St. George Island

The Cousins - Mac, Ellie, and Wynn





We went to St. George Island last week to be with my mom, my brother, his wife and their two kids. Ellie had so much fun hanging out with her cousins Mac and Wynn. It was great to spend time with Charlie and Paige. We certainly do not see them enough, Mobile to Charleston is a long way!


Mac


Wynn


Ellie demonstrating her crab crawl

Ellie really liked the beach this go round. She played in the sand, loved crawling like a crab, and actually played in the water. She wasn't nearly as scared as she was when we went to the beach earlier in the summer. I have discovered one major problem that I am going to have to overcome as a mother, my fear of sharks. I have a ridiculous fear of sharks. I know it is ridiculous and I do not want Ellie to be scared of the water. I thought I could be brave for my little girl, but I didn't have too much success. I made Jim wade in the surf with me so he could look for sharks. I know it is totally dumb. Any advice for getting over this fear would be wonderful.



The cousins on the beach







Other than that, we had a wonderful time. Jim cooked gumbo and crab cakes. We drank margaritas and just hung out. It was a much needed vacation. It was good to get away from all the drama in Mobile, but more on that later.





Before we went to the beach I made Ellie and Wynn tutus. Holly Homemaker at her finest, ha ha ha. They were so cute and super easy! Thanks for the no sew tutu idea Christi!!!


Wynn in her tutu


Ellie in her tutu




Ellie and Wynn relaxing in the hammock.

In other news Ellie went to "school" for the first time last Tuesday. She did great! She is going to Ashland Place, a church down the street, twice a week from 9-1. I am so glad she will have a chance to be around some other children her age. I can already tell that she has an early birthday for her age group. I went to drop her off and they asked if she could sit up by herself. I responded with yes, in fact she can pull up on anything and is trying to walk. Next question, what is her bottle schedule? Well, she is using a sippy cup and only takes a bottle before bed. Then I took a closer look around the room and noticed that the other babies had been dropped off in their car seats and were perfectly content where they were. Maybe Ellie can teach them all to stand up. Ha, ha. When I returned they did mention looking into the possibility of moving her up with the next age group. Made me laugh!



Ellie on her first day of school.





Ellie and Mrs. Elizabeth
(please notice the baby in the teachers arms)

Vermont Pics

Here are some more pictures from Vermont, mostly nature stuff.
If you don't like flowers, stop looking now.













































The pond

Summer

Well summer seems to be coming to an end. As I listen to all my friends discussing classroom preparations and the excitement of meeting their new group of kids, it makes me miss being a teacher. I love the beginning of school, even as hectic as it is. Hopefully one day I will get back in the classroom.

I don't think that our summer is officially over because we have one more trip to the beach next week. We are headed to St. George Island to be with my mom, Charlie (my brother) and Paige and their two kids. I can't wait for Ellie to have a chance to play with her cousins Mac (5) and Wynn (3 1/2).

I just realized that I never wrote about our trip to Vermont. Yeah I know it was only a month ago, but at least I am getting to it now. We had a very easy trip going up and Ellie loved it all. She loved the airplanes and enjoyed watching all the people in the airport. Our last flight was from Boston to Hanover, NH. We flew on a tiny plane, i.e. 8 passengers + 1 pilot + no co-pilot =small. Ellie loved it. She squelled with delight throughout the entire flight. It was a long trip, but so worth it.

Ellie "helping" me pack




A view from above


Ellie enjoying the little plane

We did a lot of visiting, eating, hanging out, and just enjoying being with my side of the family. It was a much needed vacation for Jim! The roll call included Goggie (my grandmother who turned 91 while we were there), Baba (my mom), Aunt Tink and Aunt Peg (mom's sisters), Marg (my cousin) and John and their three kids, Marien, Christopher, and Mercer. We had so much fun just being with the fam. Jim had to leave and return to reality and my sister, Carter, took his place.
It is so pretty in Vermont. Everything is so green and lush. The weather was fantastic and included wearing jeans and long sleeves. What a relief it was to get away from the heat of LA.

Pictures from our trip to Old City Falls

The walk down




A very rare family photo, not sure why we all look so pale.


Hanging out by the waterfall




Ellie and Baba


Our trip home was not as smooth as the trip up. Our first flight was delayed because of fog so that made all of our other flights change. We ran into some bafoon in Boston who took so long reprinting our ticket that we subsequently missed our second flight. Then when we got to Atlanta, my flight to Mobile was also delayed. Needless to say after 15 hours of traveling we were exhausted. Ellie could not have been better. She only got fussy a few times, but overall she was amazing! A million thanks go out to my mom who flew with us.




Sunset after a little storm



I have more pix to put up later.
Peace out!