{ Pink Lemonade 2nd Birthday Party }

ELLA IS TWO!!!

Which meant time to plan an awesome birthday party :)

My sister and I go a tad overboard in the party planning department but we just can't help it! We love searching Pinterest for ideas and making decorations. We just enjoy doing something different and not the one stop party shop where everything matches. Our families think we are crazy but oh well. We love to see all our hard work all come together the day of the party. Yea Ella probably won't remember a thing but I will have great pictures to show her one day:)

We chose the lemonade theme because Ella LOVES lemons! I know I know it will rot her teeth away but she doesn't get it often. Whenever we eat out she will just about attack you to get the lemon from your drink. She has done this for a while now. We even started ordering our drinks without lemons just to end up with the waiter bring a bowl of lemons to our table just in case we changed our mind. Ella about jumped that waiter lol.

Anyways we started off with that idea and begin to search Pinterest and Etsy. We were surprised to find so many other pink lemonade parties! After last year's party and buying all the decor off Etsy we asked for a Silhouette machine for Christmas from our parents. It was a lifesaver this year! If you like to make stuff you NEED this machine! We made everything this time and saved some $$ in the process.

First we knew we had to have a little lemonade stand. My wonderful husband actually made it. It looked great in her 2 year pictures! My crafty mother in law made her outfit for her pictures and party. I loved them! My sister took her 2 year pictures and they turned out great!

For the invites I searched Etsy for something with chevron and lemons. I found the perfect one from AbbyReeseDesign. Then I uploaded it to Vistaprint and ordered it there. I always get the Vistaprint coupon when it is offered on Groupon. Here is the final product! I love the way they turned out! They also had a photo on the back.

Finally the day of the party came and it was a HOT one! There was nothing October about it! You would of thought it was July. We had the party at our church's picnic shed which has a playground next to it. Ella loves to slide!

The Shed transformed to a lemonade paradise!

For the table arrangements we alternated mason jars filled with fresh flowers and tin cans with pinwheels. The mason jars we painted either yellow or pink. The pinwheels I made with a variety of scrapbook paper in pink, yellow and green on the Silhouette! The lemon placemats I found on clearance at Joann's!

For the food we grilled hotdogs with a side of fruit and chips. For the drinks we had a pink sparkly lemonade which turned out more red and a pineapple lemonade drink. Perfect drinks for the hot fall day! I'm not quite sure how many cups Ella ended up drinking! We used mini chalkboards to label the food even though the guys made fun of us for labeling the obvious.

I got the yellow and pink chevron straws off Very Jane then hot glued the little pennants. I may of lost some fingerprints over this one. One side said Happy Birthday and the other Ella is 2!

For the cupcakes I did half lemonade flavored and the other vanilla with buttercream frosting. The lemonade cupcakes were to resemble a glass of lemonade with a candy lemon on the side and half a straw. It was too funny to see all the little ones try to drink out of the straw! The cupcakes came from Cupcake Creations! I probably gained 5 pounds in all that I consumed! The chevron spoons also came from Very Jane and I was so disappointed that I didn't even have any food to eat with a spoon :(

HMM..How do we eat these?

MESS! MESS!MESS!

For favors we did a candy bar with pink chocolate kettle corn, pink lemonade suckers, lemonade Nerds, and cherry pretzels. I got the chevron bags off Very Jane and made the lemon sticker to seal the bags.

Ella's present section. I was proud of the wreath I made! :)

She couldn't decide what to play with first when we got home! She got so many cool presents! Thank you everybody!

Ella's cute little friends! She hugged each friend after opening their gift :) Precious!

Play Time!

Bounce house fun! We had to drag her out of this!

After months of planning, I feel like the party went great! Ella had a blast! When we are at church, she points to the shed and says. "Party! Wheee!". Thank you to all our family and friends that came out and celebrated Ella's 2nd birthday! 

Now what to do for next year.......HAHA!

