Last Pictures from Our Trip to the Beach!

I tried to add these four pictures to my blog under their "titled" post, but for whatever reason blogger would not upload them (even after it said "your photos have been uploaded"). So before I deleted them from my card tonight, I thought I would try to upload them one more time. And VOILA, it worked. So I promise these will be the last photos from this particular beach trip!

These three are from our trip to Ripley's Aquarium:

This is a sawfish! When Drew saw it laying above our heads, he said "mom, get a picture".

This green sea turtle is eating in the above picture, and below he is swimming over our heads. This is my favorite animal in the whole aquarium!

This picture should have been with the other pictures from Putt-Putt:

Drew is this close to the whole after only one hit! This was one of the four wholes he got close to a hole-in-one on!

Summer Fun!

With today being the first day of summer, I wanted to post more of what we have been doing this summer. Everyone asks me all the time "so what do you do all summer since you don't have to work?" I spend all my time with my two little ones and I enjoy every minute - okay, so not every minute, but pretty close! We play outside, go on "field trips", READ, write, play with playdough, paint, play with baby dolls and power rangers, watch tv, etc. We also spend a lot of time in Mimi and Poppi's pool (right now we are waiting on the liner to be replaced - sometime this week).

Even though temperatures have been in the 90's this week, we have still managed to have fun (even spending some time outside)! We spent Monday morning outside because there was a nice breeze that kept us from getting too hot. Drew and Mikayla have finally figured out how to ride the "plane" on their swingset by themselves. We have had the swingset for 3 years - it was a gift from mommy and daddy for Drew's second birthday. After playing outside we came in, had lunch, and rested awhile before playing more in the afternoon.

They had to show daddy how they could fly their "plane" when he got home from work!

Look at those funny faces- they are my silly monkeys!

Yesterday, we spent the morning playing, and then Drew and Mikayla went to stay with Mimi while mommy went for a check-up at the dentist. When I picked them up, I found them playing Connect Four with Mimi in her living room floor! Boy, those Grandma's sure know how to have a good time with their grandchildren. Then before we came home, we went and visited awhile with Grandma (Drew and Mikayla's great-grandma), who lives across the street from Mimi and Poppi. While there, Drew and Mikayla gave Red two bones (they both had to give her one), got into Grandma's candy dish way more than they needed to, and rolled a ball in her living room. I'm telling ya, those Grandma's sure love to spoil their grandkids. Drew and Mikayla got a double-dose of this yesterday!

Today, we got up and got ready to go to the movies. I took Drew and Mikayla to the movies by myself last week to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (see earlier post), but today Aunt Jennie, Daniel, and Danae were going to meet us there. We went to see Polar Express . Drew and Mikayla have the movie and this was the third time they have seen it in the theatre (this was the first movie we took them to see at the theatres), but you would have thought it was their first. Mikayla was still surprised by some things, and Drew never took his eyes off the screen. We had a great time, I just wish I had taken my camera to get pictures of Drew and Mikayla with Danae and Daniel! Then we went and met daddy for lunch at Fatz! When we got home, we rested for awhile and then continued to play inside until daddy got home. When daddy came home, we all went outside for family time. Daddy cooked on the grill, while Drew, Mikayla, and I played in the yard. In fact, Craig has cooked on his grill every night this week. I'm loving this, because I'm not tied up in the kitchen! After dinner, Poppi came over to bring Drew and Mikayla chocolate milkshakes, and play for awhile. When he was leaving, Drew and Mikayla tried to get him to stay to catch ligtning bugs with them. He was tired and was going home to get ready for bed. I guess he felt bad once he got home because he sent Aunt Jennie and Josh over to catch lightning bugs.

Even though they couldn't find any lightning bugs, Drew and Mikayla still had fun with Jennie and Josh. They didn't want them to leave even though it was almost 11:00.

Late bedtime means they will sleep late in the morning - not so good for Craig who has to get up early for work!

Cookin' Out!

