Carolina Beach

I am going through blog withdrawals! I have been trying to update my blog all week and it has just been too busy. Trevor has gone back to school and we are trying to get back into normal life. We had a great summer that was capped off by a fun trip to Carolina beach with some of our friends. Here are some pictures of our trip.

We got into our beach house late Saturday night after getting stuck in horrible traffic. The kids were all sad that they could not go to the beach that night and the next day was Sunday so after church we took a walk down to the water. The kids (and I think the adults were too) were so excited to finally get some sand between their toes. Emma sure knows how to pick out on ice cream flavor. This purple creation is called Carolina Wave and it was the brightest shade of purple I have ever seen. I tasted it because I was curious and it turns out that it was just dyed vanilla ice cream. I don't know what they used to get it that color but luckily it washed out of her clothes because by the time she was done her shirt and shorts were purple too.
Abby picked a more conventional flavor. She had good old strawberry.

Me having fun in the water. I came to the conclusion that I should never live at the beach because I would never get a single thing done. I was totally content to sit on the sand all day long with a book.
The kids enjoying the sand. The dad's had dug a big hole earlier in the day and the kids loved jumping into it and decorating it with shells.
On our last night we went to a local park and had pizza. It was right next to a pretty lake. We took a walk after dinner and saw signs that warned of alligators in the lake. The kids had a great time "searching for alligators."
Me and my girls!
Sunset over the lake! It was nice to too the sun set over the water. That is something that I miss about the west coast.
On one day the tide was really high. It came so far up onto the shore that it created a "lake" on the beach. The kids thought that it was great. Here is Abby taking a swim.
Emma is pulling Abby around on the boogie board. They both loved it!
Here is the hole mentioned earlier in it beginning stages. Trevor is making cool sand towers.
Emma really ended up enjoying the boogie board. She was a little dare devil. She got flipped over a couple of times but she always popped right up and got back on.
Catching a wave with a little help from dad.

The girls were totally entertained at the beach! I think that Abby enjoyed the sand more than the water.
Here is Emma playing in the sand. We have very few pictures of the girls with their eyes open at the beach. Those blue eyes are just too sensitive.
There was a little aquarium a few miles down the road from the beach house. Here are the girls with their friends Colin, Brannon, and "little" Abby.
Emma being eaten by a croc!
A favorite attraction at the aquarium was the touch pool. Emma enjoyed touching everything while Abby just wanted to splash in the water.

We spend one day at the pool at a local hotel. The girls had a great time and it was nice not to have to deal with eating sand with our lunch.
The girls are each holding a sand crab. They were not as easy to find here are they are in California but they are a lot bigger.
A favorite of the girls was to by buried in the sand and given mermaid fins. They liked to decorate them with shells. Totally entertained!
More boogie boarding.

The two Abby's digging in the sand.
Thanks to Colin for sharing his sun glasses.
Abby and Trevor taking a break from the sun.
She really was happy I promise! It was just the bright sun.
Abby loved to wear goggles even if they were too big for her. She did not put her face in the water but at least she looked good. We had a great vacation and were are already trying to figure out how to do it again next summer.

Funny Lady

I am sure by now that you have all heard of the mom who sold her Pokeman cards on ebay. Well thanks to my sister-in-law Heather I now know that she has a blog. The lady is funny!!! She can always make me laugh when my kids have me on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I hope she can do the same for you. Here is the link www.mom2my6pack.blogspot.com

Sprinklers and Cupcakes

Emma really wanted to do something with all of her friends for her birthday. She wanted them all to come over and play and have cupcakes. Well instead of having 20 kids in my not quite put together house we decided to go to a local park where they have some sprinklers and bring the cupcakes along. Here is Emma with her cupcake. She helped me decorate the cupcakes that morning and had her butterfly all picked out.
Here is Emma eating her cupcake. The girl sure knows how to enjoy her food!
Here is Abby with her cupcake. She had already had a sample that morning. I came down stairs to find Abby had pulled a kitchen chair over to the counter where the cupcakes were. She took a bite out of a vanilla cupcake and then I think she realized that there were chocolate ones and she helped herself to two of those and smashed several other. Luckily they were not frosted yet so the mess could have been worse.
Here is Emma about to get into the sprinklers. She likes to sit on the wall and dangle her feet into the water making it spray all over the place.
Here is part of the group enjoying their cupcakes. Thanks to all of our friends who came and helped us celebrate!

