Fun with the Finger's: July 2012

Monday, July 30, 2012

Over the Past Few Days

We have been trying to have as much fun as possible these last few days. Last Thursday I took Cohen to Pump It Up in Athens for open playtime. We met her friend Brooke there and the girls had a ball! Pump It Up has 2 rooms with several bounce houses, slides, and jump castles for everyone to play in. They have open play time for certain ages throughout the week and Thursday morning was one for ages 2-5. The girls loved going down the slides together and climbing through the courses that took them to the slides. I had to go down a couple of the taller slides with Cohen for the first time to show her that she would love it. Obviously she didn't remember going to her friend, Kaden's party back in January where she went down everything alone :) My little oven as usual, has to warm up to most everything. Kate was so good during playtime as well. She sat in her stroller taking it all in, with the help of snacks of course! I got her out the last 10 minutes of play time because I felt so bad that she couldn't play too. I was quickly reminded why its best to leave her strapped in as long as possible. She went everywhere! She wanted to climb up the slides and into the bounce houses so bad. I almost took her down the slide but decided that might just start something worse :) She is so good confined to her seat or stroller but once she has a little freedom you better be ready to chase her and keep a good eye on her!

Cohen & Brooke

Coming down the slide

Friday Cohen was so excited to find she had gotten a letter in the mail. She was more excited to find out it was from Aunt Sara talking about the upcoming school year. I am still not excited about school starting back. I hate thinking about this being Cohen's last year before she starts Kindergarten. She is so excited to go back to school. She really misses her friends and asks me almost every day who all is going to be in her class. I'm not going to be teaching this year because I want to focus on spending more time with her and her class before she starts "big" school. After I had read Cohen her letter, she told me that she wanted to write a letter back to Aunt Sara...this is what she wrote:
"Dear Aunt Sara,
Thank you for my letter. It was so "cooled". Now, I hope you have fun at school. I love you Aunt Sara."
I just know she is going to have a great year!

Saturday Kelly and I decided to take the girls to Stone Mountain to watch the laser show. We had to go to Alpharetta to pick up a table at Pier 1 for our porch so we thought this would be a great time to go. We had originally wanted to go to the Braves game but decided to go another time because it probably wouldn't work taking Kate since the game started so close to her bed time. Maybe we can go sometime soon. Stone Mountain was very hot and crowded as we suspected it would be. The girls really had fun though. Kate sat in my lap and just watched the entire show without a peep. We had a bottle for her just in case and that was all she needed. She jumped a couple of times when the fireworks went off or when the crowd would cheer real loud at something but other than that she was as good as gold as usual. Cohen was really excited until she saw them start to get the lasers lined up on the mountain before the show started. That must have triggered a memory or something in her and she all of the sudden looked at us and asked if they were going to shoot fireworks. She then laid down on our blanket and begged to go home. We tried talking to her but it didn't work and after getting frustrated we chose to ignore it. When the show started we decided to let her see for herself that there would be more lasers than fireworks. I think she ended up watching most all of it but she did keep her hands over her ears the entire time. We were talking about it in the car and she said several funny things that I want to write down to remember. We were talking about the differences in lasers and fireworks and she said, "oh, so lasers are the things that they put up on the Jesus wall." We both started to laugh and I asked her what she meant by the Jesus wall, and she said, "well I saw soldiers on the wall so that is what I call a Jesus wall."
On Sunday morning she woke up talking about the "Blazer" Show. She also told Suzy today that at Stone Mountain, you can see the "flying buses" going to the top of the mountain. I'm sure she is referring to the cable cars. She is so funny and it is amazing at how observant she is on things. A lot of it you don't realize until days after it has happened! She can always make me laugh.
This is a picture I took while she was still having fun...before she realized that there would be fireworks.

Sunday, I had a fun afternoon with some girl time. LeAnne and I went to a jewelry party together. We did have Cohen and Baylor with us. They always play so good together and having Cohen isn't bad because I don't have to chase her around worrying about what she may be getting into. When I told Kelly where I was going she begged to go with me saying, "Mama, can I please go with you, you know how much I love jewelry parties." Not that she has ever been to one :)
When I got back, Kelly wanted us to take the girls to play in the water at the park. Cohen was all about playing in a "creek". She had so much fun climbing on the rocks and seeing how far they could get down the creek. Kate enjoyed it too even though Kelly had to carry her most of the time. She did have fun splashing in the water. Kelly and I had fun trying out our new water shoes. We wanted to test them out for our upcoming trip to Costa Rica!
After the park we went to eat at my mama's house which was delicious! It was a great way to end the weekend.

Our pretty view to the left

Pretty view to the right

Climbing over the rocks

You can see how deep it was for little Kate

Cohen was trying to show Kate how she could go down low then come up...Kate is so interested as you can see

showing me her funny hair

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Happy Birthday Cade!

