Spring Break- at the Beach!

This spring break I thought it would be so much fun to head to the beach!  I failed to think about the fact that it could still be REALLY cold while we were there, and it was- at least for me.  The girls didn’t seem to mind thought :)

 

While we were there we would celebrate Easter, this little girl didn’t let her basket get too far from her

Like I said, it was cold, so we headed down to Myrtle one day to see the Ripley’s aquarium

we couldn’t have Easter without some dyed Easter Eggs!

some sisterly love

I was trying to come up with anything and everything from being outside, sounds weird while at the beach, but it was so cold!  So we quickly found some shells and painted them

The girls weren’t going to let us stay indoors forever, so to the beach we went!

We decided it would be fun to go to the sunrise service on the beach so we woke up really early to see that the Easter Bunny DOES visit the beach and boy did he spoil two little girls!

after the sunrise service.  It was a little overcast but sill great to see God’s creation while hearing the good news!

Later that day we went to fly our new kites

just a tad windy… ha!

While it was a great trip and hopefully next time it’ll be a tad bit warmer for us!

Happy 4th!

Growing up my parents threw a HUGE 4th of July party every year at their lake house.  It was one of my favorite days of the year and something we looked forward to.  After the sale of the lake house, and a few years of doing it at their house, they decided to no longer do the party.  Can’t blame them- it’s a lot of work!  Now that we don’t have set plans for the 4th anymore, it’s always a struggle to decided (at least for us) what were going to do to celebrate.  This year we had great plans to go to a friends house and spend the afternoon by the pool.  As you all know, when the Granger’s make plans and get excited about them, something usually gets in the way and changes our original fun plans.  Vaughn had a small procedure done on his back the day before.  Unfortunately the next morning the pain pills and antibiotics he took didn’t agree with him and caused him to be really sick the entire morning into the early afternoon.  I felt so bad!  He finally had some days off and now he was sick, on the 4th of all days!  We texted our friends and canceled, no way was he going to be able to hang out with folks by a pool and socialize well.  So I called my parents up, “y’all up for visitors?!”  We loaded up the car late afternoon and headed to their house for dinner.  And what started off as not such a great day, ended with smiles and laughter! 

Chloe had fun being chased by Papa!

After some yummy hamburgers, what’s a holiday without some ice cream on the porch?!

The girls love that G-Kat and Papa (Nana and Big V too) live in the country.  They always have a list of things they ‘have’ to do- feed the birds, pick blueberries, feed the fish, you know country things.  Callie picked everyone some fresh blueberries, although she ate most of them before they hit the container.

It was about time to head home and we had a few little fireworks to set off. 

Chloe was NOT a fan.  In fact, she hates all loud noises.

It might have not been a huge big celebration, but it ended up being just what we needed.

Happy 4th of July everyone!

Mother’s Day

Mother’s day happened to be the day after Travis and Emily’s wedding.  The girls spent the night out with Nana and Big V so Vaughn and I actually got to sleep in a bit!  I’ve been begging Vaughn for what seems like years for the two of us to go on a trip.  Not a trip with work tagged to it, or other friends/family members, just the two of us.  Well, Mother’s Day, I got that wish!  Were headed to Jamaica in September and I couldn’t be more excited!  I haven’t done much research on what to do yet, I know the resort has lots of activities for us to do, I’m just excited to escape for a couple of days with V!

We got ready and then headed out to Blythewood for the day.  We picked up the girls and had lunch with the Grangers.  They even let us take a long nap, second best mother’s day gift!  After our naps, it was on to G-Kat and Papa’s house.  They were hosting dad’s side of the family for dinner to celebrate mother’s day and Aunt Joanne’s birthday.  Callie’s new favorite thing to do is going fishing.  And I just love her excitement when she actually catches one!

I couldn’t imagine a more perfect mother’s day, or weekend for the matter!  I love this family and so thankful for them each and every day!

New Years

Hard to believe that it was already time to celebrate New Years!  But as usual, it snuck up on us way to fast but we were going to celebrate and make the best of it!  The Grangers offered to watch the girls that night for us and we happily accepted their offer.  I dropped them off right before lunch and they were so excited to be with their Nana and Big V they didn’t look back to say goodbye.  Vaughn and I then met up for lunch and a drink at Pawleys Front Porch before heading to JJ and Jills for the night.  Yes, I’m drinking ‘beer’ now and I like it!

After a yummy burger, we headed home, packed up the wagon and walked down to JJ & Jill’s, it’s nice having great friends that live only a couple houses down!

Jill and I spent the day drinking champagne while rocking on her back porch while the boy did what boys do (drink beer, grill and play corn hole).  Later that evening Vaughn cooked us all wings, and they were AMAZING!

We enjoyed everyone else’s fireworks.  Seeing that it’s known not to be a safe thing for our group to do, this was less stressful and more enjoyable!

Girl shot, missing Jill

Celebrated these two!  Excited for their wedding this year! To be Hollis’

The Helfers

Shellenbergs

Grangers

Lynyrd

and Waller!

Lots of fun had by all at the Shellenbergs.  Looking forward to a great 2012!

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Fourth of July!!  We hope your day was as relaxing as ours!  The day started off not much different from any other Sunday around our house, meaning we were real lazy and stayed in our pajamas until after lunch!  We loved that Vaughn had a long weekend to play with us, Callie was attached at the hip.  :)

Chloe was being her usual self trying to pull up on everything

And this crazy girl was all about being, well crazy… After a great nap, we packed up and headed out to G-Kat and Papas house to celebrate!  I don’t think you could get more American with your meal- Hamburgers, fruit, casseroles, salad, and cupcakes!  Callie helped me bake some cupcakes for the party, I think she enjoyed eating them more than making them- I did too. 

Chloe enjoyed celebrating with ice cream from Aunt Ellen, my kids aren’t spoiled, at all…..

After dessert it was time to get on the porch to watch some fireworks, we all took our seats…I love this picture!  One of my favorites of Dad and Chloe and then a bonus- Alex in the background doing is usual thing :) Callie snuggled up with G-Kat to watch.  She’s not a big fan of thunder, and since fireworks sound a lot like them, she was a little timid at first.  However, once she saw how neat they were, she was all into it.      Fireworks!  FYI: when buying fireworks, read the label closely… we got a big package of them that ended up being “fountains” not “rockets.”  OPS  Even though they were just fountains, they were still pretty and probably a lot safer for us- we’ve been known to hit people with them before- yeah dangerous.  Though low key, it was a perfect way to celebrate the 4th- we were with our family!  Happy 4th of July and thank you to the many men and women serving our country!!