Mytle Beach Adventures

We again visited Myrtle Beach this year. We stayed in South Myrtle this year and enjoyed a slighly quieter trip. The forecast called for rain the first day so we decided to skip the beach and head for the Children's Museum. Sydney loved it there during our last trip and it was a hit again this time. Katelyn loved it!!! She loved running all over, trying everything out, and just having fun. There is a picture of her making pizza in the kids' kitchen below. Sydney enjoyed standing inside a huge bubble. Check out that video below.

After enjoying a trip to the museum, we visited Barefoot Landing. It is one of our favorite "hang outs." We love walking around, feeding the fish, visiting the shops and riding the merry-go-round. But, this year Sydney was really brave and tried the bungy jumping. We never expected her to want to do it but she did. And, while she was definitely nervous about the jumping, she enjoyed it and wanted to do it again! Here's a photo of the girls feeding the fish and a video of Sydney bouncing!

We visited a new place - Broadway at the Beach! It sort of reminds me of Downtown Disney, as there are tons of shops and things to do. The big event here was Sydney getting in the "water hampster ball." I DID NOT think she'd ever try this one! But, she proved me wrong again. While she wasn't able to stand up, she liked floating on the water. Everyone around us was totally amazed that she did it at all. Check out our brave girl!

Katelyn's favorite part of Broadway was the Ripley's Aquarium. She loved the shark tanks that you can walk through.

And, once the rain finally stopped, we enjoyed two great beach days! As usual, Sydney loved the beach. She loves to get in the water and jump those waves. She also loves to build in the sand. Katelyn wasn't quite as big a fan of the sand, as she called it "yucky dirty" most of the time. But, she did like collecting shells and burying them in sand.

Katelyn's favorite part of the trip was the pool. She asked to go every time we walked into our room, so we definitely visited the pool often! Katelyn loved going under the water and floating on the lazy river. Unfortunately, we don't have a single pool photo. We were just too busy having fun. We really had a great vacation and can hardly believe it is over! Time definitely flies when you're having fun.

Beach Preview

Last week, we enjoyed dinner at Mr. Dan and Ms. Leslie's house, which is right on the water and has the most amazing view! (Thanks so much for hosting a fun "work" dinner.) After a short walk, we were able to visit the pier and get a quick "beach preview" by walking in the sand. As usual, Sydney loved it. Katelyn thought the sand was "Yucky dirty" but she loved entertaining everyone at dinner. Thanks to Ms. Jen for taking our family photo! Check out the enormous tree that is right in the middle of the deck! The girls loved running around it. We wish we lived there!!!

The Girls of Summer

We continued our newest annual tradition by taking in a Bay Sox game. As we did last year, we attended on Louie's (the team mascot) birthday. Honestly, I was a bit worried about Katelyn - I just didn't think she'd make it through the game. But, we learned something very valuable from our recent trip to see the movie WALL-E - don't sit down in your seats or give her any snacks until the event actually begins! Otherwise, the novelty wears off before you even get started! So, we visited the Kids Park at Bay Sox stadium. I don't know who designed this but they definitely have families in mind. There are rides for the kids so both Sydney and Katelyn were able to work off some energy before the game got started. Katelyn loved the merry-go-round while Sydney loved the moon bounce.

As it turned out, Katelyn was thrilled to watch all the mascots that came out to help Louie celebrate his birthday. She spent most of the game searching the stands for Louie and enjoying snacks! She really didn't get too squirmy until the very end. I don't know who on the Bay Sox hit the grand slam home run that put us ahead by 2 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning but he's is my hero. Not only did he give us something to cheer about but he also made it so we wouldn't have to sit through the bottom of the 9th hoping for a win!

When the game ended, we enjoyed the fireworks display that the Bay Sox put on almost every weekend home game. This was way easier than fighting the crowds somewhere to see the fireworks on the 4th. Then, Sydney was able to run the bases, which is always one of her favorite parts. We think Katelyn will be ready to run next year! She might have run this year but we were afraid we wouldn't be able to catch her if she got away!

Happy 4th of July!

We enjoyed a quiet 4th of July with Mom-mom and Aunt Debbie. While the rain threatened to ruin the backyard fireworks (all legal ones, just in case you're wondering), we managed to have a small show in the backyard. Sydney was very excited about celebrating this year. She wanted to be certain to wear her festive hair pom-poms. Katelyn was happy to wish everyone, "Happy July."

Squash Anyone???

Well, for several weeks Daddy (with some help from Sydney) has worked hard to keep our backyard garden going. This is no easy task, as the neighborhood bunnies are trying to eat the veggies before they even get a chance to grow! But, we have managed to grow one huge squash, as you can see from this pictures! We think Katelyn looks like she's playing the squash guitar!

Zootastic Day!

Yesterday, we enjoyed one of the best perks of being off in the summer - day trips! The weather was amazingly cool, which made for a perfect zoo day! We decided to take Sydney's boyfriend (yes, everyone knows about him), Morgan, with us. He couldn't have been nicer and they absolutely loved seeing the animals. Sydney and Morgan really are the best of friends and get along so well. Katelyn enjoyed seeing animals. She loves to say "Hi" to each and every one as we walk along. Her favorite part was brushing the goats. She had to brush each on at least once. We wouldn't want to leave anyone out!



Just as an update - Sydney visited the specialist again to have her height checked and all is well. She remained in the 25th percentile and, since that is consistent with where she was 6 months ago, there is no need for any future concern at this point. Her doctor and I will continue to chart her growth just to be certain we all have accurate measurements. So, thankfully, it looks like she'll just be a short girl! We'll take that any day!!!

Fishing for Fun!

Sydney enjoyed another fun-filled fishing trip with Daddy this year. Old Pop also went along for what proved to be a great day. Syd absolutely loves fishing - once Daddy told her they were going, it was all she could talk about. She has her own rod, chair, and fishing hat! As you can see, she did catch some but she let them all go. Just means there are more to catch next time!

Good-bye Pre-Kindergarten

Sydney and Tutu on the first and last days of Pre-Kindergarten!

Well, the school year is over and we are in full summer mode here! Sydney finished out pre-kindergarten with a wonderful final "progress report." And, after taking her for her kindergarten testing, I know for certain that she knows all her upper and lower case letters as well as all the sounds. She can also recognize numbers 1 - 10. The teacher testing her said "I don't really need to do these, do I? Your mommy would be sad if you didn't know these. She likes math, right?" So, once Syd confirmed that she did indeed know the numbers, she declared "I can count to 100 too!" That's my girl!!!

I can't say enough about her year in pre-k. Thanks to Tutu yet again for stepping up and helping us out! We couldn't have done it without you! Sydney loved her classmates, the teachers and adults at her school, "workshop time" (center time) and especially her extra time each day with Tutu. But, she is also excited to go to her new school, make some new friends, and attend before and after care with some "old" friends.