Tonight we had a cook-out and invited several family members and friends to join us. (This will probably become a Saturday night tradition for our family since Craig has a new grill [see post below.]) Craig grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, while I made the chili, baked beans, and slaw. We also had home-made pimento cheese (thanks to Craig), and chips of all kinds. What a meal!

My mom and dad, my sister Jennie and her boyfriend Josh, my brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Jessica, my Aunt Laura, Uncle Ted, and my cousin Lauren all joined us for supper! We enjoyed the great food and the wonderful company!

Drew, Mikayla, and Lauren all played so well together! Lauren is a great help with them!

Lauren and Mikayla play in the moon walk tent that Drew and Mikayla received as a birthday present last year from Mimi and Poppi!

Drew takes a break from swinging like a monkey.

Craig working hard over the grill. He loves his Father's Day present! Uncle Ted and my daddy (Poppi) relax on the deck after supper!
Drew and Mikayla look at a bunny rabbit through our fence. This bunny has been hopping all around our house for the past two days. Yesterday, it would hop in our fence and Drew would chase it until it hopped out of the fence Then it would come back in the fence for more. I guess it enjoyed playing chase with Drew!

Jonathan, Jessica, Jennie, and Josh pose for a picture on our top deck.

Aunt Laura and Mimi look on as Poppi tries to figure out Drew's toy.

Everyone started leaving as it got close to 11. Lauren put Mikayla's pajamas on before she left, and Josh read Drew and Mikayla a bedtime story before he and Jennie left. I think this is such a sweet picture!

Father's Day!

Drew, Mikayla, and I got up early this morning and got ready to go shopping. We had yet to get Craig or my daddy anything for Father's Day and I was determined to finish our shopping today! I had in mind what we were going to give, a grill for Craig and a golf bag for daddy, we just had to pick them out. Craig is getting a grill for Father's Day since Drew broke the glass out of Craig's other grill two weeks ago. We were having a cook-out with Mimi, Poppi, Jennie, Josh, Jonathan, and Jessica. Craig was letting the grill heat up to put the meat on while Drew and Mikayla played in their kiddie pool. Craig had left the hose pipe on so that water would continue to fill the pool up. Drew thought it would be fun to spray the grill. When the cold water hit the hot glass, it shattered. Luckily Drew was not hurt, but both Craig and Drew were upset by this. I thought it would be good for Drew to replace what he had broken (even if it is mommy who spends the money).

I started out at Big Lots. I knew that they carry grills and I am all for Big Lots prices!! I knew that Craig wanted a grill with the side burner and I wanted it to be stainless steel so that it wouldn't rust! Big Lots had two with the side burner, but neither of them were stainless. So, we were off to Walmart (Craig had seen one there that he liked), but not before Drew and Mikayla took a turn on the "quarter horse".
Once we got to Walmart, we went straight to the grills where I saw the one Craig had had his eyes on and another one that I really liked! I got one of the associates to come over and explain the grills to me so that I could really understand the differences between them. The only difference I could see, besides the fact that the one I liked better was $130 more, was that it was all stainless and the other one was mostly stainless with the exception of the sides. After he explained both grills to me I had a decision to make. The more expensive grill was bigger (both the grilling area and the burner), it gets a little bit hotter, it is fully stainless, it came with a rotisserie, and something about the grilling surface was different but I don't remember his exact words. I told the man that I had more shopping to do, but that I would be back. He told me to come back when I was ready and they would load the one I choose into our van.

From there we walked over to sporting goods. I couldn't decide which grill because I really liked the bigger one, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to spend that much more money for a fully stainless grill. So, I called Craig. Drew got mad at me because "it was supposed to be a surprise". I have never been that good with surprises anyway. Craig said get the cheaper one, it would serve the purpose.

After talking with him, I found a great golf bag for daddy. For the price this bag has a lot of bells and whistles!! It has 13 different compartments for his different clubs and a separate compartment for his putter/wedge. It has 2 garment pockets, a phone/glasses pocket, an umbrella holder, tee holders, a rain hood, and many other things that I can't remember without it right in front of me! I sure hope daddy likes it!

