Where's Lily?

At the BEACH! She's spending her time here for the next 2 weeks!After a long day waiting - and not patiently - Lily left with her Mammy and Paw to go to the beach. We will be joining them later this week, but oh how we still miss that sweet little girl! Last night I asked Bear where Lily was and he stood at the bottom of the stairs and yelled "I-ly" (his way of saying Lily) Though I know he misses his big sister, he's really enjoying the status of "only child" atleast for a few days! Josh and I are both amazed at how much more he is talking and how his personality is really showing itself. I guess most of the time he is happy to watch Lily and let her entertain him.

Last night she called and told us excitedly, "I'm in the pool and I'm want shrimp for dinner!" She continued to talk 90 words/minute, but we couldn't make out the majority of it.

Lily, we're so glad you are having fun - we can't wait to see you and enjoy the beach with you!

Golfer in the Making

On Saturday afternoon, Josh, Bear and I headed down to the mall and made a stop at the PGA Superstore. For Father's Day, Lily and Bear gave him Josh a new putter - but we wanted him to pick it out. We are going on vacation later this week and wanted him to have it before we left. While Daddy was trying out putters, Bear decided to get some practice on the green as well.

He loved it. And that is a major understatement! He cried when it was time to go and reached for every golf club as I carried him to the checkout area.

Today after church, we all went to the country club for lunch. Josh was planning to play golf this afternoon and thought it might be fun to bring Bear out to the putting green for a little while. He was in heaven! He drug around one of Josh's clubs and ran after each ball that was putted. His little face would light up each and every time he saw a ball coming close to him. Forget football Daddy, I think this boy is destined to be a golfer!!

Words of a 3 Year Old

Josh - "Lily, I'm going to be so jealous when you go to the beach with Mammy and Paw."



Lily - "But then you and mommy and Bubba will come and see the beach too and you won't be jealous anymore."







Me - "Lily, will you please quit doing that"



Lily continues with what I am begging her not to do.



Me - "Lily, I mean it - stop!"



Lily - "Okay, okay, okay...you're making me nervous mommy."





Bear wakes up and Lily is in his room waiting for Josh to come get him up.

Lily - "Bear baby, it's okay. Bear honey, daddy is coming". She sounded just like a sweet grandmother talking to him!

Anniversary Celebration

Last night, Josh and I went out to celebrate our 6th anniversary. Our real anniversary in on Sunday, but we had the grandparents to babysit last night, so we celebrated a little early. We drove up to Chattanooga and had dinner at the Station House.





The Station House is a dinner/show venue - all of the wait staff are also performers and sing on stage throughout dinner. Josh had been once before when in Chattanooga for a guy's golf weekend and thought I would enjoy it. It was a lot of fun. We sat towards the back of the restaraunt, which was good, because even there, it was still pretty loud. It's probably not the best place to go if you are wanting to have a deep conversation with someone, so we saved most of our chatting for our car ride to and from! We has salad, steaks, and baked potato and listened to a medley of oldies and country tunes.

The funniest part of our evening was when our waitress dedicated a song to her "section". We had kind of joked to each other that she seemed a little flaky, but this was the icing on the cake. We had just been given our entree and she begins belting out "Hit the Road, Jack." We looked and each other and died laughing. I guess she was ready for us to leave! I don't think she realized what she had done, and when I jokingly mentioned it to her as she gave us our check, she seemed a little confused!

After we finished our dinner, we got ice cream and strolled through the Chattanooga Choo Choo hotel complex. It's a really neat place if you've never been there. It's a historical train terminal from the Civil War era that's been turned into a hotel/convention spot. They even have traincars that have been turned into hotel rooms. After we left, we drove through downtown Chattanooga - there's a lot to see and do and we decided we really should bring the kids up for a weekend or day trip. We had a great time with each other - but were definitely excited to see the kids when we picked them up this morning!

On the Water

On Sunday, we took our first trip out on the boat for the season. We packed a sandwich lunch and headed out after chuch on Sunday. Lily had so much fun on the boat. She wore her bright pink "Dora the Explorer" lifejacket without a complaint. As soon as we settled into a cove and ate lunch, she was in the water. I love how her imagination is exploding right now. She was pretending that the other boats out on the lake were pirate ships and we had to find and protect our treasure from them. So cute!

Bear, was not such a fan of the afternoon. I think we're going to have to break down and get him a child-sized life jacket in place of the baby one he is still wearing. He never seemed comfortable in his life jacket, but Josh and I were terrified to let him play on the boat without it. He did, however, find entertainment in throwing watermelon and animal crackers off of the boat and watching them float in the lake.

Summer Concert Series

Last Saturday evening, we attended the 1st summer concert put on by Century Bank here in Cartersville. Our good friends, the Jones's, invited us to come out, and we along with Josh's parents enjoyed some hors d'oeuvres and an evening of beach music, courtesy of the O'Kaysion's.

I love living in a small town. Our downtown area is really quaint and it was so neat to see so many people of all ages out enjoying the summer evening. Lily and Katie Anne had a blast - they danced the night away! Bear was not quite feeling himself and was content to sit with mommy and people watch. It was a great evening and we'll definitely plan on attending the concerts put on each month this summer.

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Picnic in the Park

I'm a bit late posting - but it's been a busy/hectic week! On Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having and headed to Dellinger Park for a picnic. Lily helped me fix our lunches - turkey sandwiches, pretzels, Teddy Grahams, and fruit snacks - and we set out to find a shady spot to enjoy the afternoon. Last year, I received an outdoor blanket from the hospital I work for as a "Hospital Week" gift and it's perfect for picnics. We found a spot close to the lake at Dellinger, rolled the blanket out, and enjoyed our lunch. We brought some extra bread and Lily and Bear enjoyed feeding the geese and giant fish in the lake after we finished eating. We then played on the playground for a bit, which is always a hit with the kiddos before heading home. It really was a perfect afternoon - and Lily thought so too. As we were packing up the car, she looked up and said "Momma, this is the best picnic ever!"

"Miss Hollywood" eating her lunch

Lunchtime for Bear

"Here ducky, ducky"Sweet brother and sister

This face is trouble!

"Cheese"

Feeding the fish