.party time!.

We had HJ's party on Saturday...it was lots of fun! Her only request was to have a pinata (easy enough!). So we did an art party since she is always wanting to paint/color/create. We had a blast!... the weather was beautiful! Each kiddo painted a canvas, we all ate delicious food, and then just enjoyed hanging out with each other.

the cute pendant banners and table runner were made by an awesome friend for HJs first birthday
 party and we still use them!!!

.my BABY girl is 4!!.

I can't believe that HJ is 4 today! Time needs to slow down... We go this week to Open House for her preschool.... what?!?!?!?

We went for her 4 year old appointment last week and she was 42.5 lbs(90%). and 42.5(95%) inches tall. The doctor looked over to me and asked me how tall I was and then quickly said, "well, I hate to tell you, but your daughter will be bigger than you are!"... THANKS! She passed her hearing/vision test with perfect scores..... I was one proud mama.

She is so precious... She is maturing and I love watching her grow and discover things each day! She is very very verbal, people always think she is older than she really is.... until they see her have a melt down! haha.. She is loving praying and memorizing verses which has been so neat to see develop. She loves her brother, when he isn't messing with her stuff. She is still loving horses and the girl loves to color and paint. I enjoy watching her play with her stuffed animals or barbies. The role playing is so imaginative. She could play by herself for hours! She has sass like none other... my mom tells me all the time that she is a spitting image of me at that age. LOVE IT!

HattieJo,
 Mommy and Daddy love you more than you know! We are so thankful that the Lord has given you another year of a healthy life. We pray that He will guide us as we parent and love you! We pray that your heart will be captured by him at a young age, that you will know and follow Him all the days of your life!
Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Cousins Camp: Day 5 and more....

On Friday we travelled to Savannah GA and had lunch at Chik-fil-a so the cousins could play together a little longer.  Then Poppa and HattieJo headed to North Carolina (boo hoo)

CAMP RECREATION: (by Poppa)

Horseback riding  

Thanks "JaxMan"

  ::Boxing-Ryan said, "HattieJo you want a piece of me?" HattieJo bopped him in the nose!  Ryan shook it off and took it like a little man!

 Lizard and toad hunting.  Look at that gear!

Balloon races 

ARTS AND CRAFTS: by Gigi

We made picture frames using the shells we collected at Morris Island.  Made crabs out of their handprints (we saw lots of crabs on our boat ride) and we decorated visors. 

It was so interesting to see the unique ideas they had for their crafts and hear them explain their artistic techniques.

We are so thankful for the blessings God has given us and our 5 grandchildren are at the top of the list.  The cousin campers have some common traits:

1.  They all have a "rag" they sleep with and it's their most prized possession.  (So me and Poppa were often on la la searches and loved every minute or should I say hour of it )

2.  They can not I repeat can not tolerate sand on their feet (welcome to sandy Florida)

3.  They are all good sleepers (as long as you keep those "rags" nearby)

4.   They LOVE ice-cream!

5.  They are always up for an adventure.

We are so blessed that our grandchildren have awesome parents.  Thank you Mike, Erin, Andrew and Anna for raising these children in Godly homes and thank you for trusting us to care for and love them for a week.  We look forward to next year when AP joins the group!

Gigi and Poppa- thank you so much for taking the time to make such great memories with these kiddos! Y'all are amazing!!! As HJ would say. "we love y'all to the moon and back ten million times!" 

Cousins Camp: Day 4

Fourth of July

That morning we went to the parade in Middleburg.  Lots of loud sirens, motorcyles, and horses.

  Waiting for the parade to begin.

 "Littles" standing as the flag goes by.

HattieJo learning to blow a bubble with gum.  She is the "princess" among all these boys and they love being her knight in shining armor.

  Tyler life lesson learned at the parade.  "If you smile and wave they give you candy!"

That afternoon Mike and Erin had a cookout with lots of family and more cousins!  They played in the red-neck pool and on the slip-n-slide.

Insert 0164 One tough little boy.

 Just a swingin'

 Lined up for balloon fun

Yes HattieJo there is such a thing as girl cousins!

Between rain showers MRC gave us a great fireworks show!

Tyler's turn to spend the night.......Settling down with a bedtime story.

Cousins Camp: Day 3

Wednesday adventure:  Alligator Farm in St. Augustine. 

They have improved this attractions over the years.  It is more like a zoo now and they have a zip line you can rider over the alligators.  Erin and Andrew made many visits here with school field trips and our family summer adventures.

   Cousins snugglin'

  Get that gator Poppa before it eats our grands!

 Are those shirts adorable or what?

  Ryan says "What ya doing HattieJo?"

  This is Gomek (stuffed).  This large salt water croc was alive and the main attraction when Erin and Andrew were young.  New new main attraction is Maximo also a huge salt water croc.  At Tyler's request we stayed and watched them feed Maximo.  Good call Ty we all enjoyed it!

Wednesday night was Dylan's turn for a slumber party.

 Playing angry birds after bath time.

 

Cousins Camp: Day 2

Going down to breakfast.  Punching the elevator button was a huge deal to them so watching them scramble for their turn was always interest (and they usually quoted our camp scripture verse in a LOUD voice to the one who got there first)!

HattieJo wanted me to wear her beautiful visor after breakfast.

Huggin' Cousins:

First photos in our camp t-shirts!!!!

Our second day adventure was a tour of the salt marsh/Folly Beach, SC.  We booked a charter with Tideline Tours.  Cpt. Anton is a coastal biologist and teaches at College of Charleston.

Insert 0047

Heading to the boat.

Nothing like salty air blowing on your face!

We saw several dolphin (and a newborn baby dolphin); a shark; oyster beds and went shelling on Morris Island.  We heard snapping shrimp (sounds like popcorn popping) and dolphin under the water with a hydrophone.   Cpt. Anton checked a crab trap and we saw large crabs in the trap and a hermit crab hanging on the outside of the trap.  He put it in a bucket and let the kids keep it for the trip.

The guide draws the fins of the dolphins and names them and records it in a journal.

Anton threw out a cast net and caught some fish.  HattieJo was determined to pick one up and she did!

Dylan got one too!  Look at the bulging fish eyes.

Poppa and Ryan sailing along.

The kids were all troopers when it began to rain on our way back.  Tyler has issues being wet in clothes that are not made for swimming but he was a super dooper camper and made the best of it.  HattieJo went to sleep and when we got back to the marina she said "Gigi I went to sleep on the boat ride"!

We arrived back in Florida on Tuesday night.  Erin made dinner for us then it was on to Gigi and Poppa's house. Each night one of the boys spent the night with HattieJo.  First night was Ryan.

Ryan and HattieJo playing "inga" turtles.  These ninja turtle figures belonged to Andrew.  Almost 30 years old and still bringing joy to the next generation.

Night-Night time.  All my grands are great sleepers and when it's time to go to bed they are no trouble.  Praise the Lord!