10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 5

Water babies.  Enough said.

(Take a moment and notice this wild, unruly red hair.  It absolutely has a mind of its own 99% of the time.)

("Mama, you have this crotch strap toooo tight.")

Yes, I'm just now noticing that there seems to be a reoccurring pattern that Trey is always having fun with the cute water baby and I'm always taking pictures.  Most mothers would agree, I think, that in bathing suit situations this is all for the best. < Insert cute, winking smiley>

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 4

I love walking/running with my mom and Claire at the lake.  We usually go 3-4 days a week.  I run a few miles and mom walks and pushes Claire in the stroller.  That is no easy task... pushing 50 pds. up those steep hills.  We have nicknames- I am "Little Bull" and Lib is "Big Bull" and I do believe Claire is "Tiny Bull".  She is proving that she can live up to the long line of hard-working women. We all prefer hard, manual labor and a challenge.  We like to sweat it out.

I usually get to walk the last lap with them and that's when mom and I catch up on all the daily non-sense of our lives.  "What color are you painting the door?",  "What are you cooking for dinner?", "Did you hear about...?" or "I'm thinking about rearranging..."  That's my favorite part-the last lap.  I pray everyday that Claire and I will have the kind of relationship that I have with mom.  We laugh, we love, we help and we're brutally honest.  Simple, but it works.

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 3

I love any and all things patriotic, but especially the American Flag.  I love to see the flags hanging from street lights as I drive home.  I love to pull in my driveway and see our flag swaying in the breeze.  I love to ride down the river and see flags hanging from docks or see a HUGE flag flying over a business, like the one at Dairy Queen.  It never ceases to make me smile. 

Thank you to all of the men and women that have fought for this great country for the last 200+ years.  We should all be proud Americans!

One Word: MAMA!

After 15 short/long months... this girl finally decided to say "MAMA, MAMA, MAMA!"  Woohoo!

I am putty in her hands... at least for today :)

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 2

COOKING/BAKING.  And I don't mean, Hamburger Helper or Stouffer's Lasagna, both I really, truly love, however.  I mean good ole cooking that you just don't have time for when you are working and you have a one year old.

Yesterday, I made my first homemade Key Lime Pie.  It is Trey's favorite and I wanted him to have something special to snack on during this hard, hot week before the 4th of July.  I'm really not a fan of key lime, but he said it was good.  Who knows... we will see if he continues to eat it or if it sits in a fridge until it's runny.

I also tried fried green tomatoes for the first time last night.  They were good, but I still prefer a red, ripe, acidic tomato the best.

10 Reasons I Love Summer: Day 1

Being able to spend the mornings with this cute, crazy munchkin (and Mickey Mouse, of course) is THE #1 reason I love summer break!  There is something about the morning... cuddles, smiles, play... it's just the best time of the day.

Dauphin Island- June 2012

Last week was our much awaited/anticipated family vacation.  We went to Dauphin Island, AL along with my parents and my grandmother.  It was wonderful!  We stayed in an awesome house right on the beach that was thankfully well child-proofed.

We ate, played, laid, swam and had a few cocktails and we repeated it for 6 days.  Claire loved, loved, loved the ocean!  The more waves the better.  They would hit her in the face and she would just squeal and laugh... she's just like her mama... I still squeal and laugh.

Dauphin Island was a cool, retro type little town.  It was VERY "uncommercialized" which we loved.  There were less than a handful of places to eat, none of which were fancy (more like bar/grill).  At the end of a long day on the beach, we would take showers and put on pajamas, play on the deck and cook dinner.  What a treat it was to not have to get ready, dry hair and put on a bra to go out to dinner.  

We had fantastic weather, minus the last day of the trip.  One morning, a storm front moved in and out quickly and with it we got to see a water spout/tornado.  None of us had ever seen either one so it was pretty cool.

Overall, it was a fun, relaxing vacation.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

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