Animal Talk

Sarah is fluent in animal-speak.

Talking to her stuffed animals:

"Hiiiiii. I am Sarah. Maybe we can play sometime." 

Introducing Gerald to the giraffes at the zoo:

"Look, Gerald! There's Mommy G'affe and Daddy G'affe and Baby G'affe. Ooooh, the Baby."

Sam and Frances are amazed by Gerald's instant communion with his giraffe brethren.

While doing her alphabet puzzle:

"F is for Frank.

B is for Bean.

V is for Vulture!" 

Another trip to the zoo:

"Curry, it's a lion! It says Rooooar!"

"Hiiii, Lion. How are you today? I am glad."

She is available for hire.

Kindergarten Rocks!

You pause for a breath and it is five years later. A rainy morning. A new lunchbox with his name spelled out on the side. A boy who is just as brave and confident as the dinosaurs guarding his sandwich. A Mommy whose excitement battles with her fear of the unknown.

A little sister who cannot imagine the days without him.

He wants to race inside,  not a hint of nervousness only joy about the start of this journey.

He hugs the new woman who will help tie his shoes and teach him to love reading and numbers. The person whose wisdom and gentle spirit will guide his days now. 

And he is gone. To Kindergarten.

Countdown to Kindergarten

The official countdown to kindergarten...

Mommy isn't the only one who has to adjust to Max starting school! 

Mimi's and Max's Special Day:

Visit to the Zoo

Runway Cafe for lunch

Airplane Playground

Trip to the Movies

Twas the Night Before Kindergarten

and we gathered for our Back to School Feast!

Scripture Theme: 1 Thessalonians 5:11

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."

Max chose pizza and Sarah chose blueberries for "dinner", although we had to eat at 4:30 in order to leave on time for soccer practice. Welcome to our new schedule.

"Who is ready for school to start?"

"Me! I want to go to school!"

Max received a bag of candy items to remind him to work hard and be a "Nerds" and so on. He prudently warned Mommy not to eat it while he was at school

Of course, this Max is worth MORE than 100 Grand!

Let's go to school!

Two if by Sea

A great reason to live in South Carolina is the close proximity of the beach and the mountains! I love being able to spend one week at the beach and the next at the lake, both within just a few hours drive. We usually love going to the beach after Labor Day when school has started, but now we are also at the mercy of the school calendar, so we crammed in our last beach trip right at the "end" of summer!

"We going to Kee-wah! Not Great Wolf Lodge. Don't worry Max, we are going to the beach house. We are not going to Frank and Bean house. We are going to play with sand. We are not going to our house. We are going to the beach house!"  And on and on and on all the way to the beach.....

We chose Kiawah Island this time and loved the house's proximity to the beach...

and the hammock!

But once again we did not have the best weather at Kiawah.

Cloudy skies couldn't dampen Sarah's enthusiasm for being back on the beach!

The Master Sand Builder at Work

Sarah studies the tidal pools

A swimsuit model is born

Max started to get a little mouthy, so we devised a solution for keeping him quiet.

Then Sarah wanted to try, but she couldn't keep still

Into the hole instead! 

Mommy's favorite boy!

Rest time!

The sun does exist!

More building!

Daddy finds the perfect finishing touch!

Ta-da!

Trying to blow bubbles

At rest. Briefly.

Another attraction Max recalled from our last visit to Kiawah was alligator-watching!

So happy to be wearing her alligator dress for the occasion!

Alligators can be your friend, too.

Safe with Daddy.

I think they would sleep in the hammock if given the opportunity...

Why walk when you can run or skip or hop?

Beach Bum

Beach Babe

It might be time for Max to start eating.

Happiest place on the beach

Collecting shells

It was wonderful to go to the beach at both the beginning and end of the summer so we could see the change in Max's confidence about swimming. He definitely had more fun with the boogie board this time! 

Whatever Brother can do, I can do better.

I can do anything better than you.

No, you can't. Yes, I can!

Maybe not yet this year.

Relaxing his aching legs in the hot tub. 

Thanks Mr. Chip!

Chip and Morgan not only drove all the way out to Kiawah to play with us, they also dug a hole "almost to China"! 

Beach frisbee!

One of my favorite beach traditions is getting up on the last morning to watch the sunrise with Max. I had to wake him up (for the first time ever), but this one was definitely worth a little lost sleep!

No beach trip would be complete without a few "posed" pictures!

This one was totally spontaneous as they said goodbye to the beach!