Adeline turned 3 last month! We had a mini-party for her (really just a glorified playdate with cake). Rob was working most of the weekend of her birthday so we decided not to do anything too big. But I still wanted a chance to do the fun birthday stuff like a cake and a few decorations, so a low-key party was perfect. She was thrilled and I enjoyed it too. Here are the pictures:
Adeline and her greatly anticipated volcano cake.
Volcano party hats to match!
Friends!
These blocks have been a HUGE hit. Adeline and Bobby both love them. I think they're called Trio blocks. I'm usually nervous about buying new toys (as opposed to consignment store ones) since I never know how much they will be used. But these are worth it. Money well spent.
Puzzles from Grandma
A super nerdy space book...with flaps! She loves it.
Bobby testing out the new butterfly net that Rob got for Adeline. I keep forgetting to send off for the caterpillars in the mail though! Apparently we'll be able to feed them and watch them grow and become butterflies.
Her new easel. This is her picture of the moon (with craters) and fireworks. Pretty good drawing, if you ask me!
And some cute shots I just had to post! This kid cracks me up! He's just learning to say "cheese."
Not very happy to have accidentally stepped in mud at the lake. This picture makes me laugh!
Tears are almost gone from the traumatic mud incident.
Besides the small party, we did presents with Rob when he got home from work and then took Adeline to a restaurant to get her favorite meal: fried chicken and french fries and "spicy juice" aka soda.
Other things that we've been up to lately:
Taking a quick trip to Atlanta, which turned out to be the perfect relaxing break from Rob's hectic work schedule. He's working nights this rotation. 14 hour overnight shifts are rough. Between work and sleep, we are lucky if we see Rob for 3 hours each day (and that is usually during the kids' nap time, so they have seen him even less!). But luckily he works for 4-5 days and then gets about 4 days off, then work, then days off, so it's not too bad.
Buying a minivan! Well, almost. We just got all the details worked out today and we'll probably buy it next week. Our CRV is just getting too old. The AC is going out (which makes driving around Charleston in the summer with the kids borderline child abuse) has 187,000 miles on it and is 13 years old now. I can't justify buying a new car now and then needing a minivan a couple years down the line, so we're just biting the bullet and buying one now. But, we did find one that happens to be the luxury edition so at least I have all the fancy minivan bells and whistles to make me feel better about it. Yes, I am 30 years old and getting a minivan. I'll just turn in my "fun young person" card now.
I signed Adeline up for dance classes starting the end of this month. I've decided not to put her in preschool this year, so we've decided to do dance instead and see how she likes it.
We are so excited to have Hannah and Garrett and kids come to visit this month! Hopefully we'll have family come in September and maybe even a few more visitors! We love having company and September/October are GREAT times to come to the beach here. So if you're looking for a little vacation and don't want to pay for a hotel, let me know! We'd love to have you!
