Camping Weekend

Here are some pictures from our camping trip. If it hadn't been for Emily's temper which started off on Saturday morning and lasted until Monday evening, it would have been a great weekend. My niece Kirsten and I went horseback riding, and my sister Nancy, nephew Cory and Kirsten and I went paddle boating. Todd and Cory went hiking and golfing. We all enjoyed swimming in the indoor pool. The water was really warm. One thing about Pipetem's outdoor pool, it is always freezing...even in mid August. My mom and dad even came up for awhile and ate lunch with us on Sunday. Brian and Todd did some fishing, but had no luck, so Brian decided to try his luck on the scooter. The next camping trip will be sometime in June.

Quiet Week

We haven't been up to much this week since our company left. Laura and the boys came up earlier in the week and the kids got to play outside. Emily just loves Graysen! I think she is ready for a little brother or sister?!?!?!? But are we?!?!?!?!?

Today Melissa and Tanner came over for lunch. Emily and Tanner played well together. He was really cute pushing her in the swing. Unfortunately, my batteries were dead, so no pictures.

Tomorrow we are leaving to go camping for the weekend. We are going to WV to Pipestem State Park. Its a nice park with alot to do, and of course, my family will be dropping in to camp with us and for picnics!

2 Weeks Later.....

Today my parents left to go back home. Who would have thought they would have stayed two whole weeks?! Peg came down on Sunday and stayed and they all left this morning to go home. Emily was sad, but not for long because Caleb and Graysen was coming to play. Emily kept saying "maw maw and PawPaw" tonight while we were eating dinner, and pointing to the empty seats at the table. In the morning when we wake up it will be a big surprise to her when it is only her and I here. We are going to spend this week preparing for our camping trip we have planned this weekend, and just getting back into our routine.

Emily had to prepare before going to the dr. She enjoyed checking her teeth in the mirror and saying "AH-AH". She looked nice until we got home and she insisted on putting on the rain boots and going out to water the plants with paw-paw and relaxing in the swing.

CHUCK E CHEESE PICS

Musuem, Chuck E. Cheese and Dr Visit

Wednesday we all went to the museum and enjoyed the afternoon. Dad and Todd got there first crop from the garden, a hot pepper! It is small so look close to see it in the picture.

On Thursday, we took Emily for her 2 year well check up. She is 30 pounds and 3 feet tall! The doctor says she is "perfect" . We are very blessed to have a healthy child, but her temper and strong will makes me crazy sometimes.

Since she was so nice at the doctor's office, we treated her to lunch at Chuck E. Cheese today. Laura and the boys joined us. Mom enjoyed holding Graysen while Emily ran wild and Caleb ate his three pieces of pizza. We had a nice visit and now Emily and Paw-Paw are both taking a nap. Check out Mom's new hair cut in the picture.

Trampoline

This is Emily on her trampoline that was given to us by our new neighbor. She loves to "bop,bop,bop..." but doesn't understand why maw-maw and paw-paw won't jump.

ICECREAM TRUCK

Paw Paw thinks we should eat ice-cream every evening. Todd and I are in for a long summer, having to support Emily's new habit!

MORE OUTDOOR FUN

FUN TIME WITH THE WATER HOSE

Emily and Paw-paw had a blast today playing in the water. I don't know who enjoyed it more! Notice how Maw-Maw is checking out the weekly sales paper.

NEW HAIRCUT

After seeing what a nice job I did giving Todd a haircut, my dad decided you wanted his cut also. I don't think it looks that bad, and he seems to like it. My mom on the other hand isn't too thrilled about it.

EMILY AND THE GRANDPARENTS

My parents are still here. Uncertain when they will be leaving. Emily will miss them so much. She enjoys helping paw-paw take his blood pressure and wants to make biscuits with maw-maw every day. The ice cream lady will miss my dad as well.... he insist on buying $5.00 worth of icecream each evening! Emily enjoyed the rain we had over the weekend. She finally got a chance to use her new umbrella.

FEEDING THE DUCKS

Emily and Maw-Maw making cup cakes!

OUR WEEK

We are still having a blast having my parents here visiting. We went to feed the ducks yesterday morning and they were very aggresive! We couldn't get the bread to them fast enough. Emily and maw-maw made cupcakes, dad continued to do yard work, Todd took down the old basketball goal, and I have just been taking it all in! Yesterday evening, the ice cream truck came by and Emily and Paw-Paw had to flag it down. Paw-Paw made arrangements with the driver to come back every evening while he is here so he can buy Emily some icecream. Tommorrow, Mom and I are going to the huge yard sale at the gazette parking lot. We read in the paper this morning they have 88 people scheduled to set up. Mom can't wait to get there!?

PARENTS IN TOWN

On Monday, Emily and I went to Virginia to pick up Mom and Dad and bring them for a visit. We met Peg and had a picnic lunch and played for a while and then came on home. Emily was a little sad that Peg didn't come home with us, but was extremly excited to have maw-maw and paw-paw at her house.

All of us are very happy to have them visiting. Emily is enjoying getting to

"play, play, play" with someone other than me and Todd. Todd is happy to have someone help in the garden and cutting the grass. I enjoy having a noisy house and Mom and Dad to talk to. All three of us are enjoying the good cooking?!?!

Emily is learnig to make biscuits and gravy. She is also getting potty trained this week. We had ALOT of wet panties yesterday...our first day.... and only one successful " pee-pee" in the potty. We were all very proud of her, and she got a prize! The good thing is we didn't use any diapers yesterday! By the way, it was my mom's idea to start the potty training. I think I cleaned up the most messes......but who is counting.

Bad Influence!

Look what Emily picked up from Bryana! Actually, she was looking at the picture of Bryanna and started saying "nose, nose' and then started digging in hers. She is starting to copy everything she sees. The more I told her to stop...the more she laughed and kept on going.

Flip Flops

Emily has finally mastered the skill of doing flip flops! I also like this picture of her posing as if she is a cheerleader. I was wanting her to stand (why she is on the table is beyond me) but this is how she positioned herself for the picture.

DAY AT THE PARK

Friday I took Emily to Spartanburg to play with Caleb and Graysen. She enjoys spending time with them as much as I do with Laura. Laura had planned a trip to the park. We packed a picnic, and I forgot to mention that Caleb also invited his friend Katelin and her mom Alisha. All three kids played well together, despite the fact Emily felt she was in competion with Katelin...the prize of course being Caleb.

The park was a very nice park with a nice play area, a train and a duck pond. As the pictures will tell, Caleb was not a fan of the train. Emily and Graysen loved it. Emily was on the go the whole time we were there. She only sat down for a few minutes here and there for a quick drink and a chip or two, and she was back to the slide and climbing up and down the play equipment. Everyone left the park extremely dirty, but we had a great day!

EMILY'S FIRST TRIP TO THE ZOO

On Wednesday we took Emily to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. We had a really fun time. I think we all enjoyed the gorillas the most. They were very active because it was lunch time for them. Emily also enjoyed feeding the giraffes. She didn't care too much for the seals, only because we wouldn't allow her in the water. Although she kept saying please, we didn't feel it was a good idea. She also enjoyed riding the carousel, although she called it a train! Hope the video works, although the sound doesn't pick up too good with the camera.