Back

Well, our vacation is officially over. Today was our first day back to work and baby school. If Harper could read, she would object to the term baby school because she is not a baby anymore. She would then remark that she would like me to refer to her school as big kid school because she is in fact a big kid now. But alas, I digress...which is a major symptom of vacation withdraw.

In an effort to ease back into real life, I will be posting some of my favorite pictures from last week. I will then visit this page periodically though out the day and wish we were all still at the beach. You can play along if you would like.

 Harper and her crazy sunglasses 

Taking a break from swimming in the pool

Cinnamon Beach - don't you just love that name?

Harper holding a crab

Outside of our favorite breakfast spot

Having lunch after a morning at the beach

Suburban S'mores

Happy Easter

Happy Easter from our family to yours!

Little Things and Big Things

This is the first Thanksgiving since we've been married that we are spending at home with just our immediate family. I have to tell you, it's nice.

We all slept in this morning and now we're up and around doing little things that make us happy.

Harper is helping Rob change the oil in one of the cars. I opened the door to the garage and found both of them under the car - Harper using Rob as a pillow. Excuse the bad cell phone pics.

And as for me, I just indulged the OCD side of my personality by scrubbing my kitchen in preparation for the mess that I am about to make. I'm actually cooking this year. Well, kind of. I got a honey baked ham. But I am making several sides as well as an apple pie. It counts.

We're not huge turkey fans, so we're doing ham instead. Yesterday, I was talking to Harper about what we were going to eat today and she said "And we're eating turkey too." I said, no we're just having ham. She got kind of upset (read threw a fit in the back of the car) that we were deviating from the turkey scenario that she has been hearing about for the last 3 weeks. So, being the ninja mom that I am, I made a quick stop at the store and got her some turkey lunch meat. If my kid wants turkey on Thanksgiving, than she will have turkey!

I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope that you can enjoy the little things as well as the big things today. Happy Thanksgiving.

Where I Fall On The List

Yesterday this picture was in Harper's cubby at school. The assignment was for the kids to draw things they were thankful for. As Harper was drawing, her teacher sat next to her and wrote down what each picture was supposed to represent.

Apparently, Harper is thankful for Pap, Grandma, Daddy, and herself. It came to my attention that one member of her immediate family seems to be missing from this list. 

ME! 

THE MOM!

Then, I noticed that one of the more human looking drawings was lacking a label. I thought, oh good, she didn't forget about me. So I asked her about it. The conversation is as follows.

Me: Harper, who are you thankful for?

Harper: Daddy.

Me: Who else?

Harper: Pap.

Me: Who else?

Harper: Grandma.

Me: Who else? 

Harper: Turkeys.

Me: (pointing to her picture) Is this Mommy?

Harper: No. Turkeys.

And there you have it. 

For Now

You guys, it's going to take me forever to sift through the hundreds of pictures that we took last week. In the meantime, here are a couple that initially caught my eye.

Flagler Pier - This is my happy place. 

 Harper says her favorite part of Disney was Minnie Mouse's house.

Sticking her head out of the train window. I think the conductor specifically said not to do this. 

Taking a walk down by the intercoastal waterway

Ponce Inlet lighthouse

   

  

More to come...someday.

Pure Unadulterated Joy

The Mad Tea Party ride at Disney World:

These Boots Were Made For Walkin'

Well, I guess Nashville really is rubbing off on us. Last night our family was outfitted with real, genuine, cowboy boots (or as Harper likes to call her boots cowboy girl boots). Shoe shopping is not really my thing, but I have to say that I had a great time trying on all the boots.

Here's a picture of Harper trying on her boots. As my friend Ryan would say, it's a bad photograph but it's a good picture.

This is what we ended up with. 

Sage is counting her lucky stars that we didn't come home with a pair for her.

I'm happy. 

90

Today is my grandma's 90th birthday. 90. I can't even imagine it.

This was taken on the 4th of July this year. When's the last time you were on the back of a 4-wheeler?

My grandma is an awesome lady. You can read more about her here. I'm so glad I got some of her genes.

Family Time

Over the weekend, we ventured to Southern Illinois spend some time with Rob's brother and his family. We don't get to see them nearly enough (they live in Seattle). So anytime we get the opportunity, we jump at the chance to hang out with them.

This is Mike, Janelle, and Gavin. If you think Mike looks a lot like Rob, you're right. They're twins.

We went to the Centralia Balloon Fest. Janelle's dad does hot air ballooning as a hobby. He gave us special passes that allowed us to get right up close to all of the action.

Harper even got to help Aunt Janelle spread out her dad's balloon.

When it got dark, the balloons did what they call a glow. They all fire up their burners and glow like lanterns.

Harper liked the balloons, but she LOVED hanging out with her cousin Gavin. They were fast friends despite the fact that Harper insisted on holding Gavin's hand at all times.

We next met up with some extended family and took a little side trip to the St. Louis zoo.

Harper, Uncle Mike, and a big bug

Can you see the resemblance?

All in all, it was a great trip. Can't wait to do it again.

Pap Jim

This is my Pap Jim.

My cousin posted this picture on facebook. I just about fell to pieces when I saw it. Pap's been gone for a while, but I still think about him all the time. He was a good guy - a coal miner from Pennsylvania who took up boxing during the Depression to earn what ever he could (this is actually a picture of his boxing license). Of course, I didn't know him as that. The guy I knew never left the house without a hat, always spoke softly, and grew the best tomatoes in town.

Vacation Withdraw

I would rather be here right now - my favorite beachfront restaurant with my favorite family.

Vacation Pics

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this week. Later today, we'll be heading back to Nashville. Until then, we'll be hanging out at the pool.

Harper is a good supervisor.

She's also brave when it comes to holding crabs!

Building sand castles

Headed into the water with dad

Inspecting grandma's flowers