That is pitiful. Let me sum up the summer in a few words, since Maya is sitting here with me trying to type on the keyboard. Summer has been wonderful, but way too fast, as usual. In June we painted the outside of our house, with MAJOR help from Mom and Dad. We went to Edisto for a week with Mom and Dad and our cousins, and had a great time. Maya loves the water!! We went to Anderson several times and celebrated Nana's birthday at Nami's, worked in the garden, swam and Joe and Penny's, put up a fountain, rebuilt the trellis, and enjoyed being lazy! We came back and spent the next few weeks getting ready for Vacation Bible School at church, where I had to direct the nightly drama, and Casey had to play Brutus, a Roman soldier. We recovered from that over the weekend, and now we are off to Columbia later today to see our buddy Kurt and the family before school starts. Sheesh. That's just all I could think of at the moment.

We have to go back to school in 2 weeks, and poor poor Maya will be in shock, as she has been with us all summer long. She will be staying with a friend and her 2 kids this year, and Gaby speaks Spanish with her children, so she will be teaching Maya as well. Pray that it goes well! Potty training is still hit or miss a bit, but we are surviving.

She is singing nonstop, and one day I'm going to be able to catch it on video, I promise! Her favorite is Ariel's "Part of your world" complete with all the crescendos. Too cute!

Ok, its naptime and we have to get back on schedule around here! More later, hopefully!

Updates

Well...here goes.  I know, I never have time to write!  Hopefully I will do better this summer.  We went to Disney on Ice a few weekends ago, and Maya loved it.  It was especially great because my whole family went with us, and even my Grandmama.  What an amazing production.  They had Mickey and Minnie mouse, Cars, Little Mermaid, and Lion King, and Tinkerbelle.  Disney definitely goes all out with this show! The Cars characters were especially amazing - they were real cars driving around on the ice!  Maya LOVED it!  She sat for 2 hours and didn't budge, except for the part where they had a loud firework, after which she screamed.  We are so glad Mom decided to get us tickets.  It was so much fun.

We've been staying around the house lately, getting a lot of things fixed.  We had our crawlspace sealed and a dehumidifier installed because of moisture issues, and then we found termites and had to have them exterminated, and we also found out that our bathroom floor was rotten.  Ugh.  Oh well, all the joys of owning a home.  So, we've been staying home working on the house, and just enjoying being together.  

Some funny things Maya has been doing:

1.  She is in LOVE with the Disney Princesses right now, especially Ariel.  Whenever she sees Ariel, she starts singing the part in the movie where Ursula makes Ariel sing to get her voice...Ah ah ahhhhhh, ah ah ahhhhhhh.  It is too funny.  She spins around and holds her hands up and sings, for usually at least 10 minutes.  

2.  She also loves to sing "Bob the Builder, Yes we fix it!  Bob the Builder, Yes we Can!"  Keep in mind she has never seen Bob at our house, but I guess she learned that from school.  

3.  She loves to tell you that she loves you "all the much."  I just can't bring myself to correct her.  It is too cute.

4.  She also has taken to telling me:  "I so proud of you mommy."  What mommy doesn't need to hear that every once in awhile?

5.  She really enjoys getting dressed up nowadays.  Just take a look at this ensemble she put together this morning.

What a mess she is!  But SO cute! Isn't she just growing up so quickly?  She looks so old in those pictures!  We are enjoying her so much, even when she is a stinker.  Potty training is still not going so well, but we will give it a real go when we get out for the summer.  Speaking of summer, only 2 weeks left of school!!!  We are so ready to be done!  We have a beach trip planned in June, but other than that, we are planning on working on our house.  There is certainly A LOT we need to accomplish this summer.

Hope everyone is well...Happy Memorial Day!

Emerald Farms

Traci and Gabby
Our conductor

A bunny!

Lovin' the goats!

Giving kisses!

Wow!

Mommy...a puppy!

Saturday Maya and I went to Emerald Farms here in Greenwood with our buddies Traci and Gabbi. It was HOT! We only stayed about an hour, but we had a lot of fun! The girls loved seeing all of the animals wandering around the farm. They had goats (babies!), bunnies, peacocks, llamas, and chickens. The peacocks were showing off for us, and we got some pretty pictures. They also have a train that carries you around the farm, and Maya loved riding it. It was a lot of fun.

Last weekend we went to Anderson to visit Nana and Papa. Maya was happy to get her "Dora" baby back, since we had left it there when we visited the last time. She thanked Nana profusely for giving it back, like Nana had taken it from her or something. : ) We played with Nana's neighbors, who have 2 girls, ages 3 and 1. We had a bonfire and roasted marshmellows, and played outside all day. Sunday we got to see Casey's cousin, Tommy, who we haven't seen in years, so that was very fun! Maya had a ball running around Uncle Larry and Aunt Shirley's yard and playing with their dog and kitties.

Potty training is still non-existent, but she has been telling us when she needs to be changed, so that is progress.

Next weekend we are headed to Columbia to see Disney on Ice, which she will adore I'm sure. I'll post more pics when I get time. Chau!