Naked Elves
12 years ago
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Hurricane Chasers
Every year my best friends and I have a girls weekend. Heather, Melissa, and I lived next door to each other on Manning Hall our freshman year at Clemson. We all joined the same sorority and they introduced me to Ben since they went to high school with him.
Back in April we decided to do our get together at Heather's beautiful, new home in Sudbury, MA.....a small town about 20 minutes west of Boston. Well, a hurricane decided it'd been too long since visiting the New England area and we were in a return flight cancellations mess. The weather was nothing more than a summer thunderstorm in the south and we even had power all day during the "tropical storm". We understood why flights were canceled and were thankful to be safe, and it did allow for a longer visit ;-). I missed Tyler's 1st day of preschool and Melissa missed her daughter's preschool's open house, but at least it wasn't kindergarten! Ben was happy to get to bring Tyler to preschool since he'll likely miss kindergarten due to working so I had to look at it on a positive note.
Early Friday morning Melissa and I flew up to Boston together.....I was happy to be traveling with her. Heather picked us up from the airport and we had lunch at Panera. Then, we went to Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA.....which is northeast of Boston. The water was a beautiful blue color and icy cold. I literally couldn't get in more than ankle deep because the water was so cold it felt like little ice picks stabbing my feet. Besides, if you simply stuck your big toe in the water you immediately felt a rush of cool over your body. I was amazed that so many people were swimming and playing in the water as if they were in the Caribbean. Heather cooked us a delicious dinner of risotto, grilled zucchini, and corn on the cob. We watched half of Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince before Melissa and I started nodding off since we'd gotten up at 5 am that morning.
Saturday morning Heather made us banana, chocolate chip waffles for breakfast (so yummy) and then we got the dreaded call that our flight home on Sunday had been canceled. We spent a good deal of time on the phone with US Airways. Thankfully, we were both able to get on a Tuesday morning flight together. Once we'd done what we could we carried on with our plans determined not to let the weather dampen our moods.
So....we had pedicures at Heather's salon, met one of our sorority sisters who's also in Boston, Crystal, at the movie theater and watched "The Help" (which was great), then we all went shopping at Natick Mall and had dinner together at Lotus Blossom....a local Chinese/Japanese restaurant. Natick mall had every store you could ever want and dinner was fantastic. We watched Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 that evening.....see the trend developing?
Sunday was "hurricane" day so we laid low and relaxed most of the day. Heather made us tasty omelets with chorizo, shallots, and cheese. Then we retired to the couch for most of the day. We watched Eclipse, Dirty Dancing, and lots of weather channel and news. Heather's husband, Ben, made a delicious jumbo for dinner that evening. Both Ben and Heather have some mad culinary skills and take a team approach in the kitchen.
Monday we decided to head back to the movie theater because the electric company had cut power to the grid that supplied Heather's house so they could repair some damaged lines. Guess what we saw.....Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2! After the movie we went to Starbucks because Melissa is addicted to coffee and we needed to "borrow" their power to charge our phones and computer. Of course we did some more shopping too....it was a girls trip afterall. We spent a lot of time in Nordstrom Rack trying on designer jeans....fun, fun, fun. We brought pizza home for dinner since power was still out, and on our drive back Ben called and told us they'd restored power.
Ben brought us to the airport on his way to work and we had smooth travels home. My Mom came up to keep the kids on Tuesday so my Ben could get back to work and of course they had a great time with her. Ben was so wonderful during the whole trip never complaining or getting anxious about anything. He constantly told me not to worry and to enjoy my trip. He gave Tyler a haircut, cleaned the house, and had the kids' schedules under control.....I am so lucky to have such a great husband. Nana sure saved the day too by leaving her work behind and coming up to help us out!! There were certainly hiccups along the way, but I had a great trip!
Back in April we decided to do our get together at Heather's beautiful, new home in Sudbury, MA.....a small town about 20 minutes west of Boston. Well, a hurricane decided it'd been too long since visiting the New England area and we were in a return flight cancellations mess. The weather was nothing more than a summer thunderstorm in the south and we even had power all day during the "tropical storm". We understood why flights were canceled and were thankful to be safe, and it did allow for a longer visit ;-). I missed Tyler's 1st day of preschool and Melissa missed her daughter's preschool's open house, but at least it wasn't kindergarten! Ben was happy to get to bring Tyler to preschool since he'll likely miss kindergarten due to working so I had to look at it on a positive note.
Early Friday morning Melissa and I flew up to Boston together.....I was happy to be traveling with her. Heather picked us up from the airport and we had lunch at Panera. Then, we went to Crane Beach in Ipswich, MA.....which is northeast of Boston. The water was a beautiful blue color and icy cold. I literally couldn't get in more than ankle deep because the water was so cold it felt like little ice picks stabbing my feet. Besides, if you simply stuck your big toe in the water you immediately felt a rush of cool over your body. I was amazed that so many people were swimming and playing in the water as if they were in the Caribbean. Heather cooked us a delicious dinner of risotto, grilled zucchini, and corn on the cob. We watched half of Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince before Melissa and I started nodding off since we'd gotten up at 5 am that morning.
Saturday morning Heather made us banana, chocolate chip waffles for breakfast (so yummy) and then we got the dreaded call that our flight home on Sunday had been canceled. We spent a good deal of time on the phone with US Airways. Thankfully, we were both able to get on a Tuesday morning flight together. Once we'd done what we could we carried on with our plans determined not to let the weather dampen our moods.