Two Year Stats

Weight : 23 pounds (22nd percentile)
Height: 34.25 inches (57th percentile)
Head circumference: 19.5 inches (92th percentile - That's the McAbee in her right there :)  )
Diaper Size: just moved up to a 5
Shoe Size- 4 FINALLY and do you know how hard it is to find this size!?! Her feet are SO small!
Clothing size- Tops- She still fits in most her 18 month stuff but all her fall/winter stuff I bought is 24 months/2t
Pants- 18 months but starting to fit into her 2T :)

Naps- for 2-3 hours in the afternoon
Bedtime- She used to always be in bed by 730 but Andrew's work hours have recently changed to later. Now she tries her best to stay up and play with him as much as possible when he gets home. Now the latest she is in bed is by 845-9.
Wakes up- Normally between 7-8. Thankfully she will play around for a while in her crib till she starts screaming for Daddy! Then if I'm home it's Mama! MILK! I am somehow the milk getter :) Then she gets back in bed with Andrew for a little bit and watches George. She will then let you know when she is ready to EAT! EAT!

Fav Foods- Blueberries, Strawberries, Cheese, yogurt, squeezables, lemons, green beans and hotdogs. She could literally live with just eating that. She is a grazer and is done eating after only a few minutes. Must be how she keeps that girlish figure haha!

She loves to slide, swing, jump, play with her dolls, play store with daddy, clap, play in water, Curious George, church, gymnastics, draw, paint, sidewalk chalk, help cook, wash dishes, bath time and vacuum.

Fav place to eat- Chick Chick! aka Chick Fil A. Pretty sure its not for the food but instead the slide. Whenever we ride by she screams WHEEEE!

She doesn't like to hold your hand when walking. She is way too independent.
She hates hair bows which makes me sad because she has so many cute ones! Ahhh!
She doesn't like for you to turn down the radio. She will scream MUSIC UP! Then she resumes her head nodding and clapping.
She doesn't want to sit in the buggy anywhere long she wants to WALK! WALK!
When she is ready to leave somewhere or she isn't happy doing whatever it is she will start screaming BYE! BYE! PLEASE! ex- at the doctor, on the tractor at her birthday, when she is sleepy and we are out somewhere.
She doesn't like anything on her hands she says Mess! Mess! and won't stop till you get it off. She points out messes too in public or that a floor needs to be mopped. I only wish she cared about that at home LOL!
She doesn't like keeping socks and shoes on. Winter should be fun lol!

She is starting to put words together. She is saying new words all the time. I love hearing her say I love you! Ahh melts my heart!

I wish I had her memory! It's amazing how she remembers certain things/places even after a long time has passed since she has seen or done it. She remembers where stuff was placed which helps me out sometimes LOL. Recently when driving through downtown she pointed to where my husband works and said "Daddy works!".  We have only been there like twice and I couldn't believe she knew that. Then a few weeks ago Nana had a bad fall at Bojangles with Ella and scratched up her knee and elbow pretty badly. I had to put a bandaid on Ella's knee this week and she said Nana Boo Boo knee and bow. Whenever she sees Nana she still points to Nana's knee and elbow and says boo boo better. She was fixated for a while with PopPop splashing after seeing him jump off the diving board this summer and she still talks about it. Whenever she sees a helicopter she says PopPop. It took me a while to figure out why she associated that with him until Nana showed me in their photo album of Hawaii there is a picture of PopPop with a helicopter. So I guess she thinks he has one haha! Now her thing is YaYa (Uncle Jeffy) and his yatches aka watches. She also keeps her foot guarded when he comes around because he always says I'm going to get your foot! She is too funny!

She is growing up way too fast! We try to savor each and every moment as time passes by too quickly!

Day in the Life

I was asked by my friend and fellow blogger Crystal to link up with her blog and Royal's for a "Day in the Life" blog post.

This was my super BUSY past Friday!

• 645am- Wake up, shower and get ready for the day! I haven't really set an alarm in over a week so this was rough :)
• 730am Go get Ella up and feed her breakfast. Leftover fruit from Andrew's birthday party the night before and half a waffle. Then get Ella dressed. She is a little confused because normally Andrew gets her up and they watch George for a little bit in bed before they get going but we have places to be today!
• 750- Leave the house and take Ella over to my mom's house. She realizes half way to Nana's where we are going and she keeps saying YAY! Nana! She is normally at Nana's during the week but since Andrew and I had been off all week she hasn't seen Nana all week! Andrew was to do the yard work while we were gone.

Ella on her 'laptop' on the way to Nana's

• 830-1030- Got a new haircut and color. Love it! Perfect way to start the day!

