Music to my Ears...

I love to listen to LITTLE kids sing - like kids Sarah's age. When ever other word is skipped over or mispronounced! Sarah's two favorite songs to sing are "Baa Baa Black Sheep" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and she REFUSES to let anyone else join her in singing. If I start singing with her, I won't get more than 3-4 words into the song when she starts screaming "I DO IT! I DO IT!" So, this mornings, she is serenading Beth and me in the car on the way to school. I love it!
"Baa Baa Back Seep
Ha you any ool?
Yes sure, yes sure, free bags full.
One for master
One for my dame
and one for ittle girl lives down the ane."

I LOVE IT!

Vacation Photos (days 4,5 & 6)

These are my attempts at taking beach portraits - the lighting wasn't optimal, but it was our last night. I got a good one or two of Beth, but Sarah just wouldn't be still long enough to capture anything spectacular. Beth kept asking why we were taking so many of Sarah and not her. I felt bad, but tried to explain that Sarah didn't know how to be still so we had to take 3x's as many of Sarah just to get ONE good picture. Oh well. I think we decided that NEXT summer, when Sarah is three years old, we might attempt professional pictures again. (are you up to the challenge, Melissa?)

I like this one of Sarah, with the exception of the Pamper's Cruiser diaper under her dress! Oh well....that is what Photoshop is for, right? Now...if only I knew how to use it!

Check out Sarah cutting her eyes at me!

Notice that the girls are almost identically posed here. Sarah wants to do absolutely EVERYTHING Beth does and she is mimicking her in this picture. Monkey see, monkey do! I love it!

That is the full moon in the upper right corner.

Sarah running away from the waves.

My FAVORITE picture of Sarah that I've taken in a long time! We had just come in from the beach and I had stripped her down to the diaper. We were playing "monsters" and she was running around squealing and giggling!

Beth getting braver....

...and braver....

...and brave enough to finally go out by herself and ride the little waves!

And of course, Sarah wanted to try, too. But she was so light weight and the current was so fast, this was the only picture I got because she was zooming away from us too fast!

Beth playing catch with Uncle Bryan on the beach.

And Beth burying herself...

Remember what I said about "monkey see, monkey do?"

A little sister fun and giggling on the raft!

Sarah posing.... Notice how CLEAR the gulf water is!! AWESOME!

I swear, it was like swimming in a pool! The water was so clear and warm and perfect for Sarah to "swim" in. She crawled around on her hands and let her legs float up and had a BALL! She has good timing, too! She would watch for waves and whenever she saw one coming, she would stand up, let it pass, and then she'd plop right back down and "swim!"

The majority of the pictures above were taken the day the Gulf created this nice little tidal pool - quite a bit bigger than the one it created the previous Sunday. That is where Sarah did all her "swimming" and Beth rode her raft on the little waves! It also made a great sandbar! (my mom is going to be so annoyed that I posted this picture - sorry!!)

HOME!

Okay, yes, I realize I didn't update the blog with Day 4, Day 5 or Day 6 vacation pictures...but the weather cleared up and we were outside so much and busy those last few days! Oh well. I took over 180 pictures the last day! It will be HARD to pick only a few to post here. Both girls got SOOO very brave the last day in the water and we also did white dress beach pictures Friday night. I didn't get any GREAT ones of either one, but I did get a pretty decent one of Beth and a few okay action shots of Sarah. However, mom and Bob were also snapping away with their cameras, so hopefully someone got a good one of the two girls together.

The one thing I like about getting back to our house after vacation is that all the toys are suddenly "new" again to the girls. Its like they truly MISSED their toys and today, Sarah Katherine spent at least 2 hours dragging her toys and dress-up clothes out and playing with them ALL happily. Then, all heck broke lose around 5:00 - neither girl had a nap and both were tired, hungry and GRUMPY. They were both bathed and in bed by 7:00. I'd had enough.

I'm glad to be home. Back to my bed, my washer/dryer, my kitchen, my backyard, my dog, my computer keyboard (I HATE typing on laptops!), my house.....However, I could have easily stayed another week this time!! I love Destin. I'm already looking forward to returning. Its not necessarily about just going on "vacation." Its about making memories. Since we go to the same place (mom and dad's townhouse) each time, its a familiar place to the girls and almost like a second home. They know it well and they have their own room there. Its not just a "vacation." Its a getaway and its making memories with the whole family. I'm glad they have the opportunity to make those memories in a place that will be a part of them for a long time.

