Blue Run 2011- The Pictures

Last Friday, we headed to the river house for our family’s week at Blue Run.

It’s one of our favorite places for sure. We say it a lot, but DW and I want to retire there someday…with a house that also has a shed big enough to park his future motor home in. :)

We’d packed the car with everything I thought we’d need. But of course, I always forget something. When we got to the river, I realized it was the ONE thing AB requested we bring… her “ninos”, “Pinky & Pete”… In the most dramatic show of her life, she threw her hand over her face and said, “Oh, NOOOOOOO! My Ninos!!!” Thankfully Pappy & Nie-Nie picked them up on their way back down on Saturday morning. All was right in AB’s plastic-yard-ornament-loving-world, until Tuesday when she saw them getting rained on. I assured her they were fine and they were just “getting a bath.” We have a beach vacation planned at the end of August with my parents, and I am sure Pinky & Pete will be headed to Destin with us then, too.

The weekend was filled with nothing but sunshine, refreshing cold water, sweet family time and lots of yummy food. It was the perfect Blue Run weekend and just like we like it.

DW, Me & AB

Our nephew, Warren, doing a flip the SECOND time he’d ever jumped off the diving board! He’s FOUR and FEARLESS.

“Aunt Nen” looking oh-so-cute in her flippers and float!

The boat crew…

Taylor, AB & Kels

DW & Pappy taking a river-bath. Nine summers ago, on my first trip with Devin, I thought they were all crazy when they busted out the shampoo and soap to bathe in the river! It’s a tradition and one I’m thankful to now be part of. :)  The men in this family will proudly tell you they’ve NEVER stepped foot in the bathtub at the river house. The women will all tell you we have. :)

Our girl and her favorite part of ANYWHERE we go…playing with her #1 guy, Daddy.

The week offered a little less sunshine, but that’s okay, we still had lots of fun.

Netting for minnows…

 

Having tea parties…

and just watching AB be so dang cute…

Baby Sister got her first fishing pole, the pink princess one, of course, (which she calls a “Fishing Rod”) and caught her first fish!

She also showed off her swimming skills and ventured into the water by herself. The water was low, and she scored a new pair of swimmy shoes on our of our Wal-Mart runs, so she was able to stand and walk in the water alone.

The first day we were there, she even dove down to the bottom to pick up rocks, but for some reason wouldn’t do it again the whole week. Who knows… She’s definitely two & a half years old, and has a mind of her own.

She also got some fish cards on a Wal-Mart run and so we played lots of match and Go-Fish. She was so cute playing and by the end of the week could identify the fish on the cards! 

 

Of course there are tales to tell from our week on the river, but I’ll save those for another day…

~amw~

Pinkie & Pete

Remember “Pinkie & Pete” from our July 4th picnic on the beach?

AB fell in LOVE with them, so Pappy gave them to her and they’ve officially found a new home…

 

She is crazy about them and I’m thinking they’re the best pets we’ll ever have.

~amw~

Swim School Grad

Our last swim lesson was on Friday! With the way week 1 went… I was so surprised as to how week 2 turned out!

We’ve got four little fish on our hands who all did so good during lessons! (Even during the crying-week) :)

Allie, Gus, AB & Noah

Friday was “Fun Day” and they got to show off all of their new skills AND go down the slide if they wanted! As for the slide, some were more eager than others… AB is like her momma, so she was a little cautious at first. But after a pep-talk from Daddy (who, thanks to the rain, got off work early so he could come to her last lesson), she was ready to go! Of course it also helped that the beloved, “Miss Emmie-Cake” was going to go down with her!

They all seemed so much bigger and older on that last day than they did on the first. They laughed and splashed and walked with a whole new pool-confidence at the end of our two weeks. It was so neat to see them grow so much in just two weeks.

Ms. Brooke & Miss Emma Kate were such great teachers and we’re so glad they didn’t kick us out during that first week of tears. :)

Before we said our good-byes the kids gave their teachers a little thank-you gift.

We’ll miss seeing our friends everyday, but we’re already thinking of fun places we can meet up over the rest of the summer!