• 1040- Run by the Dollar Store and get yellow and pink gift wrap for Ella's presents. Andrew thinks I'm a tad obsessive that her wrapping paper matches the theme of her party.

• 1045- Take a baby gift to a friend and meet her precious baby boy Dixon for the first time! He was so tiny and cute! It was hard to believe my wild 2 year old used to be that small :)

• 1100- Run back to my mom's house. Ella is playing outside and saying EAT! EAT! I ask her if she wants to go to Delightful Dishes and just like her mama it's a big YES! It's so funny every time we ride by there she points out the window and says EAT! EAT! By this point she is crying and screaming EAT! EAT! We get everything in the car and we are off!

• 1120- She is totally a different child once we pull in. She is so happy now to be there to eat! I have my usual Henny Penny with broccoli salad and my mom gets the quiche. I get Ella a banana and oatmeal fruit cup and then we give her some of both of our plates. However all she wants is the crackers in the basket. Once we finish our yummy desserts, she accidentally knocks over her plate and food goes all over floor. She exclaims, "Mess!Mess!". We get it all cleaned up and then pick up a to go order for Kimberly and a meal for a friend that recently had a baby.

• 1240- We get to Kimberly's house and drop off her to go plate from Delightful Dishes. She is sewing Ella's pennant banner for the party and I drop off the hot glue gun so she can finish making some other decorations. Ella loves going to MiMi's house because she has 3 kid rocking chairs and Ella just goes back and forth between the three. Ella then goes to MiMi's bedroom to see if her 'bed' (pack in play) is still there from where she spent the night with them the weekend before. She throws her hands up and she looks all over the room for it LOL. I think she had a good time with them!

  

  Here's how the pennants looked at the party!

• 1300- We drop Ella off back at my house with Andrew. Andrew is still outside working and looks confused on why she is back. Obviously he wasn't listening when I said I was bringing her back after lunch haha! He takes her in and they play around awhile before she is down for a nap.

• 1315- Drop my car off for an oil change and mama and I head to Spartanburg for things for Ella's party.

• 1330- Go to the Fresh Market to look for pink pretzels. They have cherry so I get 6 little cases of them for Ella's candy bar.

• 1400- Head to Party City to get the silverware and cups. 

• 1430- Go to Toys R US to pick up the presents from Kimberly and Jeffrey. I learned something new. TRU does price matching. I found a doll that they were getting her online for half the price TRU was selling it for. They matched it to that price! So since we saved that money got her a toy Dyson vacuum too. I  know she will love both gifts!

If you show them the Walmart.com price for this TRU will price match it!

• 1500- Go to Costco to get all the food.

• 1600- Pick up my car from the oil change place.

• 1615- Get home. Put the baked spaghetti in the oven that we are going to take over to our friends' house that had a baby boy. Andrew and Ella are playing store. Ella walks up with her buggy decked out with her sunglasses and cross body purse. Andrew says, "Welcome to Daddy's Store!   What would you like today?". He has various items set up on the coffee table. She picks out what she wants and hands him her fake dollar. This games goes on forever and forever :)

• 1630- I start melting the pink chocolate discs to pour over the kettle corn I bought from Costco to make pink popcorn for the candy bar for Ella's birthday party. I spread the popcorn all down my countertops to dry.
• 1700 Andrew and Ella eat supper. I'm still too full from lunch.

• 1730- The meal is ready to take to our friends. We pack up and head out.

• 1800- We get to our friend's and their cute little girl happily meets us at the door. She is so excited about her baby brother. I know she is going to be a great big sister! She shows Ella all her toys and lets her play with them. We visit for a while and I get to hold Mr. Colson. They have a fairly large dog that we knew Ella would want to see. He came running in and was so hyper. Ella just thought it was hilarious and wasn't scared at all!

Sweet Girls!

Hello World!

• 1930- We get home. Andrew gives Ella a bath and starts getting her ready for bed. She plays with one of her early birthday gifts from Grandma, a baby high chair and swing. One minute she wants it as a high chair, the next she makes Andrew turn it back into a swing. Andrew told her she was a typical girl always changing her mind!

• 2000- Andrew and Ella lay in bed and read some George books. Brush her teeth and she's off to bed. My legs feel like they are literally going to fall off because I had been going nonstop since I woke up. I start to wrap Ella's presents as Andrew is watching the Braves game.

These were Andrew's George books when he was little!

