vacation - the first part

Last Saturday, we made our way over to Santa Rosa beach just outside Destin on 30A for our Bodie Beach Week with Graham's family. We only made a few stops on the 6+ hour drive over - one of which was of course Chick-fil-A for lunch. From the looks of things, both girls were satisfied with our choice of restaurant.

Thankfully, Lydia slept for most of the drive taking her morning and afternoon naps in the car, and E was fairly content watching Mary Poppins. By the time we reached the beach, we were all very ready to be out of the car -- Eden couldn't even wait to get her suit on before she had to get out on the sand.

We weren't sure quite what to expect from little bit and her first beach experience ...

She LOVED it! I think she would have crawled right out into the ocean if we had let her. The water was really calm for our first few days, and Lydia loved the waves coming up onto her legs.

Aunt Beverly made sure that there was an abundant supply of new art projects for E -- watercolor painting, a new drawing mat, markers, a reuseable sticker book from the Hardware Toyland, lots and lots of new books, and stickers and dresses from Aunt Sarah. It was like Christmas all over again ...

My treat for the week {well the first night and the next morning} was to read the third and final book of the Hunger Games trilogy -- definitely entertaining and the final book did not dissapoint. This is one of my most favorite ways to enjoy the beach -- under the shade of an umbrella with a good book and being able to watch E play and enjoy the water.

Thankfully, her Nona and Daddy were always willing to take her out in the waves, even all the way out to the sandbar!

We had to make her get out of the water for snacks, a few minutes of rest, and lunch each day. If she could have figured out a way to convince us to let her eat lunch out on the waves, I know she would have done it.

For the first full day at the beach, E decided she and Lydia should wear their matching pink tutu suits that she had personally picked out. I must admit that the pink suits really did photograph well against the white sand and blue water. Guess my girl knows her stuff ...

Our first day at the beach definitely included ballet on the sand and in the water. There really wasn't anything else we could have asked for -- gorgeous weather, delicious food prepared by Nona, and two healthy girls enjoying the outside and time with their family. We were off to a great start!

little friends

The night before we left for the beach, our friends Jennifer and David came in town for a wedding. Josie and Eden played for a bit before Josie went to spend the night with another friend. Baby Olive stayed the night with us while her parents went to the wedding. So cute to see Olive and Lydia together - they kept trying to steal eachother's toys and touch eachother's eyes. Lydia did not like it when I had Olive in my lap -- she came right over and crawled up into my lap to reclaim her territory.

our little Lydia

Sweet baby girl was addicted to her kitty-kitty paci {we had to cut out the paci once her teeth started to come in} and any other paci she can get her hands on ...

... and she is looking so much bigger in her crib these days ...

Mothers' Day and more

For Mothers' Day we had a relaxed day at home (plans to go to church were thwarted by coughs and runny noses). The theme was "free" ...  we gave Ashley a homemade card (with hand prints from the girls), flowers from the yard, dessert for breakfast was a cupcake I got with a coupon, and dessert after dinner was two chocolate covered strawberries Eden helped me get (with a coupon). The freeness made everyone happy!

... and the added sugar made at least one of the reasons for the day a little hyper.

We didn't spend all of our day eating ... we had to work off the extra calories somehow ...

And while outside, Eden took a turn with the camera ...

So, for her Mother's Day, Ashley got a professional quality photo with Lydia from her older daughter ... quite impressive indeed!  More impressive is all that Ashley does for her family. We are very blessed and hope the day said so.

I have a tooth.

Lydia's first tooth {you read that right} officially broke the gum line on Monday. It's the front, bottom right tooth and it's twin is trying to break through right now. Needless to say, she has been extremely upset at times this week.

No pictures of the emerging tooth, but here are some cute ones the day it happened just for fun.

sun and sand and crystal clear water

at the beach ...

... and loving it.

last day of school

Yesterday was the last day of the 2011-2012 school year for Eden and Lydia.  The day started with me taking Lydia to the doctor for her 12 month shots and with Eden acting silly on the back porch for last-day-of-school pictures with her momma.

Eden did, however, cooperate for a few pictures to document the day.

After Lydia's appointment, I dropped her off, and she did as she normally does - nearly jump from my arms to her teachers with a huge smile.  And, when Ashley picked her up, it was open arms and smiling again while walking toward Ms. Marie.

For Lydia, it was a year to remember - her first class, moving from breast milk to formula to real milk, eating real food, learning to crawl then to walk, smiling a lot, and much more ...

And the people who love on her, Ms. Marie and Ms. Deloras, are the two main reasons we love this place so much.  They were so wonderful with Eden and equally wonderful with Lydia.

For Eden it was also a stellar year - learning to write her letters and show them in sign language, starting to read, pretending to be all sorts of zoo animals, being wonderful, not napping (but when she did we knew she would be sick the next day), enjoying stories of the Bible, and spending time with good friends who will be missed ...

Eden and Keegan have been at PDO together since they were Ducks. On the way out, Ashley captured some great moments between them ...

I am very thankful and our family is very lucky for Ashley making sure we have these pictures to document such important moments. Here's to summer!