It Goes By Too Fast!!

We're so sad....another beach vacation is over! We are however, so blessed, that we were able to spend this week at the beach - we've had a blast. Now, it's back to reality!!

The Two Most Important Things @ The Beach..

Happened today.....................

"White-dress" pictures (we have a spin on the white dress this time since we just did those this June. I have been waiting to find a good reason to have her wear this dress & take pictures in it. I think the beach "white-dress" idea works for this too!!)

And.....visiting the K-K shop!!!! YUMO!!

Wordless Wednesday (from the beach)

Anyone Up For a Spa-Mud-Bath Treatment??

I'm sure these girls would be happy to let you join them!!!

True "Beach Joy"

Today was BEAUTIFUL weather!! I don't think it could get better. It was in the upper 80's and sunny ALL day!! The water was warm & minus the few biting flies (ugh...I HATE those things) this day was PERFECT!! I just love the beach & spending quality, relaxing time with my family -- I think there is NO place better on earth!!!

Who Wants Crab??

Today is a "crabby" kind of day. (In the good way!) We started the morning off w/ a little rain, so my sister and I headed to the outlets for a little shopping while the clouds blew over. I found the cutest earrings for Anne Marie and just "HAD" to buy them!! They were little crabs.

It didn't take long for the sun to come out and so we headed to the beach. Would you like to see pictures? Well, too bad. I actually brought the camera to the beach, I just forgot the camera card back @ the beach house. I was worried about missing a "life moment" - and Mike said to me "we're not missing it, we're here & part of it" -- so I decided he was right, and just enjoyed my family time w/out the camera stuck to my face!!

For dinner tonight we headed to our favorite sea-food place. We had...what else.... CRAB! YUMO! We all had a great dinner...and the crab-dip...whooohooo!!

After dinner we headed back to the house for dessert (nutty-bars) and bed. The girls were so cute in their matchy-jammies. We didn't even coordinate it....but I think it's funny that we were in the same frame of mind. We're looking forward to a full day @ the beach tomorrow!

Shall I Make You Jealous?????

Just cause I could. It's the last year we could take Anne Marie out of school (since it's still pre-school we didn't figure it mattered as much) -- and we couldn't pass up a fall-beach-trip. It's our FAVORITE time of year at the beach!!! The water is W-A-R-M & we're ready for a fun-filled week!!!! We'll update you more throughout the week!!

Back to School!

This was Anne Marie's 1st week back in pre-school. The "big" 4yr old class!!!

The night before her 1st day we gave her a special "back-to-school-gift". An item bought quite a while ago on clearance -- when mommy didn't realize it was going to be 92 the 1st day of school. But true to Anne Marie - loving HK - she decided that she NEEDED to wear the black, long sleeved shirt to school -- and how could we say no?

7:30 came early -- she was not used to getting up this early -- she cried out "oh mommy, it's too bright" when the camera snapped w/ flash in her face early that morning. (I know, I"m a mean mommy....but I just had to get a picture!!)

I made up for it with home made pancakes & a fresh-berry smoothie for breakfast!

Then, it was off to school (in the shirt -- paired w/ shorts - hoping that it would keep her a little cool at least). I remember fondly the picture from last year that looks almost exact but...OH MY...how she's grown...it's just making my heart ache!!!

The traditional picture in front of the pre-school sign. Again, what a difference from last year. You can see those pictures HERE to see the difference for yourself.

As I've said before, I'm just praying for a "slow" year -- I'm ready to make the most of it because I am NOT ready for my baby girl to head off to kindergarten next year!!!

A Little Play Before School Starts

Last week was the last week we had "free" before school started. So, we decided we would spend a part of each day doing something "special" to celebrate the end of our summer. We had a great time! I can't believe our girl is getting ready to start the 4yr old pre-school class! My, how time flies..I'm just praying this year goes slow because I"m not ready for next year!

One morning we had breakfast @ Anne Marie's favorite breakfast-stop!

One day we went to our local state-park and had a picnic lunch & hiked around.


One day we went to fly kites with Grandpa ....

One day we played at the local lake.....

One day we went for a hike in the nearby mountains to have

a scavenger hunt for "nature things"

One day we had our best-bud Mattie over to swim in the pool before it closed.

Now, it's time for school!! It's been a GREAT summer!! We've had ton-o-fun. We're going to miss all our "free" time and we're hoping the beautiful weather sticks around a little longer. But, we are excited about all the things this school year will bring.

Nana's Home!!!! Yay!!

Yay!! After 2 long months our Nana is home from her cross-country-road-trip!! We've missed her so. We're so glad that she had fun -- she saw many awesome things -- she even brought us back these awesome Chinese dresses from Chinatown in San Fransisco.

WELCOME HOME NANA!!

Camping & A Surprise Visit

Two weekends ago we were able to get together with our very special friends the "H" family & go camping...Anne Marie's favorite thing to do. Not mine, however I will say that it's not too bad when great friends are involved. When there is no other agenda -- and you can just relax, visit, play cards, hike and swim at a lake -- it's not too bad!! We got there Friday afternoon a little earlier than our friends did, so we set up camp, and I started dinner while we waited for everyone to show up. Anne Marie had a hard time waiting, she kept asking, "when will they get here?" Well, finally about 8pm they showed up & the girls danced & sang & giggle around the camp-ground until well after 10pm!!

Daddy & Anne Marie helping set up the tent.

Finally!!!! Our friend Avery showed -- with glow-sticks for the girls in tow.

Dinner cooking. Everyone makes fun of my meals while we camp. My theory is, hey, I love to eat yummy food -- I'm not a hot-dog kind of gal. Well, as luck would have it, neither is my friend Jennifer. For dinner we had chicken w/ couscous, feta cheese & cherry tomatoes & garlic bread. One night she made chicken avocado wraps, and for breakfast we had eggs, bacon, fresh fruit & oatmeal. So, when you camp with us I promise you'll have good food. Go ahead -- make fun of us.....you know you want to!!


Enjoying an evening camp-fire.

Ready for bed in her new sleeping bag.

Saturday, we decided to head to the lake. It was a very nice lake & the girls were quite excited. Avery was even trying to show us her new "hand-stand-move" she learned at the local pool. She's quite good at it!!

Then, it was time for a little hike in the woods. Jennifer made the girls cute little scavenger hunt list -- they found all kinds of things on our hike - even very "cool" walking sticks.

After dinner Saturday it was time to roast smores -- YUMO!! We all enjoyed them. The girls were able to make it to bed a little earlier that night -- they were TIRED!! The big kids stayed up and played cards - and tried to "stay quiet". They run a tight ship at these state parks - you don't want to be caught being too loud after "quiet time"!! Then, late in the night it started to rain.....and rain.....and rain. Well, our tent passed the test. NO WATER!! I was a little worried, but happy to know that it did not leak. There really are no pictures of Sunday since we basically got up, packed up as soon as the rain slowed & left in quite a hurry! Even with the rain - it was a really GREAT weekend! We hope to do it again soon.

One bonus to our trip was that we were able to visit some other very special friends that lived close by to the state park. Our China friends, Jennifer, Scott & Maggie. Anne Marie was SOOOOO excited! We just kind of dropped in on them, and are so glad they were home and were so grateful that they were able to spend most of Sunday visiting with us.

The girls got ahold of the camera & decided to try to take pic's of themselves.

Two little cuties!!