Charlotte a.k.a. City of Please Steal My Car From the Hotel Parking Lot

click on title to see this clip from Charlotte's Sunday night news. The black truck in the yard that hit the tree is Mark Allen's. Here's a good chance for Allstate to earn their money!

Mark Allen took a weekend trip to Charlotte and had to take the Greyhound home!
(jk-- luckily his friends car survived the crime spree!)

Fun Fridays!

Today's Fun Friday post is about Chloe's all-time favorite book, The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear. We can't remember exactly when she got the book, but we do know that we started reading it ALL THE TIME about the time that she turned 2. By the time she was 2 1/2 she would recite the book in the car, bathtub, while learning to go potty-- pretty much anytime, anywhere. Sometimes she would use the book as a prop (of course she couldn't read it, she had just memorized every word), other times she would just say, "Let me tell you a story about the big hungry bear mom." And 20 minutes later, after hearing the story about 5 times, we would plead to hear a different story! She still loves the book, and can go weeks without having read or talked about it and still not miss a word if you ask her to tell you about it. I think that's pretty cool. I'm actually very excited that her favorite book has nothing to do with a princess. It has opened the door for bedtime stories about all types of animals-- not just fairy princesses. Which, by the way, is exactly what Chloe says she's going to be when she grows up. That, and a dentist. I told her that I think tons of people would love to see a fairy princess dentist! Gotta have a dream!

Check out that posture!

Today, I finally got smart! When I sat Emma up for her "sitting" time, I put her favorite toy between her legs to keep her focus centered. Not quite sure what type of brain damage I have that has kept me from doing this before, but I have been thinking she could sit up by herself for quite sometime now-- but every time I'd try she would immediately fall to the side. Well, duh!!!, she was going for her toys! I'm the genius who would place them all around her in a circle, and of course she just wanted to put one IN HER MOUTH! Once I smartened up, she sat up for 15 minutes straight. I think we can check this one off the list!
Oh, and if you click on the pics of her looking down you can get a peek at just how red her hair still is! Who knew?!?

Fun Fridays!

As you know, last Friday was the 4th of July! This is always one of my favorite holidays and this year was no exception! We kicked things off by heading to the SC Peach Festival in Gilbert, SC. This was my first time attending the festival, and while I was disappointed that there was no one dressed up in a huge peach costume-- I did have a great time. We sampled all the peachy things they had to offer, and the peach ice cream was definitely my favorite!







After eating our way through the festival (and when the temp reached at least 1,000 degrees), we headed back to Cola town and had some BBQ and swimming fun at Aunt Marsha's, followed by more BBQ and swimming fun at Micky's parents house.




Due to a much needed rain storm we were unable to shoot fireworks Friday night, but shot them off Saturday night! And Emma, who is the best baby sleeper I've ever seen, was able to sleep through the war zone I call "Nano's fireworks!"

1+1= 2, so...

logically, this must also be true:

(back story)
Micky brought Chloe home some "big kid" toothpaste today.








Due to fluoride concerns Chloe has never used any toothpaste other than Oral-B Toddler-- has no fluoride so it's ok if she swallows the whole tube! Well, she's had the whole spitting thing mastered for some time now (I'm thinking about a year!), so Dad decided it was time to move on up. Well, Chloe was pumped about this and even more excited when she saw that it was blue and sparkly.

(this is where her great logic kicks in, and I think I may owe her if we actually get to take a trip because of this exchange!)

Micky: "Let's try your new toothpaste Chloe"
Chloe: "Thanks Dad, it's so cool!"
M: "Remember you have to be sure to spit this out."
C: "I will Dad. This is big kid toothpaste right?"
M: "Right."
C: "I'm 4 now so I can use it."
M: "That's right, you're a big kid now."
C: "Yep. And now I get to go on an AIRPLANE!"

So, if you're using big kid toothpaste, it's time to take that airplane ride. Oh, and if you tell your kid they can do certain things when they're bigger-- like go on an airplane-- I can promise you they'll never forget it! I like the way this kid thinks!

Aqua Tunnel moves...

Don't try these at home-- especially Tyler's flip!

Birthday Fun!