From there, we went back to the grills and I pondered some more over which grill to get. Finally, I settled on the cheaper one after another call to Craig. Once the Walmart guys had it loaded, I asked Drew how we would keep this surprise a secret sense it was filling up the back half of our van. He told me "you can put it in daddy's building". I told him I wouldn't be able to lift it by myself, so we came up with another plan. We were going to go get lunch and then go to daddy's work. I sent Drew and Mikayla in to his office (I was standing right outside) and they were going to tell him to come look at his surprise. They couldn't tell him what it was, he had to come out and see it! After my phone calls Craig already knew what it was, but he went along with our plan so that Drew and Mikayla could "surprise" him! When he saw it he wanted to leave work right then to come home and put it together. I told him when he got home we would go back to Walmart without unloading the grill to see if he liked the other better.

Guess what - he did. Like the other one better, I mean. After we payed the difference in the two grills, some different guys unloaded the one that the guys had just loaded this morning and loaded the bigger one (with a little more of a struggle) in our van to come home.

Craig spent all evening putting this grill together. He keeps calling it a monster - all I know is he better not ever need a new grill.

!

The Movies

One of the movie theatres here in town have what's called Summer Movie Madness. Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for the entire summer (starting in June, and ending in July) they play "old" movies suitable for children, a different movie each week. For example, the movie they showed this Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and next week they will show The Polar Express. They charge $1 admission for children and parents/adults get in free. They also have "kiddie" popcorn and drinks available for $1 each. Many daycares take advantage of this offer as part of there summer programs for the children. My sister and I found out about this program last year. We started taking Drew and Mikayla along with the three children from our church that she baby-sits Danae, Marissa, and Daniel. We didn't take the kids every week last year, but we had so much fun the weeks we did go. I knew I wanted to take advantage of this program again this year. So, yesterday we got up and got ready to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was the first time that I have been brave enough to take Drew and Mikayla to the movies by myself, but I figured this year they are both independent enough to walk by themselves carrying their popcorn and drink. This left me able to carry my popcorn and drink and their two "booster seats". The cinema that offers this has stadium-style seating and offers "boosters" for the kids. While we were waiting in line to buy tickets, Mikayla starts hollering "I gotta go potty". I had planned to take she and Drew once we got inside because since she has been completely potty-trained (since the end of March) we try to go to the bathroom before we begin anything. The very nice lady standing in front of us offered to buy our tickets so that we wouldn't have to go to the end of the line. I was very grateful for her offer, and she even came into the restroom to find and give us our tickets. I couldn't thank her enough for that act of kindness! By the time we got our popcorn and drinks, got their "boosters" and made our way into the theatre the opening credits were running. Of course Drew likes to sit up near the top so we made our way in the darkness. Once we were seated (Drew on his "booster" and Mikayla in my lap because of the loud noise), we were ready for the movie to begin. Drew and Mikayla were very well behaved during our trip, and I can't wait to take them back next week!

Rides!

The last two times we have gone to the beach, Nana has taken Drew and Mikayla (mommy and daddy too) to ride rides. Since she is a resident of Myrtle Beach, she gets unlimited ride bracelets at The Magic Kingdom for 10 dollars each so she likes to get one for Drew and Mikayla while they are there. Last year when we went, Drew and Mikayla had a ball. We ended up staying there for five hours. This year, the weather did not cooperate and we were not able to stay as long. After eating with Uncle Ovid at Crabby Mike's on Thursday night, we went back to the campground to get Nana. When we got there, we found out that Nanny had decided to go as well. Since Rob and Claudia Grace wanted to go, Aunt Susan and Uncle Kent had decided they would come as well, but they had to get some supper first.

Once Craig, Drew, Mikayla, and I arrived and helped Nana get Nanny out of the car, we went in to get Drew and Mikayla bracelets. A nice man who was leaving as we were coming in had given us the tickets that his family had left over. That was wonderful because it gave us tickets for one of the adults to use if we needed to ride with Drew or Mikayla. Drew spotted the Tilt-a-Whirl on our way to the ticket booth to get their bracelets and I promised him that we would ride that ride first. The tilt-a-whirl was the first "big" ride I rode as a child and it was one of my favorites! I was delighted to be the one to take Drew on this ride for the first time. When Mikayla was asked if she wanted to ride with us, she responded with an anticipated "no!" After Drew got over his initial uneasiness, we laughed all through the rest of the ride. The next ride Drew and Mikayla rode together. They chose a red fire truck from one of the kiddie cars that go round and round.

