July 2011--Part Two ( 4th of July @Clarks Hill)

What happens when 7 adults, 3 large dogs, and a two year old spend a week in a single wide trailer with one bathroom? Everyone has a rip-roaring good time. We went back to Augusta just before the fourth of July to celebrate with the Burketts. My parents have a trailer on Lake Thurmond(otherwise know by its proper name, Clarks Hill). We arrived on the third in time for a huge club wide picnic. We ate amazing food and then settled in for a bit of a rest. Kenly has never been to fourth of July festivities because she goes to bed before they begin and she's terrified of loud noises that catch her off guard. After nap, we went down to the lake to cool off for a bit. Kenly modeled her flag for the camera.


As the sun set, we watched a parade of American flag waving passengers on wave runners and the American flag reflected in the water. We ate popcorn and boiled peanuts. We drank our fill of Coke products. Kenly made two sand art bottles, and then the real fun began.

Daddy brought out the sparklers. Grandma really enjoyed the sparklers.
As did Kenly...
Kenly did amazingly well with the flaming sticks of fun. We only had one close call, and Daddy knocked the sparkler from her hand before any harm was done. He's our hero.
The smiles you see through the smoke say it all.

As it got closer to time for the fireworks, Kenly started weeping. She begged to go back to the trailer. After all, it was way past her bedtime. It was dark, and everyone kept preparing her for loud noises. I convinced her to hold Benny Bunny tight and stick it out. When the first fireworks exploded, she jumped. After about three minutes, she settled in and started "oohing" and "aahing" like the rest of us. She moved from my lap into her Daddy's. What do you think? I kinds think she's a fan of fireworks now.
We spent a great deal of time on Papa's "big ole boat" during the week.
Adam did some tubing. I was insanely jealous because I love to tube and ski, but being pregnant, I decided to play it safe.
Aunt Carrie and Uncle Travis were able to spend a few days with us. We were thrilled to have them both with us.
Kenly loved watching her Daddy tube. I don't know who smiled more--Adam or Kenly.
Grandma was there with us as well. She enjoyed watching us goof off in the water. She spent most of her time fishing.

Chance enjoyed the boat was well. I think he feels like the king here.
Papa and Kenly made a few great sandcastles.


Kenly gave sunbathing a try. She decided that sitting still only leads to naps, so she quickly told the raft goodbye.
My talented brother brought his guitar and his ukulele, and we had a time listening to impromptu concerts.

Daddy grilled some great ribs.
We did a bit more boat riding.
We spent the morning at Mistletoe State Park. Back before Kenly, Adam and I played on this very playground. Kenly and Grandma hiked to the playground.

My 88 year old Grandma even gave the slide a go. She's fearless.


And then the unthinkable happened. Kenly said, "I want to ski behind the big ole boat with Mommy." So, what did this pregnant mama do. I hopped in the tube and prayed the ride would be smooth. We went slow and steady, and when I could take no more, we called it quits.
Until Kenly roped her Daddy into getting in the tube with her. Look at the dare devil....she's got both hands in the air. We could barely get her off the tube. She bragged to the world that she "skied behind the boat." I was so proud of her.
She sat in Papa's lap and got a lesson on all the boat's gauges while enjoying a juice box.
And then...she took the wheel and drove us all over the lake. I think Papa's heart was bursting. He's been wanting her to drive since the first time we set foot on the boat. Apparently "skiing" behind the boat gave her the courage to try anything.
We had a wonderful time celebrating this great country with the people we love.

July 2011--Part One

In July we took at least two trips, but we did spend a bit of time at home. I wish I could say that I took tons of pictures, but below is a smattering of our fun at home. When Daddy came home from West Virginia, Kenly came down with the funk. She suffered for days with a high fever and no other symptoms other than a small rash on her face. The nurse seemed to think that she had hand, foot, and mouth disease, a really nasty virus. If so, she had a super mild case, and I'm happy she didn't erupt in "boils" like some of the internet pictures. About four days after she got better, Adam caught some "awful nasty" too. He finally went to the doctor, and got an antibiotic. It seems that what he had worked its way into a sinus infection. In the midst of it all, we had some fun.

