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"I don't know WHO ate your last cupcake, Daddy."

Mom and Dad were able to come spend a few days with us in Georgia. We had a great time going to the beach, fishing, painting pottery, grilling, boiling shrimp, playing horseshoes, and just enjoying being together. Here are a few pictures from our weekend

June 17th & 18th

Yesterday, Mom, Matti, and I went to a pottery studio in Richmond Hill to pick out and paint some fun pieces. Matti painted a red and blue fish on a small platter and had a blast. We decided to go back today to do a few more pieces. Matti painted 3 small fish that will go in the bathroom in Mom and Dad's fishing camp. She also painted a flip flop for her room. Mom picked out a larger platter and had me paint a flag on it, along with some of the lyrics to Grand Old Flag. Matti had a blast playing in the little kitchen area for kids. It was a great morning.

A Small Milestone

This may seem like a small feat, but it will make our bath time easier each night. Matti has never been fond of having to wash the shampoo out of her hair. It usually ends up happening by me pouring water over her head a few quick times with her telling me that she doesn't like that. When we were in Florida, I taught her to lay back in the tub and keep her face out of the water. Tonight, she was so proud to show me her "trick," and she wanted to do it over and over. I thought it was too funny not to take a quick video.

Mattison and I headed to Savannah a little before lunch. I've been getting a little bit of Cabin Fever lately, so it felt good to get out of the house. Our first stop was McDonald's for lunch (Matti's choice, of course). She had a good time playing on the playground...instead of eating her chicken nuggets, unfortunately. After lunch, we went to Hancock Fabrics to get some material to make curtains for the kitchen windows and possibly Matti's bedroom window as well. Unfortunately, they didn't have what we were looking for, but I did get some fun materials to make Matti a few little dresses out of. This isn't a quality picture below, but here they are. The little lady bug fabric is super cute; I'll use the red as an accent with both the blue patterned fabrics. To keep Matti busy, I let her hold two bolts of fabric of her choice (one of Dora the Explorer and the other of Winnie the Pooh), and she made up stories about them as I walked the store. The old ladies cutting my fabric got a kick out of listening to her. She also thanked them as they cut each fabric and put it in our pile. She can be a cutie when she wants to be. ;)

After our lengthy shopping trip to Hancock's, we went to Target (not a good idea, since I didn't have a shopping list). I came out with so many goodies that I had no idea I needed. ;) Oh, how I love that store. Good thing we don't have one in the same town that we live in, or I'd be in real trouble. Matti is quite the shopper herself. She added to the shopping cart here and there. When it was time to check out, I put her items to the side as I came to them. She was obviously stressed by this, as she held out her hands and said, "Why? Why? Why?" The cashier and I got a good laugh out of that one. The things that come out of her mouth lately are hilarious. Where does she hear this stuff? ;) We headed back to Hville after leaving Target, and Mattison was asleep before we got to I95. I guess all that shopping really took it out of her. It was a great day with my little sweet pea.

Matt had to work all day today, so Mattison and I had lunch with him and then headed to the splash park on post for some fun. Last year she wouldn't have much to do with the water splashing everywhere, but she warmed up to it today. She still didn't care for the waterfalls, but she had fun putting her hands and feet over the sprays of water coming out of the ground. The water really felt good in the hot sun, and I have a feeling we will be there many more times during this summer.

Play Park - That's what Matti calls the playground, and she asks to go there all the time. This one is on Ft. Stewart and is made for young kids, so she loves it. We like to go in the evenings after dinner when it's cooler outside.

Evening Bike Ride

I walked while Matti rode her bike around the neighborhood this evening. She was prepared with her Dora backpack, juice, a sucker ringpop, and Mickey sunglasses. This was the first time that we made the big circle, and she did great. She only stopped a few times to investigate things on the sidewalk. She made up songs as she peddled and said hello to the people in their front yards.
                                                                     And she's off!

Matti Reading to Aunt Danielle

May 15th Beach Trip

Sunday afternoon we headed to Jekyll with the Romans and JoJo. We pretty much got ran off the beach due to the tide coming up so far it reached the rocks. We moved our things to sit on top of the rocks, but it never got better. It was pretty funny having to get us, a dog, ice chests, fishing poles, and the rest of our beach chairs and paraphernalia to dry land. After surviving, we headed to eat seafood at a nearby restaurant. Peel and eat shrimp - Yum!

Art Time

Today, Mattison "painted" some pictures after breakfast. She loved it so much that I had to divert her attention to something else after her 4th page. At this rate, we'll be finished with the whole book by the end of the week. Now, who will be lucky ones to find a surprise in their mailbox soon? ;)

A Much-Needed Vacay

We met some of the Russell fam in Pensacola for a relaxing long weekend, June 2-6. Mattison was in cousin-heaven and loved every minute that she played with Baylee, RJ, and Dutch. Mrs. Carolyn, Mawmaw, the Brown family (Mandy, Nick, Baylee and RJ), Adrienne, Dutch, Missy, and Doug were all there. We went to each 2xs most days, did some shopping, and ate at Flounders and some ofther yummy hot dog and pizza places on the boardwalk. Us with Mrs. Carolyn

Eating at Flouders

Playing in the sand

What a nice cousin RJ is! Dutch and Matti are enjoying the ride.

Better Now than Never

I've been meaning to start a blog for our family for a while now but haven't sat down to do it. Now that summer is here, there's not much excuse for putting it off. I hope you enjoy the pictures and hearing of our daily happenings; although to get caught up, things will be out of chronological order at first. :)