This past weekend we celebrated Cade's 5th birthday! Cade is my best friend's little boy and he and Cohen have been friends since they were very little. We were very excited about his party. Each year we look forward to Cade's slip-n-slide party! I can't believe he is now 5 years old and will be headed off to school this fall. His birthday party was a spiderman theme and you could tell from his birthday gifts that everyone was more than happy to give him spiderman toys! He was so excited opening each one. I had fun taking pictures of him :) Cohen had so much fun playing in the water. She and Kaylyn, Cade's cousin, are going to be in school together this year and they have become quick friends the 2 times they have been around each other this summer. That continued at the party where they would climb the slip-n-slide and say they were climbing up the "castle". Kate enjoyed the party too, especially the cupcakes! She would take a bite, walk off, but not get far before she had turned around and was headed back for another bite. She had icing everywhere, it was even in her nose!

Coming back for more cupcake

Watching Cade open his presents

climbing the "castle"

Another thing Kate really liked at the party was Cade's little brother Nolan! We had just had a play date with both boys but this reaction was priceless! Nolan had not been up from a nap very long and Kate saw him and just went crazy. She would laugh and reach for him and love on him. With each grab and hug she got more and more aggressive and wanted to love on him that much more. Poor Nolan was a great sport with her but I'm pretty sure he was probably thinking, "get this girl off of me!".

loving on Nolan

Big Kiss!

Going after him again!

One last kiss

After the presents, the kids had fun with silly string, then it was back to more water play.

Kate on the other hand decided she would play with...a toy gun,

Cade's new bike...

and a baseball bat and ball! I have a little tom boy on my hands right now :)

It was a lot of fun and the weather was perfect for an outside party. The rain held off and it felt wonderful. Happy birthday Cade!

When we got home that night, Kelly and Cohen decided to cut the first cantaloupe from our garden. I know they had been waiting on this for a while :)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Hilton Head Vacation

Last week we spent the week on vacation in Hilton Head. It was such a fun time and the weather was wonderful! Being the beach girl that I am, I was in heaven. I seriously wish I could stay there for the entire summer. Vacation is so nice because you really do remove yourself from everything and just relax. We went with my mama, my sister and her boys. Every day we would get up, spend time at the pool/beach, eat lunch and then go back out for more beach time. We would also go for bike rides each day. Riding bikes is one of our favorite things to do down there. Some nights we chose to eat in which gave us more beach time and others we would go out. On the nights we ate in, we would ride our bikes over to Coligny Plaza to my FAVORITE ice cream place, The Ice Cream Cone and Deli. They have the best ice cream and my most favorite flavor ever. I also look forward to shopping there as well. We rode over for lunch one day after a morning of bike riding and then did a little shopping.
My girls are really opposite from each other so it was only natural that Cohen wanted to spend every minute at the pool while Kate loved the beach. Cohen has really impressed me with her swimming skills. After hating her lessons at the beginning of the summer she has really turned into a water girl and didn't even want to use her floatie. She would swim for hours back and forth to anyone who would swim with her. She would swim back and forth between the ladder and someone. Cohen also wanted to jump in and swim or have someone throw her up in the air. I was real proud of her. Another thing about Cohen was how many friends she made. Starting from day 1 Cohen was introducing herself to every little girl she saw. I was glad to see her being so outgoing and friendly. She definitely hasn't always been that way :) We got real tickled with her one day at the beach. She met a little girl named Annaleigh and they hit it off. They played in the sand for a long time together. Cohen would come up to me to tell me about what they were playing and one time she came over to tell me something then just walked right over and sat down with Annaleigh's family under the umbrella in a chair. Annaleigh was still playing in the sand and there sat Cohen with the family just like she belonged to them. Kelly & I were sitting right beside them and he walked over to get her, but it was quite funny seeing her make herself right at home. I think both girls kept each other company which was nice.
My nephew Devin brought his friend Cameron with us again this year. Cameron went with us last year and Cohen became fast friends with him. He had her the moment he made her peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They call each other "George" and each night we would get dressed she wanted to make sure Cameron would like what she was wearing. I'm really starting to worry about my little boy crazy girl :) Kelly and I did have fun playing cards with these boys most every night and we are still the Rook champions so that left a bad taste in their mouths :)
As for Kate, she was our beach girl. Normally she would take a mid-morning nap and an afternoon nap depending on what we were doing. We took my cousin Jessica with us to help us with the girls. Both my girls love Jessica and she was a big help whether it was being inside while Kate napped or being with Cohen at the pool. Cohen really loved having Jessica to play with in the pool. Kate was a little clingy to me. The Saturday before we left I had taken her to urgent care with her throat. Even with antibiotics she wasn't 100%. In fact, her fever came back mid-week and I took her back to the urgent care in HHI. I'm one of those anxious moms when sickness comes up. Waiting forever at urgent care was not the highlight for sure, but we had her meds changed and she perked up pretty well for the last few days. Kate's favorite thing to do was mash the elevator buttons. She learned how really quick and the minute we would walk out of the condo she was pointing her finger towards the elevator. She mashed the buttons that we needed her to and then some! It was so cute to watch her learn what that was. She was also pretty fascinated by the ocean. We had to constantly chase her because she would take off to the water and even with a few falls along the way she was back on her feet going strong straight into the water. She loved it and she even fell in the water which normally makes a child hate the salt water, but not her.
I've tried breaking down the pics from each day...and this isn't even all of them :)

