Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Aunt Leanna's house is fun!

Aunt Leanna got an iPad for her class and Eleanor got to try out some of the games on it, with a sleepy Buddy the cat looking over her shoulder
Uncle Bobby & Aunt Leanna also put a pool up for Eleanor to stay cool and have fun
Eleanor is a relaxed girl on the raft
She really loves her Aunt Leanna!
Emerson and Mommy got cool in the pool too
Check out my adorable pool buddy
Emerson enjoyed crawling on the carpet and putting anything in his mouth to soothe all those teeth coming in
Emerson and Buddy became fast friends, although Buddy tried to run away most of the time
Aunt Leanna never ran away from a hug from Emerson!
Eleanor was good and gentle with Buddy so he liked having her pet him, especially in her gorgeous dress, one of Mommy's old dance costumes
Look at all that drool!
Mommy got Eleanor an Ariel slip & slide which was a nice break from the pool
Aunt Leanna was a good sport for showing Eleanor how to do it properly, in her dress!
Uncle Bobby had a way of making Emerson laugh- I think he was also glad to have another man around (Daddy had to go back to SC for work)
Thanks to Uncle Bobby & Aunt Leanna for taking good care of the kids while Mommy got a night out with high school friends. Eleanor chose to have a movie night with popcorn, of course
It made Emerson so happy to mess up the puzzle pieces
But Eleanor put it all back together and looks ready to jump in the ocean and swim with the fishes! 

Monday, September 12, 2011

Happy 4th of July!!

Although we planned to be in Texas on July 3rd, it was perfect to arrive on the 4th . Eleanor enjoyed a big bear hug from MaGa (her name for Grandma Gette)
Our red, white & blue cuties
The shirt says it all
Mommy and her other lil' fire cracker
Emerson was trying hard to stay awake for the fireworks- Grandpa Gette was a great seat for the view
Nice thing about the new mini-van is that the back seat flips backwards for perfect tailgating- Aunt Leanna & Eleanor got cozy in the back. The funny thing was that we were waiting in the park for the fireworks from the horse race track, but they were taking too long. So we decided to start driving back to Aunt Leanna's house where we saw the fireworks we were waiting on and the ones from the Ballpark in Arlington after the Rangers game- two for one!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Texas, here we come... with an unplanned stop

Chuck E Cheese was not the unplanned stop, but the necessary place to eat after dragging the kids car shopping all morning. The reason for car shopping- our 2002 Ford Escape had a blown transmission about 200 miles from home on our way to Texas. So, Buford, Georgia, was our unplanned stop and we made the best of 2 nights there! 
Chuck E Cheese has the best rides & games!
Welcome to our family- a 2011 Volkswagen Routan
Thanks to the great accommodations at the Courtyard Marriott (and thanks to Grandma Teresa Pope for the family discount) and to the wonderful staff at ReDooz for helping me keep the two kids busy while Nakia worked on getting our rental car. I highly recommend it if you are looking for a great consignment store!
A luggage cart is a free, fun ride!
Eleanor was ready to show off the new ride and hit the road
She mainly loves the DVD player with wireless headphones, which was nice for Mommy & Daddy because we could listen to our own music at the same time!
We were glad to get to Alabama finally, although we didn't get to stop at our friends, Laura & David Laurencio's house since we were delayed a day, but don't worry- we stopped on the way back!
Hello, Mississippi! An overnight stay was much-needed in Jackson
And they had a pool! 
What a big jump! Thanks to Daddy for the support and guidance.
The mighty Mississippi River, getting closer...
Sweetness- is there anything better than sibling love?
We made it to Texas! Boy, was it hot!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Busy as bees

Sweet Emerson is getting into EVERYTHING lately, including the diaper bag, and leaving a trail of his mess
But how can you be annoyed at a precious face like that?!
Emerson is modeling his shoes from Sprouting Soles, that I won from a Facebook giveaway- he is so happy about them!
He is ready to move!
What a happy, drooling baby!
Shoes off!
Eleanor and Kaitlyn don't look like it, but they were very excited to go bowling! Thanks to the free summer bowling at AMF lanes- all we paid for was the shoes!
Emerson just got to hang out for now, but I bet he'll be doing it next summer!
Eleanor appreciated the ramp to help aim & get the ball farther down the lane
Silly face
There is my sweet smiling girl!
Thanks to Lily & Kaitlyn for joining us for lunch at Common Market- it was fun & delicious!
Eleanor's last day of swim lessons and she is all smiles
Probably because she knew they were getting popsicles after they were done
Eleanor and her classmate, Maddie, looked cute in their matching swimsuits