More Beach FUN!!

More beach fun!

Grammy & Aunt Sharon

Love this of Anna & Papa running on the beach!

Family time!

She loves hats! Grammy's hat matched her suit perfectly!

Brothers!

Playing in the surf is the best!

Grammy & Papa were nice enough to get up with the girls most mornings to let me and Ben sleep in. This morning they went to the beach in their jammies to look for shells!

This is a good shot of our beach house in the background!

Pool Time

I am pretty sure the girls enjoyed our pool at the beach house more than the BEACH itself! Ben and I joke that we should just go to a Holiday Inn with a pool from now on! They really do enjoy being in the water. Between our week in the pool on vacation and spending a lot of time at Shawn and Kristen's pool this summer, both girls have learned how to swim! So exciting!

You can see our pool and the ocean in this picture! Ahhh!!

I lost track of how many times the girls jumped in the pool while we were there. It was constant!

The hot tub was so relaxing!

Swimming at night with the lights on is so much fun! We let the girls stay up late a couple nights to experience the excitement!

Both girls jumping in at the same time!

Emerald Isle '11

I kind of forgot to blog about our beach vacation. Better late than never, I guess! We returned to Emerald Isle, North Carolina this year. We LOVE this destination. Our beach house is beautiful and right on the ocean. We practically had a private beach! How amazing is that?

Making sand castles with Grammy!

Ahh, this is the life! So relaxing with not a soul in sight!

Love the ocean! We were blessed with perfect weather... not even a drop of rain and temps in the low-mid 80's. Heaven on earth!

Fun in the sun!

Greyhound Playdate

One of my friends and co-workers recently adopted a greyhound! She came over a while back to meet Sophie and learn more about the greyhound breed. After meeting Soph and doing some research, she decided a greyhound would be the perfect match for her and her son! I, of course, was thrilled that she was rescuing a retired racing greyhound... they are the BEST. Hands down!

Sophie and Hermione meeting for the first time!

It was so fun to watch them run, as only a greyhound can do. Such a spectacular sight!

Sophie cooling off in her baby pool after running!

Mikel is a natural with dogs... so sweet!

Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated my mom's birthday! We had a pool party at Shawn & Kristen's house and then dinner at the Melting Pot. What a fun day celebrating a special lady. I love you, Mama!

U2 Concert

So, it's kind of a crazy story, but my friend, Cathy, won U2 tickets for the 360 Tour in Pittsburgh just after she returned from the St. Louis show (I told you it was crazy!!!). Her husband took off work to go to the St. Louis show, so he couldn't take off more time for the Pitt concert, so I was lucky enough to be her guest! My brother, Shawn, was horribly JEALOUS, so he bought tickets for he and Connor to go as well. The four of us drove together and made a whirlwind trip in one day. Whew!!

We all had a blast... seriously the best concert I've ever been to. The set was out of this world and the U2 performance was amazing!

Cathy and I waiting in line for general admission. We got a great spot right by the outer ring/catwalk (they spent half the performance on the outer ring)!

It's hard to grasp the size of the set. It looked like a space ship!

Very cool screen!

We were right by the action! I could practically reach out and touch Bono!

Edge- U2 Guitarist

More Bono... what a performer and this boy has pipes!

Tons of special effects... smoke, lasers, lighting, and lots more...

Amazing show! Pittsburgh was actually the last 360 Tour in the US that started in 2009.

13th Anniversary

July 25th marked 13 years of marriage for me and Ben. We celebrated by going to our favorite restaurant, Flemings, and walking around The Greene for a bit. Such a delicious meal and relaxing evening... just what we needed! So thankful the Lord allowed us to be together since the age of 16. We are truly growing up and older together!

Happy 13th Anniversary to the BEST husband in the world! I love you always and forever, Babe! Can't imagine navigating this life without you by my side.

Air Show

Today we spent the day at Shawn & Kristen's pool and it was also the Dayton Air Show. They happen to live right by the airport so they have a great view of the air show AND... we got to enjoy it from the comfort of their pool! We've really enjoyed having a pool in the family and try to make it there at least once a week! Nothing like a private pool!!!

Hanging out with the family!

The highlight of the air show was watching the Thunderbirds! They flew over us several times! What a fun day!!

Watching the jets! The girls thought it was so neat to see the big, loud planes and helicopters!

Grandma's New Place!

As I have posted in the past, my Grandma McDowell moved into a retirement community last month. The girls saw her new place briefly before she moved in, but when I go to see her, I haven't been taking them because I wanted to concentrate on helping her get settled in. Claire especially has been asking to go see Grandma's new house. So, today I took them for a visit! I know Grandma enjoyed having us there and even took us on a tour of the building. It is very nice there with a lot of activities for my Grandma. She's already met new friends, learned how to Wii bowl, gone to exercise classes, prayer meetings, played shuffleboard, pool and card games. She really has taken this drastic change in her life so gracefully. She never ceases to amaze me. I love this woman!

The girls and Grandma outside her room! Lovin' the pretty wreath that adorns her door!

Grandma had a couple small things she wanted to give the girls when they came over!

She has a really pretty view of this little pond and fountain from her room!

There is a fish tank full of colorful fish and a beautiful aviary with cute, little birds near my Grandma's room that kept the girls occupied for quite awhile!

The girls "helping" Grandma with a puzzle in a common area. I guess she has a group of friends that meet there every afternoon to put puzzles together! How cute!!!

Tooth Fairy

Okay, so I have to admit... I never in a million years expected to be blogging about the tooth fairy so soon. It kind of makes me sad, but alas, my Claire Bear lost her first tooth the day after her 5th birthday. Crazy, isn't it?!?! She started complaining that her tooth hurt and she couldn't finish her dinner. I thought it was a lame excuse to get out of eating her vegies, but when I took a look, I saw a wiggling bottom tooth! My girl really is growing up!

Claire actually pulled it out herself and she said it didn't hurt one bit! Such a brave girl!

And there it is... the first tooth to come in was the first tooth to come out!

She coudn't wait to put her tooth in her tooth fairy pillow and go to bed! That morning she found two shiny 50 cent pieces in her pillow! She said, "Mommy, I know you're really the tooth fairy!". Can't get anything past this one!

I think Anna was just as excited as Claire!

Movie Theatre

In honor of Claire's 5th birthday, we took the girls to see Winnie the Pooh. It was their first movie theatre experience! The girls were ecstatic and did great sitting through the movie!!

You gotta love movie popcorn! Mmmm!! I about had a heart attack though when we dished over a $20 spot to buy a large popcorn and two drinks... holy cow!

Ready to go in!

So excited!!

I had to snap a pic as the movie started! Such a fun evening celebrating my big girl!

Bella Boo

Last week we spent the day at my mom's house. The girls LOVE, love, love my parents' dog, Bella. I know... surprise, surprise!! Bella is such a sweet, tolerant dog. Anna is pretty much obsessed with Bella and even called me in to take a picture of her with "Bella Boo".

Now, this is cute!

Anna has been known to be a teeny bit rough.

I think this is the part in the program when Bella makes a break for it! Go Bella, Go... save yourself!