Hilton Head

Shane and I spent this last weekend in Hilton Head. Neither one of us had ever been there and we were really needing a getaway for just the two of us. Getting there seemed to take forever. It was all back roads and we kept getting stuck behind a really slow car or big trucks. When we finally got there we just wanted to eat! The weather was amazing. It was warm with a cool breeze. We went to dinner and ate outside. Such a cute place. Shane got the most amazing shrimp tacos and and got fish and chips. The next morning Shane went golfing and I tagged along and got to drive the golf cart. So fun! Seriously...if I had known how fun it was I would have gone golfing with him a long time ago. :) We grabbed lunch at a terrible Mexican restaurant. I ordered taquitos and they tasted like the frozen Delimex ones you buy from the grocery store! Then we hit up the outlets! Hilton Head is known for their outlets. They had two big centers and we pretty much spent the rest of the day there. I was hoping to get some early Christmas shopping done but we kept getting sidetracked. :) We had another amazing dinner at a place called Wise Guys. We ate outside again because it was beautiful. The next morning we got up early and rented bicycles to ride on the beach. I think that might have been my favorite part. The sand was hard so they were really easy to ride. It really made me want to bring the girls back next time though...they would have loved it!

First Day of Preschool

So yesterday, my little Heidi Bear, my youngest child, started preschool. You would think this would be a  tear occasion but no...it was great! Heidi has been wanting to go to school since Natalie started school 2 years ago. These last two weeks that Natalie's been in school have been killer around here. Heidi just wanted to be in school already! Having to wait those extra two weeks more than Natalie just about did her in I think. We had lots and lots of crying and whining and sneaking and getting into trouble these last two weeks and this mommy is SUPER happy that school has started! :) Heidi had been counting down all week and that morning all she wanted to do was get there already. We got Natalie ready and off to school and then I got Heidi ready in her first day of school outfit. The cutest thing ever by the way! And then I took a ton of pictures. 

Heidi, by the way, is not into getting her picture taken. Trying to get that girl to smile for the camera is hard work! When we got to the school she told me to just drop her off like I do with Natalie.  Seriously??? I told her that's not how preschool works...I have to walk her in every day. When she gets to Kindergarten she can walk in by herself. Anyway...so I grabbed a few more pictures before walking her in and then I got a kiss and a wave and she was off. So so happy to finally be at school!

So then to celebrate actually having free time, my friend Sarah and I spent the day going out for coffee, shopping at Target and even grabbing lunch before coming back to pick up our girls. It was such a fun way to spend the day! We had a great time together while both of our girls had a great first day of school!

After I picked up Heidi I took her to get a cakepop at Starbucks so she could tell me all about it. She got to play with shaving cream. She didn't get to play outside because it was raining but she did get to play in the gym and that was really fun. She didn't get to sit by Winnie at lunch. She didn't get in trouble. And do I know when they are going to give her a candy for being good?? Such a funny kid! 

Then for dinner I made her her favorite...linguini and clam sauce with crusty bread and a salad with ranch dressing. It was that or macaroni and cheese. :)

Back to School

I can't believe school has started already! Georgia starts way too early in my opinion but I think everyone starts earlier than they did when I was a kid. Anyway...Natalie started school on Tuesday. She was so excited! She and Heidi couldn't sleep the night before and they were soo tired when they had to get up early for school. I remembered how crowded and crazy it was last year so I made sure we were ready to go early. We took pictures and headed to the school about 15 minutes before you could start going in. There were already a million people there and no place to park! Thankfully this year wasn't at all emotional like last year. Last year I couldn't believe my little girl was in school and I cried and cried. This year I walked her to her classroom, gave her a hug and she just ran to her brand new desk. So cute!

After school was insane too. I got there 15 minutes before school got out and there was already a line out of the school. It took forever to get her! Poor Heidi was exhausted from her late night and fell asleep in the car. She did not want to wake up either. :)

We went straight to my mom's house where Aunt DeDe had cupcakes for all the girls. So yummy!! 

By the time they finished their cupcakes, Shane got home from work and we all went to dinner to celebrate. Red Robin of course! It's always the girls 1st choice. :) We had a yummy dinner and tried to get Natalie to tell us about her day. She is already giving us nondescript answers. She had fun at recess. Her teacher is nice. Oh and they played with play-doh. So overall I guess she likes 1st grade. :)