• 2100- Start packing up the car with all the decorations for Ella's birthday party. There is literally hardly any room for anything else in my car and somehow I still have to pick up the balloons, cupcakes and fruit tray in the morning :) I get all the food together so it will be easy to leave in the morning. I lay out our clothes for the party.

• 2230- The Braves game is finally over and we can finally watch Scandal. So excited!

• 2400-  I complain so much about my legs and feet hurting my sweet hubby gives me a massage. Then it is off to bed to rest before another busy day. I go to bed excited that it is about to be Ella's 2nd birthday!

WHEW what a BUSY Friday!!

Weekend Getaway!

This is my absolute favorite time of the year! Our family has a lot to celebrate in the week of Sept 30-Oct 5th! First it was our 7th anniversary on Sept 30th, then Andrew's 30th birthday Oct 3rd, and then Ella's 2nd birthday October 5th! It helps out with work because we can take off for it all at the same time! This year we decided to go away and celebrate our anniversary and Andrew's birthday without our goose. At first it took some convincing to get my husband to agree to go away without Ella! He never takes off work so I understood how he wanted to spend his off time with Ella when he doesn't get to really see her much during the week. But after some terrible 2 tantrums he agreed we needed to get away LOL! So we agreed we would do 4 days away and then we would still have a week to do stuff with Ella when we got back. This was our first trip away together since I was pregnant! Long overdue!

Andrew had a few requirements for the trip: 

    1. Mountains

    2. Non-touristy

    3. A private camp fire

    4. Hiking
    5. Secluded

So I LOVE planning trips! I started searching online of where to stay. I wanted to go somewhere we had never been that had lots of outdoors stuff we could do. Andrew really wanted to go tent camping but he knew he would have to do that solo. So we compromised and I agreed to find a cabin that would have a fire pit so we could pretend we were camping :) I found us a really nice cabin outside Bryson City that met all the requirements!

On Friday we dropped Ella off at my mom's and off we went! We decided we would take all backroads to Bryson City. It was a beautiful drive! We stopped in downtown Hendersonville for lunch. It is such a cute downtown! There are many cute restuarants and shops to walk in. It felt so weird being just the two of us! We are so used to lugging all the stuff that comes with a child, that it felt like we were forgetting something!
 Of course I can't just eat at the first place we walk up to. I always check online for ratings of places usually on TripAdvisor. We ate outside at Mountain Deli where we had the yummiest sandwiches ever! It was so good and fresh! Then we walked around some of the shops. They had a Mast General Store where we went a little crazy :) We found so much stuff that we knew Ella would love! I mean they actually had a Curious George section! Ella would of been in heaven! Then I also started looking for candy for the candy bar we were going to have at Ella's pink lemonade themed birthday. (That post to come later! It was an awesome party!) They had the little lemon slices I had been looking for to decorate her cupcakes with as well as pink lemonade suckers and lemonade nerds! It was perfect! Andrew thought I was crazy :) After some shopping we went to Sweet Frog for some yummy frozen yogurt! Andrew always makes me look bad at these places because he will have the healthiest bowl you have ever seen with all the fruit and then there is mine.....which is ummm not so healthy. I can take frozen yogurt and make it extremely bad for you :)

Then we got started back on our back roads driving adventure. It was so pretty driving through the mountains and so relaxing! We finally made it to Bryson City and started to try to find our cabin. We turned down the graveled one lane road to the cabin. Then there it was a steep, bumpy uphill gravel drive to the cabin. We used my 4 wheel drive for the very first time! Thank goodness for it! We made it to the top and the cabin was beautiful! It was probably the cleanest rental we have ever stayed in. It was very private being the only cabin on the road. That night we were excited to use the fire pit. I had bought all the necessities for some s'more making which I knew I would be eating by myself. Unfortunately the firewood was too wet to get a real fire going :( I was fine with that though because there was a big rock gas fireplace indoors!

The next morning we went on a train ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. This was the one reason we picked to stay near Bryson City. We had tickets on the open air gondola and it was a beautiful fall day to be on the train. The train departed at 1030 am for the Nantahala Gorge. The train ride was very nice as it went thru the countryside and over Lake Fontana ending at the Nantahala Gorge Outdoor Center (NOC) . That particular weekend the NOC was having a big guest appreciation festival so there were kayak racing, mountain biking exhibits, music, and vendors selling outdoors equipment. We had an hour layover there. We enjoyed just sitting on the rocks by the river watching all the kayakers coming down.