Birthday Presents

Emma got a bike for her birthday!!! A bike was the only present that she asked for. She was a little confused when she opened her presents and got a bike helmet but no bike. We told her to go and look in the storage closet and at first she looked right past the bike and could not figure out why we were having her look in there and then she saw it. She was so excited she almost knocked herself over trying to get it out of the closet. With a little help from dad she got it out and took it right outside to ride. She is a little hesitant but she gets better every time she rides. Before long I am sure that the training wheels will be gone.
Here is Emma attempting to jump rope for the first time. Just like the bike riding she needs a little practice but she has the determination and I am sure she will be jumping before too long.
This is Emma talking on the phone with Grandma Griffitts. Grandma made her the cute artist smock with lots of pockets for crayons, paint brushes and any other art supplies that Emma can think of. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

This is Emma opening her present from her friend Audrey. It is a Barbie princess with lots of interchangeable outfits that snap on and off. This is one of my favorite gifts because now Emma can finally dress her Barbie without any help from me!
This is Emma opening her gift from Maggie. It is a fashion Barbie. Emma loves brushing her hair and playing pretend with her.
Her is Emma opening up her present from Grandma and Grandpa Manderino. As you can tell she was thrilled when she saw what was inside...
It was an Elefun game. For those of you who don't know what it is. There is an elephant that blows butterflies out of his trunk and you try to catch them with cute little nets. Emma, Maggie, Audrey and Abby has a great time catching butterflies. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.
Thanks to everyone who helped make Emma's birthday so fun and memorable!

Birthday Slumber Party

My Emma is officially 5 years old. She has been so excited for this birthday to finally get here. She has been planning her "party" for about the last four months, but the only problem was the plans changed every time I asked her what she wanted to do. As the big day got closer I started to give her options. When I suggested a slumber party I knew that I had hit the mark. That was all that she could talk about for the next week. It was really a lot of fun and very low key which was nice for mom. Emma had a great time and she is already planning for her 6th birthday party. Here are the girls watching Barbie Nutcracker and having popcorn. We did not actually start the movie until close to 9:00 so I though that they would maybe fall asleep...
It started to look like my plan was working as they started to sink deeper into the cushions...
It did not last long. As the movie got close to the end they got their second wind. They decided that they would dance like Barbie. Here are Maggie and Emma pretending to be Barbie and her prince. I don't know who was who but they really enjoyed themselves.
A little before 11:00 we made it upstairs. Here are the girls listening to a story. It only took about 15 minutes before they were all asleep. Of course they were all up by 6:30 the next morning, laughing and dancing. It was almost like they never went to bed.

Look Dad! I am a zebra!

First let me just day that the picture does not even come close to showing how bad it really was. On one of our last nights of vacation we were all sitting outside having dinner. When we were done a family friend stopped by and we started talking and we all forgot about Abby. I suddenly realized that it was way too quiet and that I had no idea where Abby was. I was still too lazy to get up and look so I sent Emma into the house to do my job. Emma came running back outside screaming "Abby got into the paint!" My first thought was that she had gotten into the finger paints that we had used earlier in week. It turns out that the finger paints would have been a piece of cake compared to what I found when I got inside the house. Abby was sitting at the table very calmly coloring herself and the table. It took me a minute to realize that she had drawn stripes up and down her arms with a black Sharpie. It took me just a second to get over the shock and I sent her outside to show her dad and grandpa. I found out later that she had run outside and proudly announced "Look at me Dad! I am a zebra!" At least she was coloring on herself with a purpose. After soaking in the bath tub for about 20 minutes the Sharpie did come off with some good scrubbing. I will never buy a non-washable marker again!

Family Pictures

Well one of the many reasons we went to California this summer was to take family pictures. The family was all together for the first time in over a year and Emma was only two the last time we got everyone to take a picture, so this was a major accomplishment. After finally deciding on where to take the pictures, what to wear, who to have take them, and countless other issues (we are not the best decision makers) here are the results.

This is actually a picture that my sister took before the photographer arrived. He was late and by the time he got there my girls were ready to be done so I am glad that we got this one.

I love this picture. I think Abby looks so cute with her nose squished up against Grandpa cheek.
Here are the girls. My sister Shayla, my mom, me, Karina and Kaylee.
The girls and dad.
The whole gang. By this time Emma is totally done smiling and this is the only picture that we have were Emma is not scowling and Abby does not have her hand in her face.
Me and the girls. They are smiling so big because we are all done and I just told them we are going to go eat dinner.