4th of July

What a year! This 4th of July was so different from any other year. First of all, it wasn't hot. Which is super strange for this area. Usually we are all dying from the heat and humidity! This year it was rainy and cool. We also scaled down a bit. I tried to keep away from Pinterest and not get in over my head like last year! No fancy treats, or color coordinated everything. :)We did more of a potluck style this year and I have to say it was so much better! So much more relaxed! There was a ton of food and it was all so amazing! My Dad smoked pork butt all night to make pulled pork sandwhiches, we had home made coleslaw, baked beans, fresh tomato and mozzarella salad, chips, dip, cookies, and banana pudding. And that wasn't even all of it! Thankfully the rain stopped for a little while, so the kids got to play outside. We did our annual watermelon seed spitting contest again and it was so fun. I really think that is my favorite part of the day every year! Then Shane decided to do some fireworks in the backyard. We never ever do our own fireworks but because there was a chance the real fireworks could be canceled, we bought some this year. Everything was going great until one of the fireworks fell over mid explosion and shot toward the house where all the people were watching! It seriously went straight for my head! I shot to the side and so did the guy behing me. It hit the house but thankfully didn't do anything. A spark did hit my niece and she will probably never come over to our house ever again! There must have been angels hanging out with us last night for there not to be any serious injuries! So...needless to say...we won't be doing that again! No more fireworks at home! After that we headed to our neighbors back yard. We go there every year. They are a little higher up than we are and they have a perfect view of the fireworks. So we all got there, got our chairs situated and waited for the fireworks to start. The other neighbors decided to shoot off some crazy loud fireworks that totally freaked Natalie out and then it started to rain. Not just a nice rain but like the clouds opened up and dumped a bucket of water on us. Natalie started crying and we all ran screaming back to our own house. Everyone was drenched! I grabbed everyone towels and tried to keep people from slipping on the floor.  It was crazy! Poor Natalie said it was the worst 4th of July ever. Oh well...we still had fun and it will definitely be a 4th of July that we will always remember!

 Only half of all the food :)

 The kids started off the seed spitting contest

 Poor Daddy wasn't finished eating when we started so he brought his food with him!

 Mom's turn

 Jesse and Lesley 

 Rose Marie's went pretty far

 Daddy's turn

 Our first ever two-time champion!

 I gave it a go...not too bad this year

 Shane puts a lot of oomph into his turn :)

 Everyone's seeds all over the driveway

 I just love this picture. I'm not sure why but it's just totally Heidi. She was upset because she didn't spit her seed very far.  

 When the fireworks were going well :)

 The girls dressed up as superheros today for some reason. Natalie was Spidergirl and Heidi was the Green Lantern. Basically a Belle dress with a green cape. :) 

 This was Natalie's cool girl pose. Yikes! 

 Natalie and Ava, my niece...hiding from the fireworks. :)

 One thing I did get from Pinterest...put the sparkler through a plastic cup so the kids don't have to worry about the sparks hitting their hand. It worked perfectly. :)

Myrtle Beach

We took the girls to the beach for a couple days and had such a good time. I found a good deal and we went right in the middle of the week. The hotel was amazing...super nice! We've been there before but they did some remodeling since last time. They have a great waterpark for the kids to play in and our room had an ocean view. We went for 2 nights and 3 days. Dane and Nokie came with us for the first night. We drove up and as soon as we got there, the girls wanted to hit the waterpark. Nokie loved it! My girls were old enough this year to not need us with them every second so Shane and I got lounge chairs in the shade and relaxed while they played! Then we walked over to the beach and let the girls play for hours. Shane got Heidi to go in the ocean with him. She was diving under the waves  and loving every minute of it! By the next day he had her body surfing with him. :) Natalie had fun building sandcastles and letting me take her picture. (Heidi hates it when I take her picture!) That's pretty much how we spent the whole trip. At the beach, waterpark or grabbing food somewhere. I did happen to take a ton of pictures. I feel like that is my purpose at the beach. Shane and Heidi swim in the ocean, Natalie makes sandcastles and finds shells and I make sure all the memories are captured on film! 

Heading to the beach...YAY!!

 All the girls loved the water slide. Even me!

 Seriously....I love this picture. This kid is getting way too old though and I do NOT like it!! 

 This is as far as Natalie and Nokie would go. :)

 Heidi loved swimming in the ocean after we got her these goofy looking goggles. The salt water didn't get in her eyes or her nose and she just turned into a fish!

 I love this

Cousins :)

 Shane trying to get Natalie to go in the ocean...didn't work!

 Look at that cute girl! 

 Our last morning we took our breakfast out to the beach. It was so nice! 

 The girls like to play a game where they run from the wave before it gets them. 

 I think Natalie pushed Heidi out of the way to get away from the wave. I'm just glad I got a picture...too funny!

 Then Natalie tripped. :)

 The waves washed a ton of baby clams onto the shore. Natalie loved collecting them all until she realized they were still alive and trying to burry themselves in her hand! Then she threw them down on the sand! 

  

 Shane teaching Heidi how to body surf and Heidi cheering because she figured it out! 

 Sushi at the beach...talk about fresh fish!! So good!

 Natalie's sandcastle

 The view from our room

 Love these freckles!!

Heading home....they were exhausted! :)