All aboard!

The train ride was about 4.5 hours. It was so relaxing I think I even dozed off a little bit on the ride back LOL! When we got back to Bryson City we saw a cute little bakery called La Dolce Vita Bakery. I went in with all intentions of getting a smoothie but then there was this amazing spread of yummy gelatos! I got the banana caramel praline gelato! OH MY WORD! It was heavenly! It had huge chunks of candied pralines and oozy thick caramel. And as you guessed it Andrew got the healthiest thing there, the Super Fruit smoothie. Yea I know.... but it was really good!

On Sunday morning I had arranged for a kayak guide to take us out to Lake Fontana. We used Endless River Adventures. We met our guide at their shop at 830 that morning and rode with him to the lake. It was an absolutely beautiful morning. It was so quiet on the lake. We didn't realize how big Lake Fontana actually is. It is 33 miles but is composed of lots of little coves that finger off the lake. Our kayaking tour was 2.5 hours long. Our guide was full of interesting stories. He travels all of the world doing all kinds of outdoor adventures stuff. I told Andrew I had never heard him talk so much in my life to a stranger. Andrew just found the guide's life fascinating LOL. By the time we were making our way back to our starting point, I thought my arms were going to fall off! Andrew of course didn't feel the least bit exhausted. I was sore ALL over! Whew kayaking is a real good workout!

Lake Fontana

Sunday afternoon we went hiking on the Deep Creek trails. I'm so glad the lady that owned the cabin we stayed in told us about these trails. She told us about a short cut from our house that led us right to the trails without having to go thru Bryson City. Thank goodness we didn't meet any other cars on the short cut because it was a narrow dirt road :) There were 3 trails that started at the parking lot and each one was a relatively short hike less than half a mile each to beautiful waterfalls. We started to hike the first one when half way we started to see a lot of what Andrew said was bear scant (poop). I just froze! I wanted to go back to the car but hesitantly decided to continue on and I'm glad I did! The trail ended at a wooden bridge with a bench where you could sit and face the waterfall.

Juneywhank Falls

Lesson Learned: To get the boy to give you a real smile for a picture get him out in the woods :)

Another trail led to this beautiful waterfall.

Tom Branch Falls

Deep Creek Trail

Sunday night we were FINALLY able to get a good fire going! We roasted hot dogs and I finally had  a lot of s'mores!  Lighter fluid and dry wood did the trick!

Monday we decided we would go hike this trail our kayaking guide had recommended. He had told us he thought it was an easy hike and that it led to this beautiful lake by this mountain. So we started on our way. Well it started to seem like this hike was going to be a lot longer than we expected. We were just about to turn around and head back to the car when all of a sudden this huge truck started coming down the trail towards us. The guy hollered out if we were from there and we responded we were hoping he was. Turns out he was trying to find some trail that led to a dam owned by Duke Energy so he could change the sign out with the new logo. He asked us what we were trying to find and we told him Queen's Lake. He laughed and said it was at least another 3 miles down the trail and that there was an old man hunting near there that about shot him. You better believe we high tailed it back to the car :)

We then drove up to Fontana Dam about an hour away. We grabbed some Bojangles on the way to have a picnic and headed up the mountain. You know there were no other food choices for Andrew to eat there LOL. I had to get a picture to document that :)  Tyler we thought you would be proud!

Sent this picture to Ella :)

After visiting the dam , we made our back back home. We couldn't wait to see our little goose! I wish I would of videoed her reaction when we pulled in to my parents' house. She had the biggest smile on her face as she ran towards us!

It was so nice to get away and relax just the two of us! We promised we would have to do it again as Ella had a great time with my parents, sister and her husband. Everyone said Ella was great so we will feel even more at ease whenever we go away next time! Next big trip my 30th in January...hmm where shall we go? I'm thinking somewhere warm :)) We shall see!

Sunny days, taking my cares away...

Well not really... I'll explain.

