Monday, August 22, 2011

The Beach 2.0

Dear Abigail,
We went to the beach - AGAIN!!! And this time we left Daddy at home and took your BFF with us!!!! It was just what we needed to wind up the summertime. We headed out on a Sunday morning and I must say, and so will Sarah, you did FANTASTIC on the ride down there. You typically do pretty good on car rides (thank goodness since we go so much!!!) but you were really good and we made it down there in no time at all. When we finally saw water you said "Look, a lake!!!" and then you looked on the other side of the bridge and said "Mommy, another lake!!!" That was one of the 200 funny comments you made all week. We finally convinced you that it wasn't the lake, but was the ocean, but all that did was make you super excited to head to the beach. Thankfully your BFF is super awesome and she let me take you down to the beach while she got dinner together that first night. I don't know what I was thinking, taking you down there in clothes cause you rolled around and played all in that sand!!! Member how at the very end of our last beach trip you finally got in the ocean? Well, that was short lived. You didn't want to go near it, which I didn't really mind this go round because the actual water was pretty grotty with lots of seaweed - blah!!! But that didn't stop us from enjoying the actual beach!

We had a pretty sweet system down where we'd wake up, get our bathing suits on, pack a little cooler of drinks and snacks, and head that way - typically by 8:30! And that's including you being quite the good sleeper, pulling some sleepin' till 7:30s!!! As usual, within about 10 minutes of being on the beach, you were ready for a snack, but there were lots of little kiddos around so you had tons of entertainment. You had no problem introducing yourself! Typically you'd start with "What's your name?" but that would eventually lead to you saying "I'm Abby." You were quite the social butterfly and made lots of sand castles and pizzas, oh and birthday cakes!!! You sang and sang and sang to both me and Sarah "Happy Birthday" and we'd blow our pretend birthday cakes out! It was nice because Mommy and Sarah just sat back and read our books while you played. But, all good things must come to and end and eventually (usually by 11) you were ready to head off the beach. It would get hot, so we don't blame you, and so we'd head back to the beach house. Sometimes we'd stop by the pool, if it was a little too early to head in for lunch, and man alive did you love that pool. And man alive were you the life of the party, or rather, pool! While you were a big hit because of your personality, I think a big part of it was your toys we'd bring with us!!! For some reason, no one else would bring toys to the pool, so when we arrived EVERYONE would swarm us - okay, all the kiddos, but still, EVERYONE! Thankfully everyone was super friendly and we were totally fine with sharing. At one point, we even saw 9ish year old boys playing with your teacups and teapot! But they were having coffee, not tea!! You had several friends who'd have tea parties with you, including Ryan (a girl), and then there was Spencer and his crazy family that me and Sarah could never quite figure out. All the adults were super nice and, again, we were able to enjoy our books while you played and played in the pool. Most of the time...

A few times you'd beg and beg for me and/or Sarah to get in the pool with you, and we would. We had LOTS of tea and I'm pretty sure you and Sarah let all the animals out of the zoo cages and let them swim with you. I was getting dinner ready while you two swam a little bit longer but when you came in (and the next day), all you talked about was how you liked the snakes that you let in the pool. I did NOT like the snakes at all. Oh, and you refused to swim. You didn't want to wear your swimmies, but you also didn't want to swim to us. You loved going under water over and over again, but just wouldn't actually swim. You did a good job with staying on the steps, though. And there was an incident where we (okay, fine, I) got sunscreen in your eyes. It was not pretty, and it was the first time it happened all summer long. That pool day was short lived but I will say, you FINALLY took a nap. I, jokingly, of course, told Sarah I was going to start putting sunscreen in your eyes everyday because you did NOT want to nap. Mommy would, but you'd just sit there and play with your toys or watch a movie. But, again, overall, you did good, nap or no nap. There were a few rain episodes included in that week, but we handled that pretty well. One day we went and saw Smurfs at the movie. You were super excited to eat on the big thing of popcorn but then decided you needed to sit on the front row. Mommy had a neck ache by the end of that movie.
We also went to breakfast one morning and you got to pick a doughnut out and man alive, if you didn't pick the biggest doughnut!!!! And you ate most of it too, which I was pretty shocked at. It was a yummy breakfast and we wrapped it up with a little shopping. You especially liked the shopping (ha!) because you got to ride in the back of the car (i.e. no seatbelt) as we moved from shop to shop!
We also took a little trip to Baytown Wharf, Mommy's fave. It was a little warm when we got there, but that didn't stop you and Sarah from riding the carousel...


And we had a little time to kill, so we took Sarah to see the boats. This is where you said "Hey Mom, I want that boat for my birthday", just like it was a princess barbie or something. Yeah, that boat, right behind you and Sarah - that's the one you said you wanted. Good luck with that little girl!


After showing off Baytown Wharf, we headed into the pizza shop. Right about the time we finished our yummy pizza, the rain began. Let me rephrase that, the monsoon began. Yeah, it rained. And rained and rained and rained. We weren't going anywhere anytime soon, so we tried to make the best of our little pizza shop. Please note the 'tried' in that last sentence because it was not easy keeping you happy. You were so ready to go home, telling me constantly and running to the window saying "it stopped raining" but it hadn't - not even lightened up! Finally it let up a little and we decided to just risk it. Well, there was nothing to risk - there was no question we were going to get wet, but it was all good. By the time we got home, we were wet and tired, so what's do you do, put on your jammies and get in bed!!!
We also took an adventure down to the new Harbor Walk. We decided to eat at Harry T's (b/c nothing says Destin like eating at Harry T's!!) and while we THOUGHT you'd enjoy sitting outside, looking at the boats, boy were we wrong. But it wasn't the boats. It was the fact that they sat us right beside Glitter the clown. Yeah, you hate clowns apparently. You did NOT take your eyes off her even though she was making balloon animal after balloon animal for all the other kiddos. Eventually, the manager saw how stressed you were and asked us if we wanted to move inside, so we took her up on that. You relaxed a little but it wasn't until we left that restaurant that you finally chilled out. And what better way to chill out than with ice cream!!! (yes, Mommy's camera was doing something funky, but you get the idea!)