This was the last ride of the night because as soon as they got off, it started to rain. This was the only storm we saw the whole week we were at the beach, but it sure upset Drew and Mikayla to have to leave the rides!

Crabby Mike's

Last Thursday, on our last full day of vacation, we went to eat at Crabby Mike's with Uncle Ovid. I had to get my fill of crablegs while we were at the beach, and this was in fact the second time we had eaten at a seafood restaurant with a crablegs on the buffet during our trip. When we got there, they told us it would be a 45 minute wait for a table. When it turned out to be only a 20 minute wait, we were pleasantly surprised! I didn't get any pictures of Drew or Mikayla eating (they even had a few crablegs too!), but I did get some pictures of them after the meal! These activities are meant to help pass the time as families wait on a table. Our family took advantage of them after our meal!

Drew gets a Batman tattoo on his arm.

Mikayla gets a tattoo of two dolphins on her leg, but not without mommy holding her of course!

While Mikayla was getting her tattoo, Drew took advantage of the hula-hoops!

BINGO!

Drew and Mikayla on the golf cart get ready to go play BINGO!Mikayla sits on Nanny's lap and waits for BINGO to start. Craig, Mikayla, Drew, Uncle Ovid, and Nanny wait for BINGO to start. Rob, Claudia Grace, and Nana would be joining us soon!

Craig's mom kept the kids for us on Monday night while at the beach so that Craig and I could go play BINGO at the campground recreation center. We had such a good time, and seeing that there were kids in there we thought we would give Drew and Mikayla a chance to play (for the first time) by going back on Wednesday night. Ocean Lakes offers BINGO every Monday and Wednesday night year-round, and the great part is that it is free. At first, Drew would get upset every time another person hollered BINGO and won because he wanted to win. We had told him about me winning on Monday night, but we tried to prepare him for the fact that we might not win again on this night! Somewhere around the ninth game (they play 20 games each night) I got BINGO on my card. Since I was holding both mine and Drew's card I let him yell it out. He won a free game of putt-putt at the campground putt-putt course. After he won, Drew was ready to go. Mikayla, of course, was just then ready to play so that she might could win. Up until this point, she had not been real interested in the game. Drew was the only person in our group to win on this night, but we all had a lot of fun!

Ripley's Aquarium

Drew and Mikayla trying to pet the stingray. They both were able to pet several of these magnificent creatures. Drew was even able to pet a small shark (approx. 3 feet long) that swam up occasionally.
This is one of my favorite pictures. Drew and Mikayla are sitting on the ledge of the jellyfish tank. That's the closest I hope they ever get to these beautiful jellies.
Mikayla and Drew were enthralled by the sea life in this tank. We are not sure who the little guy is standing beside Drew, but judging by his hair he could almost be another one of ours!


Daddy helps Mikayla pose in this astronaut suit! It was on display in the Mars exhibit. Mars - The Search for Life was the new exhibit in the ever-changing exhibit room at Ripley's.
Drew takes a turn to have his picture made in the astronaut suit. In fact, we had to pull him away from this. In this exhibit he also got to drive a remote controlled Mars Rover, and Mikayla got to touch a huge meteorite!

On Tuesday night, we took Drew and Mikayla to Ripley's Aquarium. This was the third or fourth time Drew had been to the aquarium and Mikayla's second trip. The last time our family had been to the aquarium was when Mikayla was only 9 months old so we were due another trip. We have always had a ball there, but this time was really special because both Drew and Mikayla were old enough to really participate in the fun on their own. Sure Craig and I were still with them every moment, but we were able to stand back more and watch them take it all in.

From touching (Drew even tried to hold) the horse-shoe crabs, to viewing the sharks and other marine life, to petting the stingray, Drew and Mikayla were excited about it all!