Our best friends got us free VIP tickets to see Sesame Street Live this afternoon. We have been looking forward to taking Ella for weeks and they were also taking their little girl Mae who is 6 months younger. Well Ella has started getting her two canines in and also came down with a cold with a nasty cough. Last night she had a hard time sleeping because of the cough and had a low fever which hopefully is from her teeth. We kept going back and forth over if we should go or not. She played in the morning like normal and seemed fine other than the coughing. She went down for a morning nap and we decided we would wait and see how she felt when she woke up. I ran to the store to get some natural honey cough syrup hoping it would help. She never naps in the morning but today she did and we were supposed to leave at 12. We finally got her to wake up and and struggled to get out the door. We decided we would go and if she started feeling bad we would just get up and leave. We were late meeting our friends to get our tickets but thankfully they weren't too mad at us at least I hope not :)

We got to the Bilo Center ( umm I mean the Bon Secours Wellness Arena, I mean really who is ever going to call it that mouthful? ) a little after one. Our friends had also got us passes to a little VIP lounge  for the kids where they had kiddie food and drinks set up and tables where they could color. Why don't we ever score these setups when we go to concerts Jess? They devoured their popcorn and Capri Suns and we waited for the characters to come thru.

Our sweet friends Ben and Jessica with little MaeMae

The Many Faces of Mae

What? I get to see Elmo!!

Finally we thought the characters were coming thru! The Count made his appearance. Mae and Ella were waving at him from afar but once he came up to their table they wanted no part of it!

I just love Andrew's expression here and the Count has no clue where to look!

We kept waiting thinking Elmo was going to show up but he must of been too good for the meet and greet. We suspected he was still in the "Green Room" getting some sort of special blow dry on his fur. Andrew said they sent the reject to the meet and greet and that the Count isn't even on the episodes right now. Yea someone watches a little too much Sesame Street and I'm not talking about Ella LOL. Andrew knew every characters name.

It was time to go to the show! We had great seats and we spaced Ella off away from Mae so we didn't get her sick too. I was surprised that there was hardly anyone there. We had the whole row to ourselves. Ella clapped along in the beginning but as time wore on her little , almost 2 year old wiggly self was ready to get up and 'walk' as she kept saying. We tried to let her sit in her own seat but then she just wanted to climb over the seat in front of her and so on. Andrew was trying to tame the wild goose. I got out her snacks that Jess said I won 'Mom of the Year' award for and that kept her still for a little bit.  Mae was the star child and happily sat in her parents' lap and clapped and danced along. Then there is us wrestling an alligator. I'm sure Andrew is secretly thinking 'I told you so!' :)

You can just see the excitement on his face!

Enjoying the first half!

Poor baby's teeth hurt!

Thankfully we made it to intermission. Andrew thought the show was over, little did he know! We walked out to the lobby and Ella happily ran all over the place. I'm used to the lobby at the Bilo Center being jam packed but there was literally like 10 people there. We decided we would get our stuff and move to the very last row when the show started back so we could get up and leave if we had to. The show started back and we lasted maybe 5 mins before the I want to squirm around started back. As we walked out, we just looked at each other and laughed! Andrew told Ella jokingly he hoped she enjoyed seeing her friend Mae because it would probably be the last time they ever invited us out. We will have to do a park or zoo next time Jess :) We also concluded we have no clue how all of you parents handle more than one child because we can't handle one! We told Ella we hope she enjoys playing with us forever because that's all there will probably be haha!

We left exhausted but that wasn't the end of our day!

We were famished because we didn't eat lunch before we went so we pulled into the only fast food place Andrew will eat at - The Chickfila! We went thru the drive thru and Ella immediately screamed WEEEE ( thinking she would get to go play on the playground since we had also just ate at ChickFila the day before). Oh no Miss Priss you haven't been good enough for that :) You know Andrew has had a bad day when he orders a combo with fries! He is a tad bit of a health nut so I knew he meant business! We scarfed down our food and started to head home but then we came across THE Hobby Lobby! Oh how I love this place and I have been to it at least once a week for the past 2 months shopping for Ella's birthday party! As soon as we walked in the monsoon rain came! So we took our time looking around and then Ella was ready to go. At about the same time my sister sends me a list of a billion frames she wants me to get for her for a collage wall she is doing at my parent's house. Ok maybe it wasn't a billion but when you have a 2 year old screaming and trying to stand up in the buggy screaming WALK! BYE! - it feels like it. Andrew agreed to take Ella to the car while I began the scavenger hunt. Nah I would really do anything for my sister. I got it all and finally was out the door!

