There's the Ocean!

Abigail liked playing with her cousins and in the sand however she wasn't wild about actually getting in the ocean because of the waves and the sound she liked the "swimming pool beach" the best as she called it.
This log was right beside the house and it is really the only place she would cooperate for pictures. She is on the move all the time it was nearly impossible to get a picture of her looking at the camera and smiling.

Our little surfer girl! I didn't know she knew anything about surfing but I bet she learned it from The Backyardigans, her new favorite show. We went to Fort Morgan, Alabama July 14-21st and had a great time. We arrived on Saturday night so Sunday had severe storms forecast so we decided to go shopping in Foley right off the bat! We did take a Abigail to see the ocean before we went shopping and she was so excited pointing and yelling "there's the ocean!" She loved the sand washing out from under her feet with the waves. She asked us a hundred times"Where'd my feet go?" when the water would wash away. Shopping was great the only person that benefited was of course Abigail. Stride Rite and Heartstrings were my favorite stores. We actually made it into town two times during the week. We pretty much got up ate breakfast at the house, went to the beach came back to the house for lunch and a nap went to the pool or beach again come back to the house everyone get showers and cook dinner. Each family takes a night and is in charge of dinner for everyone. There are just too many people for us to go out to eat plus it is a 20-30 minute drive into town. There is one little restaurant in the marina across the street called Tacky Jacks that we try to eat at for lunch one day during the week. After Abigail went to sleep for her nap Matthew and I got to walk over and have lunch just the two of us and that was fun. You have to eat seafood at the beach!

Off to the Beach!

We are off to Fort Morgan, Alabama early Saturday morning. We are staying in the "Witts Inn" which is where we stayed last year. It is fun to look back at pictures from last year. They grow up so fast!

I Love to Swim

Another thing we did while we were at my parents was that my friend Mandi and I took Abigail and her little girl Mia to the city pool. Paris is a small town so it is ok to go to the city pool. It is neat to go back to my first job where I spent seven summers of my life. We had fun and Abigail loved her new ring and even wanted to wear it in the kiddie pool. I am trying to get as much sharing practice as I can for Abigail. She seems to do better if we are not at home with her toys but I did have to explain to her that she really likes to play with things other kids have so she should be more willing to share her toys. There seems to be a correlation between sleepiness and sharing. First thing she was very happy, cooperative, and willing to share and after lunch when we were getting packed up everything seemed to fall apart. I guess that is normal for a two year old. We went to take a much needed nap.

Bubba Kitty and Whitey

Abigail went to my parents house last Thursday for a couple of days and besides seeing Mimi and Paw Paw, Abigail really can't wait to see my moms two cats. Luckily they are good natured and tolerate her petting them non stop. These are outside cats and would have never been allowed to come inside when we were kids however if Abigail wants to play with them they can either come inside in the chair or they stay on the rug. The monute we drive in the driveway she looks to see if she can see if "eyes shining like flashlights!"

Fourth of July

Things have been a little hectic around here so I am just now getting around to July 4th! We went to eat lunch at Matthew's parents and we enjoyed the nice weather outside. Abigail likes riding her "bicycle" but she still needs her legs to be a little longer to pedal.
She also got to try out the newly hung swing on the back porch with Pop.
That night I let Abigail stay up to watch the fireworks. We just stayed at home and hoped there would be something to see and we were pleasantly surprised. We could see lots of big fireworks, and there was very little noise so Abigail wasn't scared at all. Matthew said to remind him to never buy fireworks or fight big crowds to see them because we could see all we wanted from our own backyard!

Matthew and Abigail watched like this for a while and then Abigial decided she needed a snack and so we just pushed her hight chair to the window and she ate some "talking cereal" (rice crispies) and enjoyed the show.