The Hawk

We hear him every morning pretty much.

We see him several times a week.

Madelyn adores being able to find all types of wildlife around our home.

(mostly birds and bunnies)

Smile

Madelyn's very first, very clear person she drew.

An artist in the making?

Perhaps.

Pinatas and Tooting

One might wonder how these two relate to one another.

Well, let me tell you both were involved in a birthday party the other day.

Madelyn's cousins just had a pool party for their birthdays the other day

and we swam, ate, opened presents and all...or should I say most...of the kids

took some good ol' swats at the cute little owl pinatas.

Let's start with the gift opening - 

All the kids are sitting so nicely watch L and L open their birthday gifts.

I'm sitting on one end writing down who gave what gift while Madelyn

is at the other end wanting to sit with all the kids and act like a big girl.

At one point I hear a toot...I mean, it wasn't loud, but it

definitely had a vibrating sound to it.  I kinda chuckled to myself and looked around at all

the kids to see who looked suspicious.

Well, when I got to Madelyn she looked over at me with a big smile and whispered/mouthed to me

'I tooted!'

All I could think was 'oh, great.  That was my kid'

Let's jump on over to the fun of whacking a pinata to make candy fall out.

Sounds fun, right?

Well, little timid M did not think this sounded fun at all.

I picked her up and she buried her face in my neck 

and wouldn't watch all the kids take turns.

I was telling her it was okay.

That really you are supposed to hit the pinata until candy falls out.

That it really is fun.

Nope.

Not for her.

She finally would sit in my lap and watch, but did she want to take a turn at whacking the pinata?

No way.

And when candy fell she casually picked up one piece at a time 

acting like what in the heck kind of game is this?!?

So, I guess we will forego the pinata idea for her birthday party this year.

Happy Birthday L and L.  We had a blast even if Madelyn

did not get a kick out of the pinata and tooted while you were opening gifts.

Hammock Beach Resort

Vacation?

Sort of.

Business?

For some.

Fun?

Mostly.

(such a great car rider)

(the hotel from the beach)

(view from our room)

Matt got asked by his boss at his job to attend a business conference in Palm Coast, Florida.

We arrived on Thursday a little after lunch to get checked in and spend the day with him at the beach, in the pools and wondering around the resort in general.

Mainly this was my day to learn how to get around and where to find things because

starting Friday Matt was going to be in meetings and it would be just Madelyn and me all on our own.

The resort was beautiful.

 Madelyn and I got to spend our days soaking up the sun at the beach and the pool mostly.

We would walk on the beach in the mornings.

She loved sitting in the sand letting the waves wash up on her and spin her around.

We would play at the pool, jumping around from pool to pool depending on what we felt like that day.

Her favorite was the slide.  

She was able to sit in my lap and go down the slide and she thought it was the coolest.

They had waterfalls, a lazy river, the slide, an adult pool and hot tub and a sand pit that led to a pool.

We did a little bit of it all everyday besides the adult pool and hot tub.

Matt would text us to check in on us.

Meetings. Meetings.  Meetings.

Hey, meetings at the beach sure beat meetings at the office I'm sure.

 

Matt got to spend a little bit of time with us on Friday and Saturday.

Matt played golf on Friday on the beautiful golf course there 

with the people who were there for the conference.

Then Sunday morning we played one last time before heading home.

On our way home we stopped in Saint Augustine to see the city itself and toured

Castillo de San Marcos.

Then we trekked it on home.

 

 

Thanks to my mom and dad who kept Jackson for us while we were gone.

Lifesavers...or I guess I should say money savers!

We look forward to the beach again with family in November!

Children's Museum of Atlanta, 2014

Much fun was had.

This was Madelyn's second trip to this museum.

Last year she had fun, but she definitely enjoyed more this go round.

And her best buddy Bryce was able to come along as well.

I'm not sure if she had a favorite this time.

She did a little bit of everything and went back 

and did a little more of everything.

All the while telling and showing Bryce what to do.

(Trying to be the boss like she is these days.)