Hilton Head 2009

This year our desire for a week away from the stresses of home and work led us to our home away from home, Hilton Head, South Carolina. We don't get to come every year (it is expensive to go alone), but when we can talk someone into going with us on vacation, it is our choice of vacation destinations. It has the beach, some shopping, bike trails, lagoons, and lots of wildlife. We love being able to bike to the beach baths and be on a relatively sparsely inhabited beach. We love going to the Salty Dog Cafe to listen to the water while having dinner, we love visiting the lighthouse and the nightly shows for kids at the harbor. It is truly a vacation! This year, Amy and Jo Ann were able to get five days off and flew down to join us. Let the fun begin!

Our first night there, we decided to take Chris's mom to the Salty Dog cafe for her birthday, followed by an evening on the beach. Sarah was beyond excited. Here she is getting acquainted with the "Salty Dog" himself.
Sarah was so happy that Amy or "my Amy" could come to the beach. They were inseparable!
Daddy is happy to have some much needed rest from work.
Jo Ann was happy to eat at her favorite restaurant in Sea Pines.

After dinner, we stopped by the surf shop to visit with the resident birds.




Isn't he beautiful?


Next came the big event...Beach time!

Sarah has become a fish. She could live in the water.

This smile remained firmly planted on her face all week long!


She made sure to bring her boogie board so she could, in her words "Catch the perfect wave".

We stayed until sundown and went home to fall into bed. What a tiring yet exciting first day!

On day 2 we went to church, had lunch and were planning to let Sarah nap. She had other ideas. At her insistence, we ended up riding our bikes down to the nearest beach walk to check out the waves for a few minutes. I wish we could afford to stay in one of the houses behind Sarah just one time. I guess we would have to take all of you with us to be able to afford it!

A rare Chris and Angie photo. I am not so much in a photographic mood these days. The belly seems to get bigger by the moment! (I know, this is what it is supposed to do)...

The tides were really erratic this year. Here is a very low tide. At night, the tides were so high that some roads were impassable!

Sarah loved riding the bikes. Why won't Kentucky invest in bike paths?

See what I mean? Total relaxation and no major car worries.

Behind our villa, we had our very own putting green just adjacent to a golf course. Chris and Sarah took many opportunities to practice their swings. I stay away from this area. See that bridge? A couple of years ago I was attacked by a gang of bees who were nesting on the underside of the bridge. I can do without golfing thank you very much!


The view from our back sun room is one of the main reasons we come back to this villa year after year. The view of the lagoon and golf course is very relaxing.

More Daddy Sarah time.

Apparently, Sarah saw this on a cartoon before we got here. I heard this statement many times this week. So cute!

This is the view I saw most; Sarah running toward the waves (board in hand)

She came back for a short visit. Let the vamping begin!


She became a huge fan of a bird book we found in the villa. She would "read" under the umbrella for 15 minutes at a time!


Now she is reading to me. Her stories are a hoot!


America's next Top Model? I hope not!

Sarah also enjoys photography. She takes pretty good photos, like this one.

That night, we decided to go to a pizza place and then to Shelter Cove to see the Shannon Tanner show. The kids love it and most go back year after year.

Sarah loved being seated beneath the surfer.

Sarah is pretending to be the Mad Mushroom surfer dude.

Mamaw and Amy laughing at our goofy girl.

Sarah was practically giddy all week. Nothing like pizza to please a youngsters taste buds.

Check out the look of concentration on her face. Visiting Shannon Tanner was serious business for this three year old. I prepared her for the events (he sings, you dance, you might even sing on stage). She has been practicing her "Jesus Loves Me" rendition for weeks.

Look how she seems to be studying everything the "big kids" are doing.

"Come on Dad, it's time to dance!"

Shannon always brings the kids up on stage to let them perform their best songs for adults. Sarah is lost in that mess somewhere. She was not chosen this year. She was pretty bummed about not getting her chance at the microphone.

Family photo back at the villa.

Sarah loves "my Amy" so much. She had this smile plastered on her face the entire week!

Sorry for the smokey look of this photo. It was so hot that the lens fogged up when I pulled it out of my purse!

At harbor town, you can shop, look at yachts (like this one... how much money must the owner make?) In the foreground you see a place where kids sing with a guy at night (similar to the show we went to before).

Check out the sticks in the harbor. Apparently, the tides were rediculously high the week we were there. By Thursday, every beach and harbor was covered in these sticks and tiny sand crabs. I am a regular beach goer and have never seen anything like what we saw this week.

This place is so relaxing. We love to go into the shirt shops and upscale sports memorabelia places they have here.

