Pics from Beach Trip

here are some pictures of our (just the girls and mommy's) trip to rosemary beach with mommy's family. enjoy!

resting

the girls and i have been at the beach this past week with my family. one of my brothers and my other brother's wife both turned 40 over the past few months, so we decided this was a great way to get together and celebrate. the weather was not great most of the beginning part of the week, but the past two days have been perfect. so we've spent the day at the beach and some time at the pool too.

emma can't get enough of swimming and splashing in the waves and the pool. isabella is becoming a little fish too. she pulls away from me in the pool and the ocean to show me her float and swim that she's been learning this summer. and at the beach, she has been covered in sand. isabella doesn't sit still for long on the beach. she's in the water, out of the water, walking down the beach, talking to the seagulls, playing in the holes the big kids dug, digging in the sand, rolling in the sand, and even sticking her face in the sand a few times!

why is it that vacations . . . especially beach vacations . . . are never long enough! now i know why my dad used to plan our beach vacations for 10-14 days. one week just goes too fast! but, it sure has been nice to get away from the regular routine for a few days.

i'll have plenty of pictures to share early next week, so stay tuned for those!

swim-float-swim

the girls have been spending the past few weeks going to swim lessons everyday. they are taking survival swim classes. emma was returning for another year of refresher courses as she took the survival swimming a few years ago. isabella has been taking the class for the first time. she is doing great with swimming and is now focusing more on the float. it's a lot of work and time, but it's SO worth it. check out the website for more info (www.infantswim.com). i highly recommend it for your child. as someone i used to work with whose children also took the class told me . . . it's not for the "faint-of-heart parent", but the end result is totally worth all the hard stuff. after watching emma take the class and seeing how well she swims now (WAY better than me!!), i can only say great things about the course. here are some pics of the girls swimming and floating.

10 years

a few weeks ago, tom and i celebrated our 10 year anniversary. i cannot believe that 10 years has past since our wedding day. (and, we've now known each other for almost 19 years!! more than half my life!) we enjoyed a wonderful, relaxing weekend in asheville at our favorite bed and breakfast, cumberland falls inn . the breakfasts are wonderful . . . and they know all my food allergies and restrictions and they make everything so that i can eat it. we walked everywhere, just relaxed, and had an in-room massage one day! it was great, such a perfect way to celebrate our friendship and marriage . . . and where we've come from and where we are now 10 years later. enjoy our photos of us . . . then and now.

Father's Day Fun

we took pappa out for a picnic, to the playground, for a swim at the pool, and out for a yummy dinner. it was a great day celebrating our pappa!

Into Everything

isabella has discovered what a great climber she is. after attempting emma's little chair the other day, i found her a few days later sitting in her little activity table. i also caught her standing on emma's little stool in the bathroom . . . i haven't caught that on film yet.she's still not fully walking, but she is taking more and more steps. i was able to get a picture of her taking a few the other day.

moving on up . . .

earlier today i had walked out of our family room to get something in the kitchen. when i walked back into the room, i found isabella on one of emma's little chairs. she had climbed up on the chair by herself. i missed getting a picture the first time for fear that she would fall and get hurt. but i kept the camera close by and sure enough, she decided to do it again a little while later. here are some pics of her on the chair.