Andrew wanted to go to The Vitamin Shoppe to get his protein on the way home. He typed it into GoogleMaps and it said there was one 5 minutes away in Greer. I had never known there to be one there but hey the iPhone is never wrong right? So we head down the road and it says we have arrived at our destination. We looked around and where we were at we knew there was no way The Vitamin Shoppe was there. Instead it was a compounding pharmacy. I guessed GoogleMaps thought well you can shop for vitamins there but not exactly what we meant Mr. Google. So then we decide to drive up to Spartanburg. Ella was asleep anyways so we figured just let her nap. The poor thing was exhausted. I also didn't argue because I knew if we went there then I could get me a Pumpkin Spices Latte from Barnes and Noble next door :) Oh it was SO good! Perfect drink for this rainy day!

So even though the day was very trying at times we still had a fun Saturday together! Thanks again Bruces for inviting us! We promise to be better company next time :) 

Hope everyone had a great Saturday!

Toes in the Sand

At the last minute we planned a Labor Day weekend getaway to the beach! My parents, sister, Ella and I went. My husband absolutely hates the beach so he stayed at home.

We were all so excited to see what Ella thought about the beach this year. Last year she was about to turn 1 and she loved the water but hated the sand. She loves playing in the pool at Nana and Pop Pop's so we figured she would like the ocean again this year. Boy were we wrong :)

My sister, Ella and I got to the beach first and my parents came later in the evening. We first went up to the condo we rented to check in. As soon as we walked into the condo you could see the ocean out the massive living room windows. Ella shouted "WaWa!!" We quickly changed into our swimsuits and hit the beach!

The ocean terrified her! She would point her finger to the ocean and say "No! No! WaWa! Way!". Translation "No! No water! Go away!". She would get so scared if she saw one of us walk towards the water and just scream for you to come back.

She was much more a fan of the sand!

MiMi and Ella

Hanging on for dear life! She did not want to go near the water! 

We then went back up to the room so she could take a long nap while we waited for my parents to arrive. We ended up having to wake her up at 7:30 so we could go eat! The ride and the beach had worn her out!

We went to the Marsh Walk in Murrells Inlet to find somewhere to eat. There were a bunch of bands playing outside each restaurant. Ella would sway back and forth and slap her knee to the beat. We sent a message back home to daddy that Ella was out late going to honky tonks lol!

At the suggestion of our friends we went to River City Cafe and had the best burgers! Then it was a late night stop to Krispy Kreme :)

We were hoping that Ella would like the beach better the next day when Nana and Pop Pop were with us!

But it was pretty much the same reaction. Poor baby would just cry and hang on for dear life!

So it was back to the sand :)

All the other little kids on the beach are out playing in the water or building sandcastles. My child gets out the iPhone and turns on George (Curious George).

A short while later Ella came up to me and said "Bye Bye Please!" I asked her where did she want to go and she pointed back up to the room. I said you want to leave the beach and go inside and her answer was a quick "Yea!" Someone is just like her daddy!

After another long nap, we went to dinner at Sara J's (a yummy seafood restaurant on the marsh). They have the BEST hushpuppies!  Ella sported her Clemson cheerleading outfit as we had a big game against Georgia that night (which we won!). Lots of other Clemson fans were at the restaurant and lots of random people asked if they could take her pic to send to people that were at the game.

What a cute tiger :)

She hugs everything! Even trees!

Day three on the beach went much like the others. Ella came down for a bit in the morning and played in the sand and then she was ready to go back inside to nap after lunch.

Hanging on to Nana to avoid the water :) 

Pretty girl is happy to be back in the room! 

After nap time we walked down to the pier. Well I say we walked but a certain little someone refused to walk on the beach and hence got carried on PopPop's shoulders the whole way. At the pier, Ella enjoyed peering down through the cracks and seeing the water underneath her. A fisherman asked Ella if she wanted to touch a fish he had just caught. She didn't hesitate for a second and immediately reached out and grabbed it. No fear!

That night we ate outside at Bubba's Fish Shack. It was also really good!

 I love her hugs!

Big girl with her Pop Pop!

In the end we still had a great trip even though Ella wasn't that big of a fan of the ocean. Andrew says just to let her stay home with him next year but I have a feeling a certain Nana and Mimi won't allow that :)