Seacrest Trip

This past week we went to Seacrest Beach, Florida!!! It's right near Destin. We went with my husband's family and had a blast!!! Mary Paul loved the sand and the water. We had wonderful family time, good food, and great weather. I am always so grateful that Mary Paul has the opportunity to really know her family. On this trip she got to be with her Granddaddy, Grandmommy, Great Aunt Randi, Great Uncle Ed, Aunt Beth, Uncle Brian and Baby Claire. I also got the chance to take some pictures of Mary Paul on the beach and posted several of the ones I liked.

Hiking

I took Mary Paul on a hike at a local park here that has a lake and several trails. So, despite the 90 degree heat, I put Mary Paul in the pack and took a 3 mile walk around the lake. She loved it!!! Her favorite thing to do was touch tree trunks and leaves. We saw a lot of wildlife: a deer in the lake, a huge turtle right beside the trail, a humming bird, and a salamander in the middle of the trail. It was a good time, but needless to say I was pretty nasty after lugging 30 pounds (Mary Paul, a camera, water, food, wallet, etc.) around a lake. To cool down we drank our drinks and ate granola bars. As an aside, the pack ( a hand-me-down from some friends) has been great. Not only can we use it for hikes, I have also used it when I cut the grass. I highly recommend having one.

John Visits

My wonderful nephew, John, came to visit us on Sunday and stayed until Wednesday!!! We just love having John at our home. We went to the Opryland Hotel and walked around. Believe it or not, I have never walked around Opryland. It is pretty amazing. John said he will stay there before he dies. Then we walked over the Gibson store at the outlet mall. The next day, we just went to music stores that John wanted to look around in. He is a great musician, playing guitar, drums and keyboard. Mary Paul was great. For dinner last night we went to Peter's for sushi...delicious!!! No, John is not in a jungle, just the Opryland Hotel.

John was great with Mary Paul, pushing the stroller and getting her our of the car when I never even asked him to. Mary Paul called him Big John.

Mary Paul finger-painted for the first time. I found a cheap canvas at Big Lots and she had a blast. Paint was everywhere. I am wondering if the Museum of Modern Art would be interested in our budding talent.

Memorial Day 2008

Memorial Day weekend was a blast! My whole family, minus Mike who was on call, was in Atlanta from Saturday through Monday. Wonderful!!! We had a large family get together and got to see old friends. The kids had a blast. A funny story that my husband witnessed and I missed. My 24 year old cousin, Wes, comes up to me and tells how hilarious he thinks Mary Paul. I agree, of course, but out of curiosity ask why, did she do something? So, music was playing in the backyard...show tunes (not unusual for my family) when AC/DC's shook me all night long came on. Mary Paul ran over to the sound system, turned it up and started dancing.
Snuggling with Uncle Bryan.

Mom's big pool was not yet ready for the season so I brought this great buy from Babies R'Us. It was a hit!!!

My cousin Mandi's little girl Taylor and her husband Jeremy. Taylor is has tons of personality.

Handsome Will. He and Mary Paul got to play a lot this weekend and were funny to watch together.

Samantha, Courtney, me and Ashley. It is so fun, and a little strange, to see all us grown up and being parents.

Someone loved their cupcake.

I thought this was a funny picture of Mary Paul, and Kaori is relaxing in the sun.

Late Mother's Day Post

This is a belated Mother's Day post. Bryan was out of town on Mother's Day, but sent me two dozen roses from him and Mary Paul. They were beautiful. I just thought I'd make sure to show off what my husband and my sweet girl did for me on Mother's Day.

First Ponytail

Before....

After...

Mary Paul can wear a ponytail!!! She probably could for a while now...but I am just now getting ambitious. We have also done pigtails...which also look fabulous. Unfortunately, Mary Paul does not always like for me to put her hair up in these new do's and asks for a hairbow.

Spring Pictures

My mom came up Sunday for Mother's Day and stayed through Tuesday. We had such a great visit. I took her to the Frist for the Monet-Dali exhibit, plus an exhibit of Tiffany lamps. Then we ate at Arnold's. Yum!! Next, my mom watched Mary Paul while I got my haircut. When I got back, we packed up Mary Paul and went to the Ag Center so I could take some pictures of my girl and my mom. It was so nice having my mom there to talk to Mary Paul so she could be still for more than 2 seconds. My mom took a couple of me with Mary Paul as well. Here are some, or a lot, of my favorites!!!