AB received her first “diploma”, which DW says we’ll frame and hang right below our college ones. :)

We had celebratory dinner afterward with our little graduate, followed by ice cream at the “Cow Shop” as AB calls it.

~amw~

The Fourth

We had lots of fun this Fourth of July weekend!

Friday night we started the weekend off with dinner at my parents’. My brother & sister in law came in that afternoon and since we’d be away for most of their visit, we wanted to see them before we left.

Saturday morning we headed for the beach! We didn’t have everyone this year, but we still had quite a crew packed in the condo! It’s always more fun, though, when a bunch of us are there.

For lunch that day, DW’s little sister had requested we set up a tent and eat on the beach. We usually just go upstairs for lunch, so it was fun to do something different.

AB fell in L.O.V.E. with the orange and blue flamingos that her Pappy had set up in front of the tent! She named them “Pinkie & Pete.”

My patriotic contributions to the lunch were a carved melon with fresh fruit and I made some red, white and blue cupcakes that I’d seen on Ashley’s blog. They turned out really cute, but I forgot to take a picture.

We had lots of fun soaking up the sun and playing in the waves that afternoon.

We spent some time in the pool, too, so that AB could show everyone what she’d been learning in swim school! She was FEARLESS that day and was beginning to scare me a little. We’re so proud of her, though.

That afternoon, we ate dinner at Red Robin and then got ready for the race. Typically it’s all the guys that go to the race, but DW’s older brother didn’t go this year and our nephew didn’t want to go, so we had two extra tickets. So Lauren and I got to go! I went two years ago and LOVED it. Lauren got to go last year, but it rained and it wasn’t really a good first race experience. We were excited to get to go to our second race together!

The race crew all ready to go:

We all got our picture in front of our driver’s trailer…

and here’s me and DW on the way to our seats with our guy’s car behind us…

This time, I actually bought some NASCAR merchandise. I felt like a souvenir was in order, since I didn’t buy anything at my first race! It was hot and humid and I knew I’d want my hair off my neck by the end of the night, so when I saw it, I had to get a Kyle Busch scrunchi. Ha… I promise to only wear it on race day. :) Since this was my second race, and I knew what to expect, I also got some ear plugs.  AND… because my FIL loves me, he rented the headset/in car camera screen again this time. I love to hear what the drivers and crew chief and spotters are all saying. We passed them back and forth so everyone got some time listening to their guy.

It was definitely a fun time!

 

On Sunday, we had some more fun in the sun!

Somehow, AB missed the “Ice Cream Bus” going by on Saturday, but there was no missing it on Sunday! She heard him coming and ran to her Pappy for some money! She’s caught on fast on who to ask for things, and Pappy & Pop are her two favorite go-to guys.

Later on, she wanted "moe popsicle”, so Pappy went upstairs and got her one of her little ones…he even managed to bring, “Pu-ple” her favorite color.

Sunday night we went to dinner and then DW, Kels and Elliot saw Transformers 3. Taylor didn’t want to see it, and to be honest, neither did I. So I took one for the team and we saw Monte Carlo. It was cute and Taylor was so excited to see it, so that made it fun. She must have said, “Thank you, Aunt Annie” ten times that night. Out of everyone, though, I think DW was most excited to see Transformers 3. :)

Monday we headed home. We got some good napping in at our house before going to my parents. We had low country boil there for supper and let the kids play for a few hours.

 

Of course no holiday would be complete without a trip to see Granny. Here’s AB, “Great-Granny” and Garrett.

Then it was time to head to see the fireworks! Last year, we got stuck in traffic for an hour getting home, so this year, we forewent the downtown part of the festivities and parked on the outskirts of town at my Dad’s work.

Garrett, AB & Pop with the drill rig in front of Pop’s work

We packed plenty of drinks, boiled peanuts, chairs and bug spray!

The fireworks were great and we had just the right view. We weren’t too close for the kids to be scared so that made it even more perfect!

It doesn’t get much better than spending time with our families, the beach, a race, boiled peanuts & fireworks.

~amw~