Over all it was a good good week at the beach. You were ready to get home and see Daddy and Kitty (as you told me multiple times on Friday) but the second we got home you asked when we were going to the beach house!!! I think we may start having to do this every year!!! And I think your BFF wouldn't mind it either!!!
Love you beach bum!!!

Weekend Fun

Dear Abigail,
One of these past weekends we actually stayed home but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun! We had a cookout at Uncle Jaybee's with the Clark clan and broke out the water slide!



And of course your Uncle Martin HAD to get in on the fun...


We had a good day, and even took everyone over to see our new house!!! We, of course, had some good eatin' too, and even went back over there the next morning for some yummy breakfast! It was a long overdue family get together!!
And then that Sunday night, we went to a Carnton concert!! Now, this concert will go down as Mommy's all time fave because it was a U2 cover band!!!! And they were pretty impressive too! The whole gang went minus the Grugett boys, but don't worry, you and Ellie had plenty of fun! You even hung out with Mr. Jay...

There you are, dancin' on the cooler again...
and even playin' with some stickers...

We had fun fun fun, and were pretty exhausted (and sweaty) by the time we got home - but all well worth it! We love our Carnton concerts and we love you!!!!

Preschool


Dear Abigail,
Well, you are moving on up in the world and I couldn't be prouder. I probably should be a little sad that time is moving so fast, and I am or at least I want to hold onto that time for just a little bit longer, but I am so excited for you and your new big girl preschool class!
A couple of weeks ago, your EPS class had an 'end of school year' party. We had to tell your teachers goodbye, but not your friends, as most of them moved up with you!


And then, a couple weeks later we officially started Preschool. The biggest change I think is the school uniform! You do NOT like your shirt, and therefore Daddy does NOT like your shirt, and come to find out, I can get you a different shirt that might be a little more comfortable, but man alive, you look ridiculously cute in your little uniform!!!
Here's before school...
And then here's the after!!!!

What are you doing at preschool???! Every day I ask you "What did you do at school?" and you always answer with "Nuphin." Thankfully your teachers, Miss Amber and Miss Whitney, send me a report every day on a few things you do, so I can talk you into telling a few things but none it involves getting this dirty!!!! Whatever it is you are doing, you enjoy it. You used to cling to Daddy's leg when he dropped you off, but now you just take off into the classroom! Overall, I think you are going to love you some preschool, even if you come home filthy every day!!!
Love you big girl!!

The Lake


Dear Abigail,
First off, Holy Cow I am behind on my posting!!! And because of that, these next couple posts will be short and simple. Ha, who am I kidding - I can't make any story short and simple. It's a talent I have.
Second off, Holy Cow have you had a fun month! Let's start with the lake. A couple weekends ago, we met the entire fam at Uncle Jay's parent's lake house, and when I say the entire fam, I mean the entire fam!!! You, Daddy and Mommy, of course, and then Uncle Jay, Ash-ash, and Clara Lee and Jesse, then Mimi & Pic-pic, then Uncle Bubba, Aunt G, John Michael, Em, and Kateland!! We got there on Thursday night and boy was everyone excited to see everyone! But, I think we were more excited about getting on that lake! And so we did, ALL DAY Friday and Saturday. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

So excited to get out on the water!!
Of course, you heard a loud noise (i.e. the boat) and had to cover your ears...
You two girls loved just cruising...
and there was some swinging...
and swimming...
and you did some driving, with a little help from Uncle Bubba...
and lovin' from Daddy
and dancin' on the cooler - yep, you heard me, dancing on the cooler. Which did cause a little problem amongst the 2 of you, but it was short lived and we all continued to enjoy ourselves :)
And then tubing!! Look how happy we are, ready to get on the tube, have some fun...
AND WE DID!!!!
but only for about 2.4 seconds. We weren't going that fast and with Mommy carrying Kate around in her belly I couldn't hold onto you and the tube very well, and well, the tube soon enough took a nose dive and so did we. You didn't care for that, and that was the end of your tubing days, at least for this trip to the lake. That's okay - next year we'll get a better grip on the tube and keep it out of the water! Daddy sure did enjoy it though!!
And you sure had fun watching everyone else tube, or at least most everyone else. Clara Lee wasn't getting near that tube, but John Michael took a spin, with pretty much the same outcome as you!
GIRL POWER COUSINS!
While we made a ton of memories and had such a good time, the one thing I think you will carry with you is Mimi's lost towel. That's right, Mimi lost her favorite pink towel in the lake - apparently it blew off while we were cruising around. You were such a good little granddaughter and looked and looked for that towel for her. You offered your pink towel to her, and reminded us often (okay, more than often) that we had to look for Mimi's towel. Weeks later, you still talk about how Mimi lost her towel on the lake. You make us laugh like no other little girl! Overall, you loved the lake and the boat, and while you loved tubing for only 2.4 seconds, I think you will grow into it! We had such a fun time and I'm very mildly hinting to Aunt Ash-ash that we make it a tradition to visit the Lake House each summer :)
Love you lake girl!!!