SNOW

This weekend, we took the kids to the first annual WinterFest where they had 25 tons of snow... or sort of. There was definitely 25 tons of bagged ice in a truck.. and some sort of machine... and a very small area of white stuff on the ground.. and about 5,000 people and kids...
Either way, the sweet naivety of my southern children knew no different and had fun for the few minutes they got to play in the snow. This is Charleston after all!

Remley Turns SIX

Remley at 6 weeks

The Birthday Girl and Vera at 6 weeks

Six?! Already?! Remley woke up on her birthday all smiles! As she held Vera, it seemed to be a glimpse of the past, six years ago.



This year, we had an American Girl theme, to compliment her big gift, Saige, the 2013 Girl of the Year.   Saige (whom Remley endearingly called Stage for the weeks prior to her arrival) is a spirited-girl from New Mexico, who loves school, art, horses and soaring high above the mountains in her dad's hot air balloon.

We served southwestern food of chili and quesadilla pie and and used southwestern colors for decorating.

Saige flying in her hot-air balloon

I was able to get some use out of my Christmas present (a laminator!) and create some games for added fun such as pin-the-necklace on Saige and American Girl Doll BINGO.

B I N G O

In lieu of a cake, this year we tried a chocolate fountain. YUM! What a mess, I mean FUN :)!!!

Seems all the girls had fun with Saige!

We love you too!!

Words of wisdom

So this morning Vera woke up with quite the hair doo. Water, product, even spittle wouldn't tame the spikes. I asked Rhett what we should do about it and he helpfully replied, "I really don't know Mom, she's your baby, seems your going to have to just deal with it."
Thanks a lot!

She was...

an American Girl....

American Girl doll Saige arrived for Remley's birthday. I overheard a conversation the kids had...

The Beautiful Saige

Remley: Saige is soooo beautiful!
Rhett: Yeah, she is REALLY beautiful. If she was real, I might marry her!! For real life..
Remley: Oh, Rhett! I wish I was a boy so I could marry her too!!

Discovering with Friends

We ended our mini-vacation and trip to Charlotte by spending the day at Discovery Place.

 After maneuvering our way around the Queen City and the MLK parade, we met long time friends Season, Jason, Lacey, Mickey and their kids Brighton, new baby Baylor, Jameson and Michael.
It was bittersweet to realize the last time I was there was with Season for a school field trip in seventh grade. Sweet because it was nostalgic and special to be there with Season (and our 5 kids, who would have thought!) and BITTER because I calculated that our last trip was twenty-one years ago! The children all had fun exploring and spending time with the second generation of friends. We somehow even managed to have a peaceful lunch, with 8 adults and 7 kids, a small miracle.
Good times and Great Memories!

It was nice for Baylor and Vera to get a chance to meet...

She seemed to be excited and could barely keep her eyes off of him. Barely.

Howlin' Good Times

Are we there yet??!! YES!!!

We took a mini-vacation back to my old stopping grounds of Concord, NC for a stay at The Great Wolf Lodge. It was a perfect get-away for a long weekend, in honor of Remley's birthday and our first trip as a family of FIVE!

We headed straight for the fun in the 84-degree indoor water park. We splashed the day away in over 80,000 square feet of water-packed excitement,including waves, tubes, and the jaw-dropping Howin' Tornado for Dad, the thrill seeker!!

We had a great time in The Northern Lights Arcade, playing skee-ball, air hockey, and other games as well as coloring, exploring, and doing a little bowling in Ten Paw Alley lanes.

 

We also tried out Magi Quest!With our magic wands in-hand, we explored an enchanted kingdom and joined in the ultimate adventure... enchanted objects, befriended a pixie, learned from an ancient wizard, battled a goblin and outwitted a dragon. 

 

 We had fun at Fort Mackenzie -suspension bridges, swinging cargo nets, treetop slides and spray stations. Dad loved the 1,000-gallon bucket, which tipped from the treetops.

 

 Nightly Story Time was a great way to end of our day of play at Great Wolf Lodge. We wore our pajamas and enjoyed favorite bedtime stories by the fireplace in the Grand Lobby. There was also a life-sized ginger-bread house and SNOW!

In the mornings, we took a walk around the Grand Lobby, playing eye-spy with animals of the Northwoods. Everyone, especially Vera,  enjoyed making a souvenir origami wolf!

Our wolf ears are proof... We had a HOWLIN' GOOD TIME!!!