A taste of the south

So this morning we all just hung around the house and visited. We left around noon to head to the Lake Murray Dam. We found a great park with lake/beach access. There was tons of people out grilling and swimming.

After that we headed to the Old Mill where we grabbed some lunch at the Crab Shack.

We were seated right next to the Jazz Musician that they have for Sunday brunch and Kendall loved the music.

There were lots of turtles and fish in the lake next to the restaurant.

After lunch we headed back home to just hang out some more. Aunt Terrie and I headed out to the store to pick up some items for the Low Country Boil, which Uncle John and Aunt Terrie cooked (along with some of Aunt Terrie's home made bread). It was very yummy. We had Grits pie for dessert and played some Quiddler.
Tomorrow we will head to Shealy's for some more country cooking. We may also try to hit up the local quilt shop and maybe a blowfish baseball game. So far we are having a great time just visiting...and eating!

BBQ - Mason Style

The Masons arrived in SC on Friday. We ate at Fatz Cafe and checked Gma and Gpa into their hotel before settling down to some Quiddler with Terrie and John. We woke up this morning and headed into Columbia to visit the State Farmer's Market where we picked up a bunch of great produce. We got a bushel of peaches for cobbler, peppers, corn and zucchini to go with our steaks....from the Happy Butcher of course. The best part it will all be cooked on the new gas grill purchased as a late Father's Day present from Maeve, Gma Rose/Gpa Bob, and Aunt Erin.
Here is Gma and Gpa sampling the peaches at the Farmer's Market.

Here is the new grill being unloaded and the Happy Butcher steaks/burgers.
Here is Kendall and Gma after enjoying some treats from Krispy Kreme.

Who says men can't multi-task?

Not sure what is on tap for tomorrow other than it is suppose to be another hot day.

Growing like a weed.

Well, we said goodbye to Grandpa Great and Aunt Teri on Monday and Kendall had her next Doctor's visit today. Grammie and Daddy took her this morning and afterwards went to the post office, grocery store, and barber. Here is the update. She is now....

15 lbs. 6 oz. (90%)

26 inches long (95%)

16 inch head (50%)So, we have an oaf with a pea brain. Just kidding...we love her!

And...she rolled over! Twice in fact. She is really starting to talk a lot more (mostly in the evenings) and also grabbing and laughing.

Grammie will babysit tomorrow while Aaron and I are at work. Then we'll attend our weekly trivia competition.

Happy Father's Day

Gpa Wayne and Linda arrived on Wednesday night for a visit. So...Aaron and I headed out to trivia with our coworkers and friends while Grammie and Grandpa Great babysat. We almost won a gift card, coming in 4th place.

On Thursday after work we attempted to make it to the first Blowfish game this summer. But alas, just as we arrived it started to rain. So, instead we headed to Mellow Mushroom for some dinner. Fortunately we are able to redeem the tickets for another night.

Here is Kendall enjoying her first lemon.

Friday day while I worked, Grammie, Grandpa Great and Aaron went back to Charlotte to pick up Aunt Teri. Friday night we ate at the Baja Grill - a new place we hadn't yet tried, but where we had a coupon. It was pretty good.

Here is Kendall watching TV while sucking her thumb. As you can see, she is very close to rolling over on her own. In fact, she supposedly did roll over on her own while I was at work on Wednesday. I have yet to see it myself.

Saturday was the big BBQ at our house. Our friends Brooks and Brandi came from Spartanburg to spend the night. We played redneck horse shoes and generally enjoyed our friend's company.


I made some cute cupcakes for Father's Day...it is suppose to look like a lawn mower (made of coconut grass, Hersey nuggets, mm's, and black licorice). I got the idea out of Family Fun magazine. I made a separate cake for Aaron with the left batter.

Sunday we woke up and made a big Father's Day breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and waffles.

Here is Daddy enjoying some quiet time with Kendall this morning while he fed her.