Sunday/Monday:
Most of Sunday was spent getting settled and doing the grocery shopping. We did have some pool time since the girls had done so well riding. Cohen was so excited that she didn't even sleep at all! We got our bikes rented then went for a quick pizza dinner.
Monday was an all day pool/beach day. Cohen was really brave at the ocean, which we weren't sure how she would be. Kate loved chasing the balls of course and would scream and laugh at the sight of one. That day we saw a tiny crab on the beach and Kelly caught it to see her reaction. She wasn't phased at all, in fact, she tried her best to pick it up when it got close to her leg!
We ate in that night and then rode our bikes for ice cream. Kate is just like her mama in that she LOVES the ice cream too. She would squeal so loud while we were in line just by looking at the cones they had on display!

Getting the ball

Laughing as she gets it!

Coco and Jessica

Hubby & I on the beach

Sweetness

Where did it go?

Grabbing the crab

Running and jumping the waves

Cohen has always fallen asleep on bike rides :)

First time in the big seat with a helmet!

Devin!

Loving the ice cream

Cohen's favorite-Blue's Clues which makes a big blue mess

Tuesday we enjoyed our day at the pool and beach again. That night we headed to the Salty Dog Cafe. Cohen was so excited to see Jake the Salty Dog and have her picture made with him. Kate had gotten so tired that she fell asleep in her high chair in the middle of eating. Bless her heart!

Off to the water!

Sand time was fun too

Such a poser!

Poor baby was too tired to eat!

Wednesday/Thursday:
These two days were the same...beach, pool, and bikes! Wednesday is when Kate ran a fever again and just wanted to lay on me most of the time. I love the cuddle time but I wanted my sweet baby to enjoy her vacation! This was also when Cohen made friends on the beach and decided to spend her time under their umbrella instead of with us. Snacks will do that :)
Thursday was interrupted by our urgent care visit but that didn't hold us down too long. We went out to eat on Thursday night and we were able to ride our bikes to the restaurant. Afterwards we headed down to CVS to pick up her medicine. On the way we got to see our first alligator of the trip. Cohen was very fascinated by this. We had to hurry though to get the medicine. I had to get a picture of us in the drive thru on our bikes...especially for my WAIFS!

That's Cohen with her new friends :)

Poor baby was not feeling too good

The alligator going after the bird...iPhone pic is a little blurry

Drive thru/Bike thru

Friday we spent the morning out riding bikes. We rode on trails and on the beach. I found several dream homes!:) We ate lunch at the Coligny Deli then did some shopping. I was ready to get back to the beach after that so we headed back to the condo. That night Kelly and I went out by ourselves for a birthday dinner for me. We really enjoyed ourselves and the food was wonderful! We made a quick ice cream stop then headed back to sit on the beach. There is nothing better than just sitting on the beach together talking. LOVED it!

Date night!

Before going out that night I decided to take Kate to the beach to attempt some pictures. I had an outfit that I had taken a picture of Cohen in when she was about 18 months old. I knew this would be my chance for one of Kate. It was a little harder since Cohen was more steady on her feet and she had turned around to look at me. Kate was so cute though. She headed straight for the water and when she got wet she just laughed and laughed for me!

Here is a comparison :) I'm not seeing look-a-likes :)

Saturday was my birthday, and I can't think of a better place to spend it or with better people. Surrounded by my family at the beach! If I have to get older that was the way to do it. We spent the day soaking up our last rays. That night we went to Harbor Town. I love Harbor Town and I love the Crazy Crab so that's where we went. As we left that night we rode around hoping to see more alligators so Brock could see on and we weren't disappointed. This one was larger too! We then headed to play putt-putt. Cohen had been asking about it all week and we just never got around to going so we did. Note to self...taking a 4 year old after a long day of swimming and no nap isn't a great idea. She did pretty well but she did fall and complained of being thirsty. I was getting hot myself so from now on putt-putt will be earlier in the day. All in all it was a great vacation and I have spent this week wishing I was still there!