Catch Up

In the last couple of weeks I have posted 14 entries to catch everyone up on our activities for the months of June, July and August. Who thinks I can keep it current from now on? Very unlikely!!

Nathaniel's Wedding

Tim and I traveled to Greenville, South Carolina this weekend for our friend, Nathaniel's wedding. Nathaniel and I grew up together in Andalusia and he and Tim became good friends at Auburn. He is one of the few people from Andalusia that we still stay in touch with. Though I can honestly say the trip there was disastrous (work issues, traffic, hotel problems, navigation issues, etc), it was definitely worth it! The wedding location was beautiful and we had so much fun spending time with Nathaniel, Whitney and their families. They are a perfect couple! Best wishes Nathaniel and Whitney. Thanks for letting us be a part of your special day!

Nathaniel and me

Tim, Nathaniel and a couple of college friends

At the reception

Nathaniel's mom and the flower girl

Nathaniel and Whitney

New Camera!!

I have resisted for a long time, but finally got an SLR camera! I love it and can't wait to learn more about it. Here are a few pics I snapped while the kids were playing in the yard today:

Swim Team Trophy

Carter had a great time doing swim team this year. Tonight was the best part -- he got a trophy!! You would have thought it was made of gold. He was so proud -- and assured me that he would be swimming again next year. When I asked why, he informed me that next year he will be the oldest in his group and will win more ribbons and trophies!!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today, Carter started his first day of kindergarten. I thought he looked older when he woke up!! We went to meet his teacher, Ms. Jennifer yesterday and learned all about his new classroom. Carter's friend Coleman is in his class and they had fun playing in the sandbox during recess. Carter said that his favorite thing about kindergarten is that he gets to eat (out of his lunchbox) "much more quicker" than at his other school. Hudson asked about and looked for "Arter" as he calls him, all morning long and was very excited when we went to pick him up. The pictures below were taken before we left for school.

First

Carter's Actual Birthday

On August 6th, we celebrated Carter's actual 5th birthday. When he woke up, there were decorations all over the kitchen with a big stack of presents on the kitchen table. Carter walked right passed it all and into the playroom to catch his morning cartoon . . . which appears to be the equivalent of a cup of coffee to an adult. When he finally noticed all of the decorations, we had a fun birthday breakfast.



As a special surprise, Carter and I spent the day at Alabama Adventure. It is a huge amusement/water park and neither of us had been before. Carter was about 2 inches away from being able to ride the "big rides", but we still had plenty to do. Our favorite was a black tube waterslide that we rode together. It went really fast!! Carter and I are both looking forward to going back to Alabama Adventure.


Later in the afternoon, the cousins came over to eat dinner and help us celebrate. It was a long birthday week filled with lots of excitement. The prized toy turned out to be the Nintendo DS, though it took him a little while to learn to play it.


It is sad to think that my little boy is growing up, but it is true that he does get more fun every year!!



Hudson enjoyed his birthday treat!

Carter 's 5th Birthday Party

Carter had his 5th birthday party at Head Over Heels Gymnastics. His cousins and many of his friends from school and church were able to come celebrate with us. Unfortunately, Tim was not able to make it since he was in the hospital recovering from kidney stones!

Two gymnastics instructors led the party activities. They set up an obstacle course and let the kids run through it. The hit of the party was the trampoline runway that ended with a big jump into a pile of foam cubes. Hudson ran right behind the group the whole way. He likes to pretend that he is 5!

Carter wanted a dinosaur theme again this year. Since we have now used all of the dinosaur cakes that are commercially available, I decided to make one. Thankfully, Julie, who is a very accomplished cake decorator came over to help.....with her one year old twins. We laughed as we baked and decided that the next cake should probably be made with the help of a babysitter!! It was a fun day and we appreciate our friends who made it so special!

Odyssey Graduation

I am embarrassed to say it, but, Carter graduated from preschool and my camera battery was not charged. Carter's teachers called to invite him to graduation/fun day at the end of July. Carter was so excited about seeing his old friends and looked forward to it all week. They had bouncy houses, waterslides and all kinds of fun activities planned. For lunch, the school ordered "real pizzas" and let them watch a movie during what is normally naptime.



In the afternoon, all of the parents were invited to attend a program and the graduation ceremony. The kids sang several of their favorite songs from the year and a parent made a sweet video with pictures of the year. During the graduation ceremony, Carter's teachers gave out the class "Who's Who" award. I was not surprised to learn that Carter was declared the class "Dare Devil". This, by the way, is not something you really want to have to explain to your five year old. Now he is proud of this title and keeps trying to find ways to show me what a dare devil he is. I really don't need any proof though!!



It was sad to leave Odyssey. Carter has been with 6 of the friends in his class since he was 6 months old. Hopefully we will keep in touch.

Splash Pad

Carter, Hudson and I went to the Gardendale Splash Pad for our friend, Lily's, birthday party. This was our first trip there and the kids had a great time. I got lots of cute water pictures! In addition to playing in the water and eating his weight in pizza, Hudson was the party janitor. He picked up every piece of wrapping paper there was and took it all to the trash. Clearly there is no need for toys at our house. We have plenty of trash that can be thrown away!!

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July playing with friends in the Coulson's backyard. The kids enjoyed the slip & slide, a sprinkler, a bouncy house and Maury and Little Carter's new playhouse. They had a hard time making it down the slip & slide, but that didn't stop Hudson and Little Carter from trying it out. After dinner, the kids had a good time dancing to music. Hudson spent most of his time outside with the daddies. He was not interested in being around me or the kids at all! Thanks Owen and Sally for a fun time!

