Trip

Savannah, part I

Posted in Leah, Molly, Trip on August 16th, 2010 by jen – 1 Comment

We flew down to Savannah to see extended family. We stayed at Chad's grandad's house, as usual. Here's his backyard.

Savannah

Here's a look through the trees down the bluff.

Down the bluff

This hammock has magical powers. It can make even a 3-year-old relax.

Major relaxing

The hammock can also be exciting when you get someone to push you this high.

Less relaxing

Grandaddy's got a little scooter for going longer distances, and Molly loved riding on it.

Scooter ride

Betty sang to Leah for quite a while, and Leah stared at her the entire time.

Singing Betty

And she made sure to get the grown-ups making silly faces with her.

Faces with Grams

Stay tuned for more adventures from our trip.

A weekend roadtrip

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly, Trip on June 14th, 2010 by jen – 3 Comments

We went to Highlands, NC to visit Grammy (Chad's paternal grandmother) for her 80th birthday. Molly was very excited to get to see Grammy's house, though she was confused when we arrived and she discovered we actually weren't staying in her house but rather in a rented house nearby (there are a lot of us, now).

Grammy's house

Leah was enamored with Will (and Stephen Colbert) throughout the trip. I'm not sure which one she's interested in here.

Leah and Will

We had a bunch of family over to the house Saturday to celebrate. At times, Leah was of course the center of attention.

Gather round Leah

There were so many people there, Caroline and I decided to make more room by squishing Molly.

Squish

Molly was responsible for the card on our gift to Grammy.

Nice card

And Grammy thought the bag I made for her was a great surprise.

Surprised

The house was pretty cool much of the time, which meant blankets were in frequent use. Unfortunately, though, we had a blanket thief occasionally stealing them.

Blanket thief

It was so nice out we decided to have dinner on the back porch one night. Yes, that's the dining room table and chairs.

Dinner outside

Monday, we went out to lunch at Wild Thyme to celebrate Grammy's birthday again on her actual birthday. They brought Grammy a big piece of caramel cake for her birthday, but she didn't want dessert. So, Molly ate almost the entire piece for her.

Monday dessert

Leah didn't get any cake, so she seemed a bit bored.

Yawn

Though she perked up when we pulled out a toy phone for her.

Phones are fun

The drive down and back both went really well. We only had to stop 5 times each way and managed to make the trip in 11.5 hours both times. To maximize efficiency, we packed a lunch and ate at a rest area in both directions. Here's Leah hanging out at the rest area.

Resting on the drive home

Molly preferred to run around during her brief break from the car.

Play area

Happy Birthday Emmie!

Posted in Celebrations, Leah, Molly, Trip on January 26th, 2010 by jen – Be the first to comment

This past weekend we celebrated our niece's 1st birthday! We flew down to Birmingham for the occasion. Leah did really well on her first flights (as seen in this video). She slept on both flights and was generally happy when awake.

Emmie's birthday party was Saturday (though she didn't actully turn 1 until Sunday). Molly, of course, helped Emmie open her presents.

Despite all the excitement, Leah was unphased. She slept for the first hour or so of the party.

Opening presents took a long time, so Emmie took a break to hang out with me for a bit.

Then it was time for cake! It took Emmie a couple minutes to warm up to it, but once she got going she realized how great it was.

Leah did eventually wake up and join the party. Here she is spending some time with her Great Grandmother Dot.

After the party, Molly got some late Christmas presents from her Great Aunt Roxanne, including this rocking horse that she really had fun with. I have a feeling it will be a big hit with our playgroup!

On Sunday, we were finally able to get a picture of all three girls wearing their dresses that G'Mom made them.

There was a lot of music going on during our stay (as seen in this video), including piano, guitar, and these lovely percussionists.

We had a great time visiting with lots of family. The girls did great the entire weekend, even sleeping in the same room! There are a lot more pictures from our trip here.

Campfire

Posted in Family visits, Leah, Molly, Trip, Video on December 20th, 2009 by c-had – 1 Comment

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While we were in Tennessee with Jen's family, Uncle J built us a campfire (Molly's first). A good time was had by all, and the marshmallows were very tasty.

