Touch a Truck Day

There certainly were a lot of trucks to touch at "Touch A Truck" day, and a heck of a lot of other people too! Again, the weather was wonderful so none of us minded waiting in line much. Audrey again found a bounce house immediately, and also enjoyed several other activities of the day. Her favorite, and Daddy's favorite was definitely the F4 jet that Audrey got to sit in. Rumor has it there were "a lot" of buttons.

Everyone's favorite F4 pilot.Checking out the BobcatDoing some gymnastics in the Fun BusDriving Michael Waltrip's race carWorking the bubble wandExploring the ambulanceShowing off all of her loot at the end of the day

BBQ, Blues, and Blankets

We all attended BBQ, Blues, and Blankets last Friday night and had a really great time. The weather has been cooperating so well this past week and it was the perfect fall evening. We enjoyed our picnic and then Audrey danced her heart out to the Blues and played in the bounce house as many times as she could get in there. Most of all though, I think she enjoyed wrestling with Callie in the grass and playing Ring Around the Rosie.

Myrtle Beach Adventure

We were able to make a quick getaway this weekend to Myrtle Beach. Jeff had to work some but we were able to fit in some play as well. The weather was perfect! A very nice change from the rainy and gloomy week we had just experienced at home. I have never been to Myrtle Beach before and was not sure what to expect. I was very pleased to find that they have "squeaky" sand, like we used to have in PCB!Daddy and Audrey enjoying the Lazy River
Audrey and BFF William riding the cow outside the Ice Cream ParlorDilligently looking for shells in the tide pools

Dancing Queen

This picture if from July, but I just came across it. This is Audrey doing what she does best- being the center of attention at CheChe and Lulu's wedding.

My little copycat

It really is so sweet when someone wants to be just like you. If you ask Audrey, she'll tell you she has a baby in her belly just like Mommy, and she wears my shoes and uses my cell phone, and tries to do just about everything else I do. This morning I caught her wearing my glasses and reading my book. It's a wonder she didn't go blind just from trying on my Hubble lenses!

Beauty and the Bedhead

Curly hair has got to provide some of the best bedhead imaginable! Every morning provides a new and interesting work of art on Audrey's head. This morning while we were making muffins and the light was coming through the fray an frizz I thought I'd capture some of the craziness that I have to comb through before we can leave the house.
Note: Be sure to click on the picture for an extreme frizz closeup!

Snow White and the Wicked Queen

Audrey is very much into her princesses these days and into acting the stories out. She has been asking me to play double duty between the Wicked Queen and Prince Charming (depending on whether or not she has already eaten the apple and needs to be woken up with a kiss). In this picture she has asked me to be the Wicked Queen, so I gave her a few chores to do. She asked for it, and I appreciate it!
She is wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress here though.....think we'll play Sleeping Beauty around 7:30 tonight!

First Day of Preschool

Audrey was very excited about her first day of preschool! She ran right in and did not look back. Here is a picture right before we left the house this morning.

Here is a picture of Audrey's first day of preschool last year....shes really working the mullet look.

The plane ride

These are a few pictures I took on the plane to FL. Audrey was listening to her favorite music on my ipod and was singing along out loud. "The mommy on the bus says shh, shh, shh." I thought it was really cute so I had to snap a few pics. Both flights were on time and went well considering that we had to pay $15 to check a bag and that I almost got in a fight with a TSA agent because he wanted to pat down my 2 year old. Are you kidding me!?!?! You want to pat down a 2 year old because the snaps on her shirt are making your metal detector buzz. Power hungry Panama City Airport jerks. Anyway, I thought these pictures were cute...

Home again, home again, jiggity jog.

We made it to Grandma and Papa's and back safe and sound despite a lot if wind and rain from Fay the hurricane. Audrey had a great time, and so did I. Here are several pictures to show you all the fun things we did.We got to bake cookies...


We read books with Tia and Ana....

We tortured the cat...
We soaked up some salty air...
We fished, but they weren't biting...
So we tried to catch some minnows with a net. No minnows, but we did get a hermit crab and some teeny tiny crabs...
We drove a boat all by ourselves (at the Jr. Museum)...
We played musical instruments from countries I've never heard of with Ana and Isabel...
We put on a grand puppet show with creatures from the ocean...
We rode a fire truck to a huge fire and rescued a family...
We goofed around a lot...
We went to the bouncy place and even got Grandma to go down the slide!
I went really fast down the slide!!!

Over the river and through the woods.....to Grandma and Papa's we go.

We have been talking about going to Grandma and Papa's for a few weeks now (my mistake for mentioning it early). I should have just waited until the morning of so I would not have to continue to re-explain "two weeks", "next week", and Friday to her, but now the time has come and we are getting packed. I told Audrey today we needed to pack so she immediately started hunting for the suitcase and packed all of the things she feels are essential. As you can see, neither of us will be wearing much as the contents of the suitcase are 95% dolls and stuffed animals.Audrey is very excited about going to the airport in the morning and very concerned that she has at least one baby doll in her backpack! It's going to be a great trip filled with swimming, fishing, the zoo, the beach, the boat, and of course cousins!!
Here are a few extra pictures of Audrey goofing around while I tried to pack actual clothing in the suitcase.

Snuggle buddies

Audrey has always had a special fascination for Bailey Cat. She learned to crawl by chasing Bailey around the house and her first word other than Mama and Dada was "kittycat." Bailey is wise in the ways of toddler hood now and is a little harder to find when Audrey is looking for her, but they still manage to cuddle together from time to time. Here's a picture from when Audrey was 6 months old and one from today.

Life as we know it...

Is going to change! Audrey is very excited to announce that she is going to be a big sister in late March /early April. We are all very excited and realize that things are going to change!! Of course Audrey does not understand the full scope of it all, but she thinks other people's baby sisters and baby brothers are pretty neat and has wanted one of her own for awhile now. Last year Audrey asked for a baby sister in her Easter basket and this year she just might get one!

The little fountain

It may not exactly be a fountain, but Audrey has been calling the sprinkler our little fountain and it manages to keep her cool no matter what you call it. Here are a few pictures of her enjoying the mist on a hot August afternoon.

Celebrity sighting...

Well, it was curious George, but to a room full of toddlers he might as well be a rockstar!!! At story time today we listened to a Curious George book and then the monkey himself made an appearance!! Audrey was so excited she was shaking and got to shake his hand and pet his soft fur. It was definitely the highlight of the week! I forgot my camera of course, so we'll all have to settle for the cell phone shot.

Beach Reunion

Here are a few pictures from our Beach Reunion. Audrey had a wonderful time swimming and digging in the sand and chasing the seagulls and spending time with her doting family. Dad did a great job keeping her from drowning and getting sunburned as Mom was home sick and absent from the reunion.

Our Family

Here is the latest of our family pictures. I don't think we've managed to get one all together since Christmas. We had to leave the dogs out of this one because they're just a little too excitable to pose. We took these pictures at UNCC Botanical Gardens.