Mountain happiness

We left our HOT world for a few days and headed to the mountains for some relaxation and cool air. It was wonderful! Our good friends the Keeley's invited us to their cabin. It was so nice to get away for a few days. The kids could not have been happier that Gypsy came with us too. Gracie stayed behind with Ms. Labinia and Jaylin as she has really aged and would not be able to do hikes or anything.



We had a ball. Tyler was sure that he was able to skip down the stairs, view the mountains, breathe in the air and walk Gypsy.... seems to me he is a pretty talented guy at 19 months old. 

I was so happy that we brought all of the children. They all enjoyed immensely!

 

 

 

We hiked every day! We hiked Grandfather mountain and several other trails. 

Tyler and Thomas found a perfect little home for three nights - in a pitch dark closet in the master bedroom. It was perfect! They slept in because there was no light and went straight to sleep because it was so dark. Hmmm... they would appreciate though returning to a normal bedroom when they return home. 

These guys ate all weekend and LOVED roaming around finding, grabbing and touching new things. 

This girl just LOVES her puppy! Nothing makes her happier than time spent with her. That is especially if Gypsy is feeling cooperative and wants to go along with her leash games. Juliette tends to think she loves these kind of games. Don and I assure her that she may not love them so much.

The beauty of the mountains!

It was a perfect weekend!

 

We ended the trip doing something I have wanted to do for a long time. We went hunting for gems! The kids loved it! We found a lot of "gems" and the kids think they found solid gold! They laughed, traded gems, took back "I made a mistake" trades, needed to find more gems and were sure that we could go home with these finds and never have to work again!

 

 

 

 

 

And this girl like everyone else was not ready to leave. She thought if she boycotted eating that morning, we would have to stay and wait until she decided to eat....

Oh Gypsy Rose... "Compliant" is not in your character description.

Ready to hit the fryer

Now that's a TROUT!

Don brought home this baby for dinner! She was BEYOND delicious!

This was Don's personal record for the largest trout that he has ever caught.



Tyler was ready for the fun and even gave the trout a kiss! 

He has fish lips for sure! Tripp screeched in his normal high pitched voice that now Tyler smelled like a bad fish!

Happy birthday Jaylin

Happiest of birthdays to our precious Jaylin! The kids feel like she is the fifth child in the family! She very well could be for as much as we all love her!

We celebrated and made our own party at Monkey Joe's. The kids LOVED it and were SO happy. The babies were all over the place and could not get enough of it.

Tyler was having a fit because Jaylin needed to rest her little arm on the motorcycle. Thomas was in his glory because someone was holding him, Tripp was too busy to stand still for one minute and then there was Juliette always ready to smile for the camera!



 

 

Happy 4th birthday precious girl!

The secret life of twins... at 18 months old

At 18 months, these little guys are amazing to watch develop!

They like to chat with each other in their own language. They each still say a few words. They like to tell you what the noise of something makes like a car or a dog. They still prefer to fuss when they want something which we are actively trying to change. 

They love to hug each other. Well, usually the one hugging considers it to be hugging but the recipient usually feels differently. 

Tyler is still the adventurous one! He is busy, independent and loves to do things on his own. He seems to only like now a days things that he knows he should not touch but wants to. He looks at you with a grin, a laugh and then runs away! He is STILL a climber! He loves to jump on the back of the couch and roll down the back of it... Not good Tyler but of course he learns from the best... big sister and big brother.

Tyler and Thomas have both gotten familiar with the time out chair.... as you can see Tyler is no fan...

Thomas is still the higher maintenance baby. He does not stroll far typically and would rather be in your arms. He is much quicker to fuss and much more demanding. That we are working on I assure you.

They add such joy to our family!

We love you sweet boys! 

18 months and you are ready to take on the world together!

And then sometimes there will be days like that

At least so "Mama says..."

We have had some super fun camps.... 