So....we had pedicures at Heather's salon, met one of our sorority sisters who's also in Boston, Crystal, at the movie theater and watched "The Help" (which was great), then we all went shopping at Natick Mall and had dinner together at Lotus Blossom....a local Chinese/Japanese restaurant. Natick mall had every store you could ever want and dinner was fantastic. We watched Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 1 that evening.....see the trend developing?
Sunday was "hurricane" day so we laid low and relaxed most of the day. Heather made us tasty omelets with chorizo, shallots, and cheese. Then we retired to the couch for most of the day. We watched Eclipse, Dirty Dancing, and lots of weather channel and news. Heather's husband, Ben, made a delicious jumbo for dinner that evening. Both Ben and Heather have some mad culinary skills and take a team approach in the kitchen.
Monday we decided to head back to the movie theater because the electric company had cut power to the grid that supplied Heather's house so they could repair some damaged lines. Guess what we saw.....Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part 2! After the movie we went to Starbucks because Melissa is addicted to coffee and we needed to "borrow" their power to charge our phones and computer. Of course we did some more shopping too....it was a girls trip afterall. We spent a lot of time in Nordstrom Rack trying on designer jeans....fun, fun, fun. We brought pizza home for dinner since power was still out, and on our drive back Ben called and told us they'd restored power.
Ben brought us to the airport on his way to work and we had smooth travels home. My Mom came up to keep the kids on Tuesday so my Ben could get back to work and of course they had a great time with her. Ben was so wonderful during the whole trip never complaining or getting anxious about anything. He constantly told me not to worry and to enjoy my trip. He gave Tyler a haircut, cleaned the house, and had the kids' schedules under control.....I am so lucky to have such a great husband. Nana sure saved the day too by leaving her work behind and coming up to help us out!! There were certainly hiccups along the way, but I had a great trip!
Boston skyline at the airport
Crane Beach
Pedicures at Invidia Salon
Dinner at Lotus Blossom
trying on jeans
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Geared Up For Clemson Football
Tyler picked this player, Vic Beasley, to sign his jersey.....he walked up to Vic and the next thing we know he's wearing an autographed jersey. I think it's because he's # 3. Instead of saying "I'm 3 years old", Tyler says "my # is 3 or Mama's # is 30".
Preschooler
We've got a preschooler! Tyler started preschool at Trinity Baptist Church this week and he's so excited. He'll go 3 days a week for 3 hours in the morning. He knows a couple of the kids in his class too. We're so happy that he is so into it and enjoys going.
Bailey Beth - 14 Months
Here are 14 fun facts about our precious 14 month old:
1) She's walking all over the place....Bailey took her 1st independent steps about a month ago and now she's toddling everywhere.
2) Loves to dance and just can't seem to resist it when she hears music.
3) Imitates us often....which means she's learning some undesirables from Big Bro ;-)
4) She gets her feelings hurt easily if we tell her "no"....or perhaps she's simply letting us know that she doesn't want to hear it.
5) Clapping is probably her 2nd favorite body movement behind dancing.
6) Bailey Beth is learning her colors and likes to turn the pages when we read to her.
7) She is also getting into animal sounds and usually laughs when we make the sheep and bee sounds.
8) Her favorite words are: Ma-Ma, Da-Da, Buh-Buh, and a couple of her own concoctions......joy joy joy, Gee-Gee, and Doo-EE
9) Still so laid back and sweet, but that temper is starting to develop....especially when one of her toys gets swiped by you know who.
10) Cookies and pretzels are her favorite splurge foods...oh and ice cream. LOVES yogurt tubes and yogurt in general. Spaghetti is her favorite table food.
11) Bailey has the cutest laugh and squeals when she gets really excited. She is truly an angel and we love her dearly.
12) She weighs about 20 pounds now and measured 29.5 inches at her 12 month check-up which puts her in the 25% for weight and 75% for height.
13) Likes to be pushed around in the stroller and enjoys car rides.
14) Her Corolle baby doll is certainly her most prized toy and we can get her to do most anything if her baby is the reward.
1) She's walking all over the place....Bailey took her 1st independent steps about a month ago and now she's toddling everywhere.
2) Loves to dance and just can't seem to resist it when she hears music.
3) Imitates us often....which means she's learning some undesirables from Big Bro ;-)
4) She gets her feelings hurt easily if we tell her "no"....or perhaps she's simply letting us know that she doesn't want to hear it.
5) Clapping is probably her 2nd favorite body movement behind dancing.
6) Bailey Beth is learning her colors and likes to turn the pages when we read to her.
7) She is also getting into animal sounds and usually laughs when we make the sheep and bee sounds.
8) Her favorite words are: Ma-Ma, Da-Da, Buh-Buh, and a couple of her own concoctions......joy joy joy, Gee-Gee, and Doo-EE
9) Still so laid back and sweet, but that temper is starting to develop....especially when one of her toys gets swiped by you know who.
10) Cookies and pretzels are her favorite splurge foods...oh and ice cream. LOVES yogurt tubes and yogurt in general. Spaghetti is her favorite table food.
11) Bailey has the cutest laugh and squeals when she gets really excited. She is truly an angel and we love her dearly.
12) She weighs about 20 pounds now and measured 29.5 inches at her 12 month check-up which puts her in the 25% for weight and 75% for height.
13) Likes to be pushed around in the stroller and enjoys car rides.
14) Her Corolle baby doll is certainly her most prized toy and we can get her to do most anything if her baby is the reward.
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