Pictures coming on Monday....

Day Three - Wave Jumping 101

A quick lesson in wave jumping, courtesy of Sarah Katherine.
First, get ready, bend your knees and put your hands back,


Then, JUMP!


TA DA!!

Day Two -Rain

We had a storm front move through this morning, but we were able to get in about 1 1/2 hours on the beach before it hit.

But a little rain didn't put a damper on the girls' fun! They just played in the rain!!

Then it was off to Bass Pro Shop this afternoon to visit their aquarium and had dinner at Dewey Destins. YUM!

Destin Vacation - Day One

It was a gorgeous day in Florida today! Nice calm water that created a little tidal pool, just perfect for Sarah! By the end of the day, both girls had lost most of the fear they had, Sarah more so than Beth. I think the security of the tidal pool, helped big time, though! 70% chance of rain tomorrow, so we soaked up every bit of sun we could today!

I've been Tagged

Alright, Alright, I give. Now that I've been tagged by Leia AND Emily, I guess I better play nice! :-)

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up. Here it goes!

Six Random Things:
1) I don't want any more kids. I'm done. Finished. Not that I don't love and adore my kids, but I don't want to be out-numbered! :-) Really, though, I feel like I'm "Done" with the baby stage of my life. I want to be able to enjoy each stage of my girls' lives. I feel like my family is complete.

2) I'm stressed out beyond reason about where Beth will go to 1st Grade IN ONE YEAR! How rididuculous is that! One year away and I'm worried sick already!

3) Bob and I took Sarah to Walmart tonight - it was only her THIRD time there -ever! I just cannot shop with the girls in tow. I grocery shop at night after their bedtime or on my lunch hour! Its SOOO much faster and I enjoy the "me" time. I'm such a geek - my "me" time is at the GROCERY! How sad it that!?!

4) I cannot STAND the word "booty!" Beth says it all the time and it makes me cringe. Exactly HOW many times do I need to say "Please don't say that word. I really don't like it" before she actually listens to me???

5) I'm a primetime TV addict - I love lots of shows on each night of the week. Its my "thing." Maybe it has something to do that for five years, my career revolved around TV shows and I HAD to pay attention to the good shows and bad shows....now its just a habit. I miss my old "career." I miss the marketing and media world. Not that I want to return to that stressful world, but I did enjoy the fun parts of it!

6) I admire Bob so much for following his career dream under some very stressful conditions. VERY few people in this world would have done what he did - take a chance and start from nothing. He is building his company brick by brick and its kinda neat to watch it grow! I just hope it grows bigger...and maybe a little faster? Hehehehe - just kidding, Bob!

Okay - I'm not tagging anyone. I know -its breaking the rules, but just about every "blogger" I know has already been tagged. If you have NOT been tagged and feel so inclined to list 6 random thoughts, go for it!

Planning...

There is a lot of planning going on right now...

Planning for a trip to Destin
Planning for a Kindergarten Parent's Meeting/Board Meeting
Planning for the start of school
Planning for Kids Closet

I'm planned out.

We leave for Destin on Friday afternoon. We've done this trip so many times (Sarah's 4th trip, Beth's 8th or 9th? trip) that I've got it down pat. Each time, I realize I need to pack LESS the next trip. We pretty much stay in swimsuits and gym shorts all week and I have a washer and dryer there, and I usually do laundry at least once. We are taking the pack-n-play this trip for Sarah, too. I no longer feel the need to do anything other than hang at the beach or on the deck all day. I try to make only one trip to Silver Sands Outlet Mall. Generally speaking, its becoming a more low-key vacation each time. As long as the girls are content to just hang out, then great! We will probably also make another trip to the leaping fountains, although I can guantee Sarah won't want to have anything to do with it again. She hates the sprinkler in our backyard big time!

Our Kindergarten Parents' meeting is Thursday night. We also got Beth's school supply list in the mail Saturday and she is SO EXCITED to be able to go out and get those things. She wanted to go RIGHT THEN and get everything and I had to convince her that we were in no hurry - she has 1 month till school starts! She's pumped up!

Kids Closet Sale is technically in the fall, but all the planning starts 6-8 weeks out and that is NOW. I do pretty much all the publicity, and I have lots of deadlines in the next 2-3 weeks. That's okay, it WILL get done on time! :-)

I'm off to make my "packing list" for Destin!