Juliette had horse camp which she loved! Every day she came home with great stories! The barn leader lets me know every year Juliette is the most willing camper to scoop up the horse poop in the stalls. They really put these kiddies to work. 

 

 

Juliette and her best little friend for the week Lauren! 

Tripp LOVED his first camp by himself - swim camp!

He loved his sweet leaders and they assured us that he was one of the funniest and kindest little one in the group. That is always reassuring to hear!

Then there is "Camp Tessa!" At "Camp Tessa" you can pictures at 10:00 that evening assuring you that your daughter cannot decide whether she would prefer to be a makeup artist or a Doctor...

And then there is just "Camp Summer".... playtime with friends, swimming, outdoor, shrimping, creek swimming and tales of the mermaids and mer-men!

Juliette just got from Daddy her very first cast net. She is learning from the Olivia, one of the best when it comes to lowcountry living!

 

Please stay a while longer summer!

Memory lane

Swim meets are in my blood! They are a part of me - times that I will never forget. Really bring down the memory lane by heading to your childhood neighborhood pool, watch your childhood swim team swim with your Mom and cheering on one of your best friends on the team's children!

Amy's children are the sweetest. Olivia is starting high school and she is still the SWEETEST child. She loves Juliette and Tripp and so does Lucas! They are just the best. The kids look forward to getting together with them every year!

 

Speaking of the memories? Can you find me, Danny and my best friend Tiffany?

Tiffany is in the back left, then there is me next to her and then Danny has the hat on the top row...

Wonderful times... wonderful memories!

Some are agile.... and others not so much

 

One is just more agile than the other...

You guess...

Tyler you can't take your eye off of for one minute! Thomas keep on trying sweet baby...

Wow!! A birthday full of firecrackers!

I could not have asked for a greater birthday weekend! Every year I say that it is my favorite holiday of the year and after the weekend, I continue to believe that to be true.



My Mom and I started with some delicious mimosas at Hominy Grill that morning! Breakfast was just wonderful and I could have have asked for a better start. Each year my Mom reminisces on the day of my birth. I was breached so it was going to be a c-section. She went in for her checkup and the Doctor let her know she needed to go straight to the hospital. All she wanted was Chinese food and she asked him if they could stop.... no you must go straight to the hospital he let her know.

I was born later that afternoon on a glorious summer day in Madison, WI at St. Mary's hospital. Mom lets me know every year that once I was born the world was a happier place just me being in it. That always makes me feel so special!

I was blessed to be born into such a special family! I am thankful everyday for that.

Some birthdays of yesteryears! I know to my parents this seems like just yesterday!

First special thing Juliette wanted to do!

 

Juliette decided that she needed to design my hair that day yellow flower and all for such a special day!

We celebrated with our annual dinner of ribs at Tessa and Doh's house! Juliette could not wait to give me my present that she had worked so hard on with Tessa. Mom assured me that she would not even let her help. Juliette was so comfortable with the machine. If there is one person I trust with machine safety, it would be my Mom since she has taught just about 10,000 students how to sew and use a machine as a teacher.

The kids love to get riled up with Doh!

And then there was my beautiful birthday cake from my favorite bakery!

 

Tyler cannot get enough of Tessa especially when there is cake in hand!

Now take a look at this, we had not yet found Don his birthday present so today was the perfect day with a few hours to spare before dinner. I took him to Gwynn's for a new jacket.... they had a field day with him! They even served him some bourbon in the dressing room. We did find his present and my present so we both left very excited!

One evening the kiddies picked where they wanted to take me... of course it is ALWAYS Mexican on the island. The most exciting part is the QUESO dip!

We boated around the harbor and up the creek. The kids just love to jump off the boat and into the water! These pictures just summarize the happiness and joy that they feel in the sun and in the water! They know this is their home. Lowcountry living gets down into your bones.

And my day was ended with our traditional dinner downtown to my favorite restaurant Peninsula Grill with my most special man!

What a wonderful weekend of birthday celebrations!