Playing Putt-Putt

This was the hole that Mikayla almost got a hole-in-one on. She did this completely on her own. Here, she gets ready for her second shot.
Mikayla taps the ball in the hole!
Drew prepares to hit this ball over water!


Last Tuesday while on vacation, Craig spent the morning playing golf with his step-brother Didge. So I took Mikayla and Drew to play putt-putt. There's another great thing about Ocean Lakes, an 18 hole putt-putt course right behind the pools. In fact, I had just won a free round of putt-putt the night before when Craig and I had played BINGO in the recreation center. Since it was just me with Drew and Mikayla, I didn't get to play. I had my hands full with my camera and helping Mikayla with her "club". Drew used a real club, but we picked out a plastic one for Miki. Pretty smart of us too because when she got mad on the very first hole, she threw that club straight to the ground. After talking with mommy, and the assurance that if she did that again she would no longer be playing she calmed down. After that first hole, we had a wonderful game of putt-putt. Drew and Mikayla stayed with me, took turns going first on alternating holes, and even cheered for each other! I was also impressed with how well Drew did! On several holes (four in fact), he almost got a hole-in-one. I know, I know almost isn't something to brag about, but for a four year old I feel it is. Mikayla is still at the stage where she hits the ball one time and, no matter where it lands, picks it up and puts it right on the edge of the hole so she can just tap it in. Luckily at this point we aren't keeping score, and Drew didn't seem to mind at all. I must say, though, that on one of the holes she actually came pretty close to getting a hole-in-one herself! We had a ball, and after we finished our game we went back to the house to change into our bathing suits to head to the pool for a swim!

Time at the Pool!

Mikayla hops out of the pool for a minute.
Drew walks under the mushroom to get wet!
We were the first to get to the pool on this particular morning and Drew and Mikayla had the pool to themselves. Drew took advantage of it by swimming all around.
Daddy and Mikayla are deep in discussion!

While on vacation, our family stayed in a house in Ocean Lakes Family Campground. One of the great things about Ocean Lakes is that it has a nice sized Kiddie Pool. Normally when we stay there, we do not take Drew and Mikayla's floatie swimsuits because they never ask to get in the big pool. There was nothing different this time. The only pool they wanted to play in was the Kiddie pool which is no deeper than 2 feet anywhere in the pool. Some places are only a little over a foot deep. There are many things for the kids to have fun with in this pool such as squirting devices, water falling on them from various things, etc. Mikayla wasn't real sure about the pool at first (just like with the ocean), but with Craig and I taking turns to sit on the side with her, she got used to it quickly! Drew and Mikayla had a ball at the pool, and more often than not asked to go here instead of the ocean.

Spending Time on the Atlantic Shoreline

While on vacation last week to Myrtle Beach, we spent several of our mornings at the ocean or the "big water" as Drew and Mikayla call it. Mikayla wasn't very sure of this at first and never really got used to the ocean water. Craig tried to get her to put her feet in, and she would only do that a little. I took her out into the ocean about up to my knees and she was fine with that as long as I was holding her. If I went to put her feet in, she would start crying to go in to her daddy. Drew loved it, and if we would have let him, he would have gone waist deep by himself. He did get to go out pretty far with Craig and I (up to our waist), but by himself we would only let him go in ankle deep water. For the most part Drew stayed in the water ( except when building sand castles or bringing me seashells), and Mikayla stayed on the shore.

On Wednesday morning while we were at the ocean, a crowd gathered about ten feet to the right of where we were sitting and they were pointing out into the water. The water was empty except for two ladies floating on a float. About the same time that Craig spotted a dorsal fin out of the water the life guard blew her whistle and motioned for the ladies to come in. The dorsal fin that Craig pointed out to me was only about 5 feet from where those ladies were. They had no idea that there was a shark until the life guard blew her whistle. When they saw what everyone was pointing at, they started paddling like crazy to get to the shore! Three sand sharks were spotted that day in waist deep water. After we spotted them, no one in our family went past their ankles in the Atlantic Ocean. However, as you can tell from these pictures, we still enjoyed our time on the Atlantic Shoreline!