I love to watch our critters snuggle Daddy. They were talking to Mops on the phone when I took this picture.
Kenly loves getting her toenails painted now. She loves to pick out the "ponelish." She's adorable as she bends to "blow dry" her freshly painted nails. She's even mastered the heel walk so that she can get from place to place without smudging her toes.
Twice in one week Kenly decided to color her face. Thankfully the markers she selected were washable, so it wasn't the end of the world. The first time I caught her, I laughed. If you look closely at her face, it looks like she tried to put on eyeshadow, blush, and lipstick. I love that her marker choice matched her pajamas. We had a long talk about how markers are used. When she colored her face pink a few days later, she lost her marker privilege. She's finally earned easy access to the markers back.

Kenly always wants to play in the rain with her princess umbrella and rain boots. However, most of our rains are accompanied by lightening, so I'm not going to let her out to stomp with a lightening rod in her hands. We finally got a gentle summer rain, and we let her go crazy. These are a few of my favorites from her "Singing in the Rain" moment.






Kenly loves this bubble mower. Sadly, it has never blown a bubble. We tried, but it need flat ground. Since we have a shortage of flat ground in the mountains, Kenly uses her imagination. I love that she's helping Daddy mow looking all feminine.

At the end of July, we all came home from adventuring, and Kenly started running high fever again. She had a slight cough, but nothing that I was too worried about. We used the humidifier and treated her fever. After days of watching her flop, I took her to the pediatrician only to find out that she had a mild case of the croup. A few days of steroids, and she was good as new. I'm beginning to think we played too hard.

June 2011 in a Nutshell

Since I'm so behind on blogging, I'm going to try and cover a month at a time. I'll hit the highlights, and then maybe I can keep up better once I catch up. June was pretty low key for us. The month started off with plenty of playdates with friends. Most of the playdates involved trying to stay cool.

Ava came over to play in the sprinkler with us. (Side note: Kenly finally let me put her hair in braids for the first time in June.)
These girls spend most of the time trying to drink the water instead of splashing around.

Can you see the pattern? Different sprinkler....same pose.
The girls also spent some time watering the trees and grass to make sure they would grow.
Meghan took some pictures too, and occasionally they would wander over to admire their beauty.
A bit later in June, we took a day trip to hang out with Jared and Katie Brush at Lake Bowen in South Carolina. We enjoyed good food, good friend, and some good times on the lake (swimming an boating). Kenly met a new friend names Liam, and they got along well.
Meghan and Ava invited us to the pool as well. I had Kenly model her ladybug dress that Papa picked out before we got changed.


We spent most of the morning splashing around in the kiddie pool.

When Ava and Kenly discovered the box of water toys, we had to keep them from filling the pool with treasure.
Believe it or not, these two are learning to share and play with each other. Meghan and I never thought this day would come.
We also went to the pool with Jennifer, Davis, and Drew.

After a hard morning of swimming, we dried off and had a picnic at the pool.

Once Daddy got out of school, we started taking a few day trips. We ventured over to the Davidson River to cool off and swim and play with rocks.
Adam and Kenly built this cool castle out of river rocks. I think it is lovely.
And we can never go play at the Davidson River without stopping for some Dolly's ice cream.
About a week after school let out, Adam took off to West Virginia to hang out with Uncle Jason for awhile. Kenly and I took off to Augusta, GA. It was blazing hot when we arrived. Kenly got out of the car and said, "Why is it so hot in Georgia?" Good question, baby girl. I don't have many pictures from this trip, but these are a few of my favorites.

Kenly spent some time playing with Papa in the garage. She helped search through his treasure to find all kinds of goodies. We have similar pictures of me in the garage with Daddy when I'm out Kenly's age. The only difference is I'm covered in dirt from head to toe.




I love this picture of Kenly removing some dirt from Papa's face.

I love the creativity of a two year old. Who else would think to blow pretend bubbles using a lug nut and a toilet screw as a prop. Oh the wonders that Papa's garage holds.
When pretend bubbles lost their appeal, Nana came to the rescue and came out with some real bubbles.

I love this picture of my Mama. Child-like wonder is an amazing trait at any age. I think I've still got most of mine. Nana still does too.

Catch those bubbles...
When we got back home, we took off adventuring with Daddy again. We took a day trip to Graveyard Fields to see the wild blueberries and the waterfall. Kenly and Adam enjoyed taking a dip in the cold mountain stream. Pregnant Mama kept her feet on a non-slippery surface.



Adam took Kenly out to the base of the lower falls. She thought it was so cool to touch the waterfall. She was not a big fan of the kids splashing all around her. The pictures make it look like we had the place to ourselves, but we were surrounded my a slew of kids on a camp outing.


June went by in the blink of an eye. We had fun easing our way into summer.