Ladies at Lunch

We are finally enjoying some springlike days (like you folks down South have been enjoying since March)!

It's all in the presentation

We all know that Caroline is not a veggie girl. For instance, we discovered the other day that peas make her puke. Literally. We have tried them all and have had no luck getting more than one bite of any veggie down this kid. Until today. Apparently Mama has been going about this all wrong and - GASP! - feeding Caroline straight from the Gerber packs. On a whim, Mama served up sweet potatoes in a pretty pink bowl with a purple spoon and, not only did she inhale the sweet potatoes, but Caroline would have licked the bowl clean if she could have. Evidently this is the presentation Caroline prefers for her meals. Stupid Mama. Give me another year and I'll be peeling her grapes. And this is my low-maintenance kid!!

I'm a Star, I'm a Star, I'm a Star!!

I was out of town for a few days and upon checking in with Daddy after school, he informed me that Katie was the only one in her class who had earned all her stars on the "Star Chart." Immediate response: "Awesome!" while secretly thinking: "there's a Star Chart? What the heck is the Star Chart?!?!" Come to find out it's like a little report card from the preschool. You'd think I would know this. According to the stars (literally), Katie has mastered items like counting to 10, spelling her name, singing the ABC's, and identifying her colors and shapes. She and her BFF Ally are apparently the only ones in the class who know their colors well. I attribute this to the many conversations I've overheard between the two of them about their clothes, shoes and hair accessories. Wonder what that says about their mamas??... Anyway, cheers to our little "star"!

Sweet Caroline

Caroline had her 6 month well check today with the doctor. She looks great and is ahead of the curve developmentally - dr says she isn't going to be a baby for much longer! She has 4 teeth now, weighs 16 pounds 11 ounces (60%) and is 26.25 inches (75%) long. She sits up and plays, eats cereal and hates all veggies so far. The kid looks absolutely horrified every time she takes a bite of any vegetable. No pain, no gain - Mama says no fruits until we master the veggies. She was a trooper with all of her shots - poor baby! Next visit is shot-free so we can look forward to that one.

All good things must come to an end

Today was the last day of vacation, so what the heck - Katie ate a popsicle at 6:53 am. She was ready for the beach at 7:06 am. The rest of us were not, so she had to cool her jets for a bit. We spent the morning at the beach and then went swimming with our friends at the pool while Daddy played golf. Everyone was happy :). We did NOT eat at Yamato's, instead we ate outside with some friends at a grill at the marina that was very good. Had we eaten there prior to the last night, we might have eaten there 3 times this week. HA! We have had a fantastic time this week and all of us are sorry that it went so quickly. Katie does not understand why we have to go home. I am sure we will have a scene tomorrow trying to get her to the airport. The girls' room here is pink and green with green walls. Katie said she was going to ask Grandpa to paint her room green when she gets home...because Grandpa needs another project for these kids!!

Fun in the Sun

Katie started the day in Time Out for demanding a popsicle prior to 7 am. Fortunately for all of us, things improved after that. Katie and Mama hit the beach to chase waves and build sand "castles." Then we headed over to meet our friends at the pool. Big Caroline and Katie had a lot of fun swimming and splashing while Little Caroline took up residence in her own lounge chair under a big umbrella and played with her toys in between dips in the pool. We really enjoyed the sun and were all reminded of the importance of reapplying sunscreen after 3 hours at the pool. :) We got some quick naps in and then dressed the girls in their white beach dresses in an effort to attempt those sought-after beach pictures of perfect children dancing around in their best clothes while the sun sets and the waves crash in the background. I think it's safe to say Katie and Caroline are too little to pull those off. Sand EVERYWHERE. Oh well, maybe in a couple of years...it'll give us an excuse to come back. We met up with all of our friends...at the Japanese Steakhouse again. This really is getting embarrassing - especially since we have now had the same chef 3 times. But Katie LOVES this place and it is good and we all know this is Katie's Vacation. Caroline showed the first signs of Yamato Fatigue this evening so it is doubtful we'll make it back again this trip...

Beach babies!

Every morning Katie pops into our room at first light ready to hit the beach and outlines her plans for the day which typically include the beach, the pool and a lot of sand. She was dressed, had eaten breakfast and was ready to go to the beach this morning before 7:30 am. She barely managed to contain herself until Daddy took her down there around 8:30 am. Daddy just commented that we might as well call this "Katie's Vacation" since the rest of us are pretty much just along for the ride. Amen. Today the weather was outstanding so we got some quality time in at the beach. "Rocketship Katie" must have run 5 miles chasing waves out to sea and then letting them "chase" her back up the beach. Whenever she'd gear up to run after the waves, she'd spread her arms out and take off down the beach yelling "Rocketship Katie!!" She had a ball! Caroline chilled out under the beach umbrella and took it all in. The girls did manage to get naps in this afternoon which was good for everyone...until Katie had an accident in Mama and Daddy's bed. Good thing the condo is equipped with a full size washer and dryer! More friends came down to join us in SC for the weekend so we went back over to Big Caroline's tonight so the Daddies could have a BBQ cook off. We think our Daddy's ribs were by far the best!! It was a lot of fun and a late night. Katie and Caroline went to bed without much complaint. Mama and Daddy are exhausted - we'd love to go to bed too but we have to wait until we have clean sheets...oh the joys of parenthood!!