Our Almost-Pet

Meet Annie! No, not our next daughter, our pet... sort of. For a couple weeks we had spotted a tiny turtle in the water that runs in front of our house. I mentioned to the girls who live with us that I grew up having turtles for pets and loved them. When we got back from Tate the girls had caught her and she was living in a pie dish in my kitchen. Lily Kate and Charlotte loved her right away. They named her Annie and called her Annie Banany. (Well, Charlotte called her Annie Ba-danny). I tried to feed her everything: lettuce, berries, peaches, raw meat, lunch meat, flies, even Triscuits. The only thing she would eat was flies. Hmmm. I considered the likihood of me catching flies for this turtle on a daily basis. It wasn't going to happen. So, after only a week I had to break the news to Kate and Charlotte that Annie Banany was moving back to the front yard to be reunited with her mom. It was short lived and, knowing Parks, maybe the closest thing we'll ever get to having a pet. Thanks for the memories, Annie!

Ballet Camp

This is just a quick shot of Lily Kate before her first day of ballet camp. She is loving it! There is dancing, crafts, little girls playing games - what's not to love.

And here is Charlotte who is not yet going to ballet camp (b/c the youngest group is 3yrs). She insisted (and I really mean insisted) on wearing this yesterday. So, she ran errands with me in her ballet outfit. It was a bit heartbreaking to drop off Lily Kate and have Charlotte ask me (for the 10th time) if she could stay. I had told her she would be able to stay next year when she is older, so when we got to church she said, "Wait, Mom, I got older, I can stay, I can stay" So sweet. Next year, Charlotte!

Little Facelift

Here's just one more reason I love Parks. We saw this ottoman at IKEA last month and I said that I really liked it but I wasn't a fan of the legs, too chaeapy plastic looking. Of course he says, "oh, I can make new legs for it"....

..and he did! I think it looks great! Looks like it goes with the rest of our furniture, but not too matchy-matchy. And who doesn't love an IKEA price tag. I'm a happy customer.

Oh Charlotte...

Wanted to take a minute and document some of the conversations I've had with Charlotte lately.

The other night when we were putting her to bed she told us, "I'm going to growed up now cause I'm getting a baby stister" Well, obviously there's lot's on her mind.

Couple nights later Parks was trying to get her to sleep at the mtn house and she was crying. I heard Parks tell her to suck her thumb, that it would make her feel better. She said, "no, I can't suck my thumb, I'm getting so bigger and I not suck my thumb anymore cause I'm bigger" then she just laid there for about 8 seconds crying and then she put her thumb in. Then Parks said, "it's ok Charlotte, you don't have to grow up just yet" So sweet.

At Tate I was pushing her on the big girl swing and telling her that I was impressed at what a big girl she was. She suddenly looked surprised and thrilled. She threw her hands up and said, "I'm so big! I growed up, I growed up!" All I could say was, "don't forget to hold on to the swing!"

Her little 2yr old mind is just racing. She is incredibly interested in babies. She gets about 2 inches from their faces and says, "we don't touch, we only look with our eyes" and then she usually touches anyway. Her motives are sweet but her methods aren't always so gentle. So, we're working on that..... 7 weeks to go!

Family Trip to Tate

We just got back from our annual family trip to Parks' family's lake house. The house is a large, old stone house. The house is in the mtns so we are always spoiled by cool, dry, sunny days. Our days are very relaxing, we swim, fish, lay on the dock, eat, and read. Not too flashy but very refreshing.

Lily Kate and Lillian (3 1/2yrs) are like 2 peas in a pod, very similar little girls and they get along really well. You can't tell very clearly, but the girls are sand mermaids

This is the newest addition to our family, Patrick & Becca's son, Connor. Isn't he ADORABLE?!

We did a lot of this...

..and this...

This is the tower at the dock. Everyone climbs the ladder and jumps off the top tower. That is, everyone but me! Judging from Lily Kate's reaction I'm thinking she may be in my camp. Charlotte, on the other hand, is talking a lot about growing bigger and braver and jumping herself.

Here's our little daredevil 2 yr old.

Here we are going down to the bridge for an evening swim.

I had to post this series. Completely unprompted, Charlotte asked Becca and me to take some pictures of her. Then she went to town with her poses. It was hilarious. This is "hands-on-the-hips serious"

This is "hands-on-the-hips smiling"

I'm not sure about this lean forward

This is the face she makes a lot when she's being a princess or a ballerina - I guess it's her version of a dramatic smile??

Little bottoms...he he

THIS is the glorious log cabin where Parks lived when I met him and while we dated. This has something to do with all of his guy friends worrying that he would be "tamed" when he moved to Wilmington. It really is a cool place with an amazing view from the deck. Probably not my ideal home, but certainly a lot of sentimental charm :)

And these are just for your enjoyment. The first one may be the first frame-able picture I've gotten of the two girls together. (how will we ever get all three to smile in one picture??). The third one is funny though because of Charlotte's mischievous smile as she is falling on Kate.

NC Mtns with Wonderful Friends!

Get ready for a picture overload! Last weekend we went to the mountains with some great friends - 8 adults and 8 kids, to be exact. We had so much fun, it was so good to stay up late playing games and laughing. I'm already ready to go back.
On our first day we went to Sliding rock. Parks took most of the kids down the rock into the icy water and most of them actually liked it. We concluded that the water didn't feel so bad once your feet got numb, I didn't get any further in than that.

June was happy

Ryan, Parks, & DJ climbed up the rock and into a crazy deep hole. The nervous wives were asking them to come down but they claimed not to hear us over the waterfall...hmmm

Grace (our fabulous hostess!) and her Samuel. I wish I got a picture of him and Charlotte together, they are partners in crime. Almost like siblings, loving to be together and loving to bop each other on the head at every opportunity.

One evening Lily Kate coerced Jacob into doing a show for us. As you can imagine, the "show" didn't have a storyline or make much sense at all, but it was filled with Lily Kate making large, sweeping gestures and curtseying and Jacob turning backward, trying to blend into the fireplace. I love this shot because Jacob's face just says, "get me out of here" and Lily Kate couldn't be happier to have an audience :)

It is hard to say, but I think the highlight of the trip was our pontoon boat ride. We had beautiful weather, time to swim and play on a little island, and some pretty waterfall views. Here's Kate & me,

My silly girls

Shelley & June

Sherry & Jacob

The guys :)

I love this picture because I can still hear little Charlotte's voice saying, "Mommy, I can't reach my fumb" If you know Charlotte, you know she likes to cozy up and suck that thumb and she was giving it a real effort here.

We had a morning at a local park enjoying the weather. Here's Caroline and Lily Kate, one of her biggest fans. And this is our attempt at a group shot of the kids (except for Matthew).


On our last night we stopped off at Bridal Veil Falls. A combination of a light rain and the wind blowing the waterfall got us wet. As you can see, no one minded. Here's Anthony and June (who's quite the dare-devil, by the way) and Parks and Charlotte.