A Tennessee Thanksgiving

Posted in Trip on December 2nd, 2009 by jen – 2 Comments

We spent Thanksgiving at The Cottage on Watauga Lake in Butler, TN with my family. We rented the cottage two years ago when Molly was 7 months old, but now we had two more little girls to celebrate with. The 8+ hour car ride was rough due to Leah crying anytime she was awake, but while there we had a nice time.

We mostly relaxed at the cottage, but Molly, Uncle J, and Grampa did go on a scavenger hunt. They found everything on their list (and an extra 20 or so rocks).

Molly also tried to get in a little workout on Uncle J's Wii Fit. She needed a little help, so Uncle J happily assisted. Here they are going down the ski jump.

We put together a nice feast for Thanksgiving lunch.

And here was part of my contribution to the meal. Yum!

Our last night in Tennessee included this great campfire built by Uncle J. It was pretty chilly out, so we all had to keep warm by the fire.

We roasted marshmallows. Molly wasn't into the roasting part at first (though she was very happy to eat the marshmallows), but she eventually warm up to the idea.

During our stay, Molly slept on a very large air mattress (complete with headboard) on the floor in our room. Here she is waking up on our day of departure. She did really well and very much enjoyed her big bed.

There are a lot more pictures from our trip. We even managed to get a cute family picture!

Random Molly in Savannah

Posted in Family visits, Molly, Trip, Video on August 9th, 2009 by c-had – Be the first to comment

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Here's a bit of Molly playing while we were in Savannah. It's a bit random, but it gives you a good idea of our day-to-day these days.

Weeks family reunion

Posted in Family visits, Trip, Video on August 9th, 2009 by c-had – Be the first to comment

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As you saw a few weeks ago here, we took a trip to Savannah to see my extended family. In particular, we had a big Weeks family reunion for the first time in a long time. This video shows a bit of the reunion.

Savannah trip

Posted in Family visits, Molly, Trip on July 9th, 2009 by jen – 3 Comments

We spent an extra long 4th of July weekend in Savannah. Molly did incredibly well on the 11+ hour drive. We didn't even have to use the portable DVD player! Chad's Grandaddy lives on the water, which makes for lots of fun and relaxation.

Molly had a great time exploring baby crabs,

gazing into the water and watching boats ride by,

running on the dock,

and most importantly, relaxing with Daddy in the hammock.

We saw a lot of family since most of Chad's family lives in Savannah, but I think Molly had the best time with cousin Aidan.

And Molly was still looking as cute as ever!


You can see the rest of the pictures from our trip here.

Memphis trip

Posted in Crafts, Family visits, Molly, Trip on July 1st, 2009 by jen – 3 Comments

Last week, Molly and I ventured to Memphis for a visit with G'Mom, Grampa, Aunt 'Chelle, and Emmie. If you saw me in the airport, you would have thought I was a crazy woman - toddler in stroller, diaper bag, purse, carseat in carrying case, and hugely pregnant! We spent 4 days visiting and had lots of adventures.

First we painted plates at Paint a Piece using paint brushes, hands, and feet.



Then we went swimming in a neighbor's pool. Molly's favorite part was squirting Grampa with the water gun.

We started out our second full day with some blueberry picking at Nesbit Blueberry Plantation. Molly did a great job and found lots of good blueberries hidden on the underside of the bushes.


That evening, after eating some home-made blueberry ice cream, Mom, Michelle and I combined all of our craft talents and worked together to make a tag blanket for baby girl #2.

Any time Emmie was playing on the floor, Molly liked playing with her. I hope this is a sign of how great of a big sister she will be!

There are a lot more pictures from our trip. You can view them here.

Early anniversary trip

Posted in Trip on June 7th, 2009 by jen – 4 Comments

Chad and I took an early anniversary trip to Stonewall Resort in WV. I wasn't really up for a car ride at the end of July while 8 months pregnant, so we celebrated early.

It was a nice, relaxing weekend. We treated ourselves to massages (a first for Chad), and only left the resort once to check out this glass blowing shop. We got to see them making these glass "kisses."

The weather was perfect for sitting and enjoying the view of the lake,

and taking a boat cruise on the lake.

Click here to see a few more pictures of our exploration of the grounds and the boat cruise.