Trip to Mississippi

At the end of July, the girls and I drove 10 hours with my parents to Mississippi to visit my grandpa "Poppy," my Mom's Dad.

He and my Uncle Barry live on my Great-Grandparent's farm just outside Oxford, MS. My Great-Grandfather built the house himself, and while it's not the working farm it once was, it is settled on the top of a hill, over looking farm fields and cows, surrounded by a great blue sky.

For, me, Mississippi is heat, and red dirt, and sweet tea, biscuits and bacon, pork BBQ, fried catfish, and gravel roads, kudzu, and calm and slow.

Busy Days & Wishes

Justin has been in China for work for the past seven days.


We have been keeping very busy in order to distract ourselves from the loss of his presence. We spent the weekend with my parents and had a great time at the Children’s Museum. MissViolet has sprouted a toddler’s personality in the past month and suddenly adores playing dress up. (Pics to come.)

Yesterday we went to Great Wolf Lodge with Moo-moo (J’s mom), Aunt Lori, Wesley, Tucker for the night. (It was super-fun. I highly recommend it. And go on a weekday if you can, ‘cuz the pool wasn’t busy or crowded at all.) We shared the fun with Poppy, Great-Aunt Jamie, Cousins Brandy, James, Mia, and Brenna today.

At the end of our wild two-day adventure, GA Jamie bought all the kids a “build-a-bear” type of souvenir. As they filled & stuffed their new toys they got to put a star into the bear and make a wish.

As MissLily was filling hers, I asked, “What did you wish for?”

Her reply, “I wish for my Daddy to come home.”

Choke back a sob... “Me. Too.”

Our Cruise!

J and I just took our first real vacation without our children! We had a great time, and spent it with two other couples. We cruised to the Western Carribiean. It was the first cruise for both of us, and while we hated leaving our girls we loved the couple time!

The girls ultimately were just fine while we were gone. But Lily was very upset with us for leaving her for so long. She reapeatedly asked us for weeks afterwards not to go anywhere without her!

To be honest, I didn't take a lot of pictures... I was too busy EATING. But there are a few more pictures, and a group shot over on Sonya's blog.

J's Bi-annual Fishing Trip

About twice a year, J, his Dad, brother and their buddy Dan, go on a fishing trip and bring me home some yummy fresh fish to fill up my freezer. When the guys go out of town, I usually take the kids to my parent’s for the weekend and everyone has a fun time.

This time the boys took their trip a few weeks ago, and went to somewhere on lake Michigan “where we could see Chicago from our boat.” They chartered a boat, and spent most of the morning seasick, or nearly seasick on rough waters that weren’t much fun for anyone… until they finally gave up early and decided to head back.

The trip this year wasn’t a loss though- they discovered a stream nearby their hotel that had some of the biggest fish they have ever caught, and came home with a good catch for us all!

South Carolina Vacay

We spent last week in Charleston, SC. for a much-needed family vacation! We left at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning to try to make up for the 13 hour drive. It wasn't so bad. Of course, J did all the driving, so he might have a different opinion on that.

We stayed on Isle of Palms, right on the beach. We could see the ocean from our balcony - it was amazing! Believe it or not, I took about 600 pictures, and forgot to take a picture of our amazing view! I won't bore you with all 600 pictures... but here are some of the highlights:

The SC Aquarium (we seem to have a thing for Aquariums)

Bug was a crazed-toddler at the Aquarium. We put her down, and she went nuts - bouncing back and forth from every tank and exhibit. She was on overload and loved it. Too bad the pictures don't quite capture what a spaz she was! She loved every minute of it, but when we left she crashed - she was asleep in the stroller before we made it to the car!

Yeah, she's kissing the fish.

A day at the beach.

Bug's first time in the sand. We tried to take her shoes off - I don't think she liked it. She's so weird about textures! But she got over it, she loved playing in it... just didn't want it on her feet.

She kept running towards the ocean, and then when the tide would come in, she'd run away squealing "oh! oh! oh!"

Touring around downtown Charleston.

She found a ladybug...

Our last day there, we visited Middleton Place, a huge plantation. We didn't take the house tour, because we didn't want to risk our crazy toddler surrounded by antiques, but there was plenty of beautiful scenery and animals to keep us busy.

Last, but not least, part of the reason for our trip was for my friend Joellen's wedding! (This pic is Bug cheesing for the camera at the wedding.) But I have more pictures from that to come!