A weekend at home...with Tango

We were so excited to hear that Mr. Mike and Mrs. Sundra were going out of town for the weekend. That means Tango gets to visit!! The kids were thrilled when he arrived. Carter and Hudson spent all weekend chasing, wrestling, and snuggling with Tango. Hudson especially enjoyed him. Dogs are his favorite thing right now and this was definitely the closest he has been to one for more than a few seconds. Thankfully Tango is fast and very patient so no harm was done. Carter was especially excited that Tango wanted to snuggle with him during tv time and even sleep in his bed for a little while. Thanks Mrs. Sundra for letting Tango come visit us. We miss him lots and love to see him from time to time.....for a little while.

Anna's Wedding

We went to Tuscaloosa for Cousin Anna's wedding this weekend. Anna asked Carter a long time ago to be the ringbearer in her wedding. At first, he didn't really know what his job was as he seemed to think Anna had asked him to MARRY her! Once he got over the disappointment that he would not be the groom and pondered who he might marry instead, he was very excited.
Tim and I were very nervous about sending him to stand with the wedding party during the ceremony. All I can say afterward is that, it could have been much worse. Aside from some twisting and wiggling, he did hold it together until after the ceremony. Unfortunately though, as the wedding procession was walking out, I hear Carter sqealing in the back of the room. Evidently, the shoes that he wore the night before and countless other times the week of the wedding, became too small at that very moment! That, according to him, was the reason for all of the wiggling. How can you punish a kid when that is the excuse?





The flower girl was super-cute and she and Carter had a great time dancing at the reception. There aren't many little girls that can keep up with all of Carter's spinning and swinging, but she was a trooper.

This is my aunt Leah (my mom's sister), with the rest of the family.

The beautiful couple!

Exhausted from all of the weekend fun!! Congratulations Casey and Anna!

Visit with Nana / Quick Trip to the Beach (again)

The oil has still not made it to Sandestin. With news reports that it was on the way, we made another quick trip down to the beach for what might be our last trip for a while. On the way down, we spent the night with Nana. She took us out to our favorite Andalusia catfish restaurant and we went to visit the Dream Park.


Our beach trip was extra fun because we got to meet Aunt Amy, Uncle Drew and the cousins. The kids had a ball playing in the sand and visiting Baytone Wharf.

First Swim Meet

Carter had his first swim meet in June. As a "Guppie", he really has no idea what he is doing, but has had fun so far. He won his heat in freestyle which was very exciting. Cousins, Caroline and Will, are also swimming this year, so that has added to the fun. Caroline is definitely the most competitive of the group. She always takes a few minutes to "visualize" her race before she swims. Carter has to keep tabs on the competition so he is always looking side to side -- this makes him much slower. I am not sure swimming will be Carter's favorite sport because, as he says, "It is boring to wait around so long", but I am glad he did it this year. His swimming has improved tremendously and it is a comfort to me to know that he has the ability to keep himself afloat in water!



Caroline concentrating before the big race!

Practicing the race dive!

Carter with his buddies before the first race.

Happy Anniversary!

Tim and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in Cabo San Lucas. The resort was absolutely beautiful and we got some much needed rest. A special thanks to our parents who kept the kids while we were away.


One of our favorite outings was a horseback ride on the beach. We were the only people on the beach (aside from our guide) and the water was absolutely beautiful. This was Tim's first time to ride a horse. He was concerned the whole way that the horse would not be able to hold him, but somehow we made it through. He did look a little funny riding a horse though!

Most of our time was spent poolside enjoying the Pacific Ocean. However, on our first morning, we did experience a little Hollywood. When we came down for breakfast, the first person we saw was Will Smith! It turns out that he had come over to visit Carlton (from the Fresh Prince) and his girlfriend. Tim and I promptly seated ourselves right in front of them and had fun watching them for several minutes -- no, we did not ask for an autograph. Carlton (whose name I still do not know), spent the rest of the week at our resort and we ended up watching the first game of the NBA playoffs with him and about five of his friends in their private viewing room.

All in all, we think it is one of the best trips we have been on and hope we make it back to visit again someday.




The view from the pool

At the restaurant built into the mountain next to our resort.

Tim and his horse.

The view from our room.

Hudson's Latest Tricks -- and several "catch up" posts below

Hudson is almost 20 months old. I am amazed by how many words he is learning each week. Some of his favorites are: jump, bubble, ride, plane, no, mine, up, ball, spoon (which really means "bowl") and bowl (which usually means "spoon"). Admittedly, it is cuter to hear some more than others. I finally ordered a replacement for my stolen Flip camcorder and took some video of Carter and Hudson. I will try to post it soon. Below are some pictures of Hudson's favorite activity -- "riding". We cannot go outside unless we have at least a few minutes to cruise the driveway. Blowing bubbles, "jumping" and identifying body parts are all close seconds. There are several "catch up" posts below too.

First Swim Team Practice

Well, swim team practice started last week and Carter is having a ball. A ton of kids showed up for the first few practices. I am looking forward to the first meet in a couple of weeks. it should be interesting. Right now, Carter swims with his head turned to the side so he can monitor how fast the kid next to him is swimming. Probaby not a good strategy if you are going for gold. We will see how it works for him soon enough. Caroline and I tried to teach Carter how to dive off the starting block last week as well. That is what I should really have pictures of!! I think Carter's debut will involve jumping off the block and hopefully getting to the other end of the pool before losing his concentration. Whatever happens, I feel sure we will have a story to tell. I will try to post video.