Happy 4 month Birthday to Kendall today...and, Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there. We love you all.

White Wedding

Well, tis' the season for weddings I guess. This was my first week back to work - which went fairly well (although really busy). I left Thursday after work with a coworker to head to DE for a former coworker/friend's wedding. While she and her husband live in SC, she is originally from DE and planning to move back there shortly. We drove half way on Thursday, stopping to spend the night in Rocky Mount, NC. We then got up on Friday and drove the rest of the way into DE, arriving about 3 p.m. We checked into the hotel and rested a bit, before heading to the wedding on Friday at 6 p.m. The couple got married at the Brantwyn Estates (part of the DuPont Country Club). It was very pretty.

Despite the traffic in/around DC - we did get to see the Washington Memorial...well, from the car. We also went through the tunnel (as you can see on the GPS).

Here we are at the reception. We had a lot of fun dancing the night away.
We spent the night in DE on Friday and after a breakfast with the bride's family, we headed back to SC...leaving around 10:30 a.m. Despite our best efforts to drive around the traffic - we still wound up hitting several delays due to construction and just more traffic. We spend 9 hours driving and 10 hours total to arrive back in SC at about 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

While I was away in DE, Aaron and Kendall had their own wedding to attend - that of a coworker of Aaron's. They were married on Saturday night in Columbia. I was able to catch the very end of the reception.

Here they are heading off to start their life together.

Here is Kendall in her dress for the wedding. Apparently, Daddy and Kendall danced the night away too, but no-one except the wedding photographer thought to snap a picture. We'll have to wait to see those cute photos. I am glad to be back home with my baby and looking forward to relaxing with friends Brooks and Brandi the rest of the weekend. We'll have to teach them how to play Quiddler...

Come and Quiddler with me.

So we enjoyed a visit from our great friends Kristen and Drew this weekend. They arrived on Saturday and left this afternoon. Here they are with Kendall in her new outfit and toys that they brought her. They also introduced us to a great new card game - Quiddler. The best way I can describe it is to say it is like a card version of scrabble. Very fun and would recommend it to any/all. I know we are hooked!In other news, Aaron is officially done with school - Yeah!

Rolling Along

Kendall almost rolled over on Wednesday. If it weren't for her big melon (and the fact that she can't quite get over her arm either), she would have done it. But, with a little nudge from mom, she did! Her she is practicing on the living room floor.Before the nudge...
After the nudge!
If you look hard (center of the picture), you can see the red head of a pileated woodpecker in the pine trees across the street.

Here is a butterfly that was playing in the flowers out in front.

And...thanks to Gma Rose for the care package of Life is Good stuff for Kendall! It's perfect, seeing as I always refer to her as "Pea" short for Sweet Pea of course.

Time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin into the future.

Time just keeps slipping away...

Kendall and I are officially down to two more days together. So sad! But, she made it all better by actually giving me a laugh yesterday. It was the cutest thing...now if we can just capture it on video.

More and more people are telling us that they think Kendall looks like Aaron (God help her!). So, I took this picture of the two of them. What do you think?

This is the update to the last blog - the best I could do to capture her wake-up smile.
Here is the latest on what the garden now looks like. I have green beans (delicious!) and tomatoes are just beginning.Here are some pictures of some flowers in the yard. These red ones are called Standing Cypress. Mom and dad might remember that these were actually from a couple of seed packets that we got a year or two ago at the Beaufort visitor center. Not the best pic, as they were blowing in the wind...they are suppose to attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
In other news, Aaron is almost done...only a half day left with kids. It is also the end of an era so to speak...sadly, Aaron received word that he will be moved to the 6th grade next year. He is sad and the way that he was notified stunk, but such is life I guess (for those of you who already heard the news, you might be surprised to hear us sum it up in that way, as it was quite the shock at first). But, at least he has a job.

Wish us luck in our transition next week from stay-at-home mom to Mr. Mom...