Recital Part II

Okay, so now I will try this again. Blogger was being a booger and wouldn't let me upload anymore pictures to my last post (please see below for the first part of this post). I still had a few more I wanted to add so here we go with Recital Part II. Mikayla during her ballet routine! I wanted to add these two pictures with the one on the blog below, but was unable to for whatever reason! She's the pink flower on the far right!Here all the girls get ready to perform the finale. Mikayla (in the pink) and her friend Abbi (the yellow flower) dance the finale with Miss Haley. They both did a wonderful job. At the end Mikayla finished with her back to us - I wish I had gotten a picture of that, but we do have it on video. It was so funny! Teachers in this picture are (from left to right) Miss Haley, Miss Nicole, and Miss Andrea. Mikayla excepts her first trophy ever for completing one year of dance at Rising Star Dance Company. That's her lead instructor, Miss Andrea, to the right passing the trophies out!


Mikayla has thoroughly enjoyed these last three months that she has taken dance. She loves Miss Andrea, Miss Haley, and Miss Nicole! They were all so helpful with Mikayla and made a wonderful impression on her! We can't wait for September when next year's dance season starts. Mikayla is still dancing her routine, as well as some of the other girls' routines that she learned just from watching the recital!!

2006 Dance Recital

On Saturday, June 3, 2006 at 3:00, Rising Star Dance Company held it's sixth annual recital. Of course this was Mikayla's first recital, and we had been anxiously awaiting this since she first started taking dance at the beginning of March. She has picked up really quickly and has learned a lot in this short amount of time! Mommy, Daddy, Drew, Mimi, and Poppi were all in attendance to celebrate this with Mikayla! Mikayla and I had to be there at 1:30 so I waited until we got there to dress her. I was so afraid that something would happen to her costume since we had a lot of time before recital started. Once I got her changed into her first costume, she went right into the "holding room" with Miss Haley without crying at all. I was about to go check on her about 2:45 when Miss Haley brought her out carying her tights and shoes. I thought she had had an accident, but Miss Haley assured me she had made it to the potty but some had still gotten on her tights. We went back and put some new tights on her and she was good as new - ready to go! Then I went back to the auditorium to wait on Daddy, Drew, Mimi, and Poppi. The recital started promptly at 3:00, and it wasn't long before Mikayla's class danced on stage for her first song.
Mikayla is the one on the far right in the blue. The lollipop stayed in front of her face for almost the entire song. Craig asked "why is she holding that in front of her face?". This was her first time ever for her to be on stage in front of a large group of people. Again, Mikayla tries to do just what the other girls are doing. Some of the steps she could be seen doing before the other girls which helped Mommy realize she was learning the steps, not just watching her friends the whole time! Mikayla dances her ballet routine with the other girls from her class. Again, she is the one on the far right in the pink.

Then we had a little while to wait for the finale so that we could see our little Mikayla on the stage again. We were so proud of how well she was doing - all the girls were doing a terrific job. For most of the girls in Mikayla's class this was their first year taking dance! We were so proud of them all! Blogger is being a pest right now and will not let me upload any more phots, so I will try posting another post showing some pictures of the finale and of Mikayla getting her trophy!

