Happy 4th Y'all!

Now, before anyone accuses me of dressing my kids over-the-top like I used to do to my pug Olive, I'd like to note that I did not purchase the outfits the children are wearing.  Their outfits were gifts from the grandparents and there is really on a few occassions where these outfits are appropriate so I was obliged to dress them up for the fourth.  Blame G-pa and Papa for their Texan outfits, though I believe they purchased them in Kentucky.

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We had several options for fireworks in our area including a downtown city show, but we opted for the one a bit out of the way with a small town feel. The show we went to was nestled in the mountains, very scenic and promised much better people watching.

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Of course the kids had a total blast. GreenEyes loved the sparklers but hated the overhead fireworks. Ladybug liked the opposite. She was scared of the sparklers but loved the overhead fireworks.  Go figure.

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Diet coke + creullers + sparklers = good times

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Hope y'all had an awesome, safe holiday!

Weekend In Review

We had the best time hanging with our niece and nephew this weekend. We had planned to spend the weekend with just my niece (C). You see, her brother i.e. my nephew (M) is going to a Redskins game with Uncle T, so I decided it was only fair that I, Aunt Merritt, spend some quality time with niece C. Well C, was so sweet and didn't want her brother to miss out so she shared the time with her brother M so it ended up being a big family event.

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M and C at Cici's

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C and Ladybug on Himalaya

I told her the day was up to her so we went to Funland. We rode some rides, played some games, and even rode some go carts. After that, we went to Cici's for some lunch and then went to Papa's house nearby so the little ones could nap while the big kids and I hit a few stores. When we finished we met up with the kids and Papa for dinner. I'd say a good time was had by all Ladybug just loves her cousins. In fact, she cried for at least a half an hour while driving home which wasn't so awesome for us. I NEED to remember to buy a pair of ear plugs when I'm at the store and stash them in the car for the occassional, tough car ride like this one. Though painful, Ladybug made me realize we need to make this happen more often. She needs to see her cousins more than she does.

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GreenEyes in the Toddler Area

Anyway, we finished putting in the TV and components today. Next weekend, we'll tackle the library.

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Nick installing components

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Nick happy with his work

A little context of the unit

Family Vacation

First, please excuse this poorly and hastily written piece!

We returned from our family vacation today. While I'm sad it's over, I'm also so glad to be home! We left Thursday last week and got into Charleston, SC at 9:30 in the evening. The next day we had my cousin Ryan's wedding so we had only a quick moment to enjoy the town of Charleston before we got the kids to nap and get ready.  The wedding was absolutely gorgeous.

The next day we visited Nick's bro Casey and his family (Rhett, Jessie and Debby). Sadly, Jessie, Nick's niece pointed out that they had never met! How terrible! We will have to make the next visit sooner than later. We had a terrific time and we will definitely plan to do it again in the near future. We spent July 4th together hanging out by the pool and enjoying burgers and hot dogs and of course the obligatory fire works. Below is a pic of Casey's pool. I will have to copy the pics my nieces took from Facebook and attach 'em. Unfortunately, we let the battery die on that day only got the pic of Ladybug being thrown about in the pool. Why have we not done that sooner?

After our day with the B Family Clan, we scooted over to Hilton Head, SC. We spent several nights there on the beach. We spent our days enjoying the ocean, biking, running and just relaxing by the pool. We were going to spend an extra night in Savannah and then maybe even spend another night in Atlanta but the weather turned sour on us and were itching to make sure the dogs made it alive so we headed back.

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We returned to a bounty of ripe blackberries, way too much squash (overgrown!), a ton of ripe tomatoes and green beans. I spent two hours this evening getting it all picked. This will be good detoxification for all the bad food I've eaten this last week. It's good to be home.

The Obligatory Christmas Pics

The cousins' first Christmas. M and Green Eyes. You can only do this sort of stuff when they don't have a choice.

A pic of dad and his grandbabies.


The family gathered around the table... unfortunately, I didn't get everyone.


The kids and the new guitar hero toy.

My sister and her beautiful family around the hearth. Unfortunately, we never did get a chance to take one of ourselves. We were a little busy running around.