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!!!

Monster trucks!

David took Rhett to see the infamous monster trucks. He went with friends Rich and Dan and their sons Oscar and Frank. While Rhett was the smallest and youngest, he sure was the bravest and toughest relishing the loud sound and cheering while the other kids covered the ears!

Dribble it.. Pass it... We want a BASKET!

Last week was back to school and settling into this New Years routine. Rhett started playing basketball and Remley is a cheerleader! This week was their first practice and they seemed to really enjoy themselves and their respective sports. Meanwhile, Vera has also been busy sleeping and getting too big too fast!!

Happy Noon Year!

The children "rang in the new year" at a 12 o'clock (noon) "ball drop" at the children's museum - Happy Noon Year! with cousins Cally and Cannon (and a few hundred other low country kids). Afterwards, we all had lunch followed by a few hours at the playground and then it was off to spend the night with Mimi where the kids watched fireworks, made gingerbread cookies, and had a blast!
Meanwhile, David and I had a nice low-key night with baby Vera, complete with fondue and a surprise win by Clemson. Cheers to 2013!