Dress Rehearsal for Mikayla's Recital

On Friday, June 2 at 5:30 we had dress rehearsal for Mikayla's recital which would be held the following afternoon. When we first arrived at the school, Mikayla was very excited! She kept saying "I gonna dance". Even walking the halls in the school to get to the auditoruim did not seem to make her nervous. However, as soon as we stepped through the doors to the auditorium and she saw the stage and all the seats she started crying. She wanted me to hold her, she wanted to go home, she wanted her daddy and her Drew (they had stayed at home) - she wanted anything but this! I picked her up and took her to the stage, the whole while telling her she was okay and I wasn't going to let anything happen to her. I also tried reminding her that this was going to be just like at the studio - she would be dancing with "her girls" and Miss Andrea, Miss Haley, and Miss Nicole - the only difference would be the stage and people watching. She did finally stand on the stage and let me take her picture.
Then as more children arrived and it got closer for them to start with the rehearsal, she became upset again. I was beginning to think that she really wasn't going to do the recital - I mean, she wasn't even going to do the rehearsal when the auditorium wasn't full of people. They called for all the girls to sit on the right side of the auditorium and Mikayla went to sit in Miss Haley's lap. Then, after a few minutes started crying again for mommy. I got her and let her sit in my lap with the other girls. Then they called for all the girls to go back-stage because it was time to rehearse the finale. The whole cast of Dancing Through Oz would participate in the finale. I took Mikayla to the "holding room" which was the room right off the stage. Parents were not allowed in the "holding room" and I thought it would be best if I didn't go in with her then since I wouldn't be allowed back there on Saturday during the recital. All I had to do was get her to go in that room with all of the other girls and the three teachers - good luck. When I opened the door to that room, all we saw were little girls. Mikayla was not about to go into a room with all those little girls, many of whom she did not know. I couldn't see either of her teachers from the door, and I was nervous about leaving her in there without one of them. Then one of the parents who would be back-stage on Saturday was going in the door and she asked if Mikayla wanted to walk around back there with her. Mikayla agreed, and I was ever so thankful. As I walked away from there heading back into the auditorium to watch I could hear Mikayla crying for me. At this point I was still fearing that she was not going to participate. When I got into the auditorium, I could still hear her crying back-stage. The crying only lasted a few more minutes and I was anxious to see if she was going to come out on stage with the other girls. Turns out - leaving her in that room was the best thing I did. Not only did she come out on stage to practice the finale with the other girls, she did everything else just as the other girls did them that night! I was so proud of her!

What a Vacation!!

We arrived home from a week spent in Myrtle Beach late yesterday afternoon. We had just enough time to unpack and to start one load of laundry and we were off to eat supper at Pizza Inn with Mimi, Poppi, Aunt Jennie, and Josh! Mimi and Poppi were so happy to see us (especially Drew and Mikayla), and we were all happy to see them! It was also the first time we had seen Jennie in over two weeks. She was at the beach a week before us, and was coming home Saturday as we were heading down! I will be posting lots of pictures of our trip. We had a wonderful time, and Drew and Mikayla were able to enjoy many experiences while we were there! I will also be posting several pictures from Mikayla's dance recital and her dress rehearsal. Since we left for the beach directly after her recital last Saturday, I have not had a chance to post those yet! First though, I must get some more of our laundry done so I don't get so far behind this week!! Our family had a wonderful time on vacation, and we are so thankful to Nana and Papa Fred, Nanny, Uncle Ovid, Aunt Susan, Uncle Kent, Katie Beth, Rob, and Claudia for the time and memories shared!!

Summer!!

What a week! Our first week of summer vacation. Drew, Mikayla, and I are having a blast spending the days together. I comment all the time about having the best of both worlds. I love my job as a teacher, but I also love being a stay-at-home mom over summer break!! We have been sleeping late, well, later than usual. We have been reading - A LOT (both children's books with Drew and Mikayla and mommy books for me). We've been writing (Drew is practicing to write sentences, and Mikayla is practicing to write her name). We have been relaxing inside, and playing outside! We have been busily preparing for our vacation next week - laundry, packing, cleaning, more laundry. We have Mikayla's much anticipated recital on Saturday afternoon! The dress rehearsal is tomorrow night, and I am a like a teacher the night before the first day of school. I'm nervous, excited, not sure what to expect, etc. I've been told that it is an unorganized mess, and you wonder how in the world it will all work and flow together on Saturday. My source reassured me that it will, in fact, flow together on Saturday. I'm finishing up the last minute preparations tonight - for example, sewing the sequined strap covers over the straps of Mikayla's tap costume. Those of you who know me know that I am not a seamstress, but I love to try. I have also been busy making sure we have everything together in her bag - costumes (with all pieces), tights, shoes, make-up, elastic bands to put her hair in a bun, gel, hair spray, bobby pins, etc. In the midst of all of this I find Mikayla reading to her "babies" and I couldn't resist this picture!