Sarah and Daddy move down to the shore to pick up sea shells.

Check out the debris in the water.

I took Sarah out to the pier, hoping to see some dolphins, but alas, no luck on this day.

Now for the lighthouse. Sarah was pretty excited to climb the stairs. She was the only one excited for this on this hot day.

What a far climb!

Even she was exhausted and hot by the time we reached the top.

There is a beautiful view of the harbor from up here.

More debris from the high tides.
We were hungry after all that walking so we decided to have lunch overlooking the harbor.

This is a typical view that I get from these two comedians at the dinner table. They take turns being silly. Sarah does not look amused by Daddy's antics. (Won't be the last time)

Our view from the table.

Sarah's turn to put on a show. She is her father's daughter.

Our last two days were spent mostly at the pool due to all those sticks and crabs. Sarah got really good at navigating in deep water. She had no fear!

As you can see here, she is a "fish". I could barely keep her head above the water!

Mommy daughter moment. We had such a great time this year. Just being together was reward enough. But there is no place quite as relaxing as Hilton Head SC. We can't wait to return!

Summer fun...having a blast!

Summertime is the best! I look so forward to the end of the school year, so that I can spend time relaxing with my favorite little girl and doing all the fun outdoor activities that are forbidden fruit for the majority of the year. This year, we bought Sarah a rather large kiddie pool with a slide attached. Sarah invited Maura and Tristan over for a swim.

It appears that Maura is not quite sure whether she wants to wet her golden locks. The water was a little cold and I think she spied a bug.



Sarah and Tristan had no problem braving the waves.

Water guns, pails, and some cool water are all you need for backyard fun in the summer.


Summer also means VBS! Pretty much the whole month of June, Sarah has been a VBS hopper. She LOOOVES vacation Bible school. She went with our neighbor, and next, the church we attend in Frankfort. This week she plans to attend VBS in Lexington as well. She is a real traveller.

The theme at Holly Hill this year was "mad scientist". The youth group ran the whole VBS and did a great job creating a control panel and some really funny videos to accompany the theme. On the far right, you can see the youth minister, David. The kids love him so much, he seems to have youngsters "orbiting" him at all times.




Closer view of the action.

Sarah is sitting here with a friend, Caroline. She just turned three last week. I love their conversations. Just the other day, Caroline turned to Sarah and said. "Hi Sarah, oh I LOVE your sandals!" Ha! What little women they are.

Over 200 attended VBS this year. 209 to be exact on Wednesday night. A challenge was put out by Bryan, the minister. If more than 200 attended on any night, he agreed to be drenched with pancake batter! Sarah also brought Caden to VBS as her visitor. She was so proud to have him ride in her car. They were so funny, telling knock knock jokes all the way home. They made absolutely no sense, but were funny anyway.

Here is one example of my daughters three year old wit.

Caden laughing at Sarah's "out there" humor.

Sarah asked me if she could have the camera to take a photo of Caden. I think she did a pretty good job for a three year old.

Caden had a turn next. Sarah is just giddy!
Next post: Vacation 2009!

Drum Roll Please...

It's a girl!!!! She is healthy (as far as the doctor

can tell) and beautiful! Photos to come.

Sarah "isms"

Sarah"isms"

I need to throw this in the trasha can (aka trashcan). I can't bring myself to correct her. It sounds so cute!

I was very queasy one day and was actually in tears and Sarah came up to me, patted me on the shoulder and said. It will be OK Mom. Get real Mom, just get real. It will be OK. She had me laughing in no time.

I forgot to buy milk on my recent trip to Wal Mart and Sarah says " If you bought it, you bought it, if you didn't, you'll have to go back. That's the way the world works, Mom.

Sarah has many "babies". Many of you remember the yellow baby she carried everywhere as an infant. She still sleeps with this one and loves it so. She also has a pink, baby blue, and multicolored version. She collects them and has named them recently. There is baby bunny, peppermint baby, and my personal favorite "Bluegrass Bubba Hill Baby". (Where does she come up with these names?)

More to come soon.

The week that was...

Summer is off to a great start! We have had a pretty busy week eating out,(because I still don't feel like cooking), meeting friends, and visiting family. I decided to post one big mishmash of photos from the past week. They were too cute to pass up!

Out to dinner (just the three of us).




Out to lunch with Maura. Look at these two! She is so excited they are back from Georgia!

Any three year old will tell you that there is no better stop than McDonalds!

We made it to the grandparent's home on Saturday. This is a new house they built on the site where I grew up. The old home is just a distant memory...


When we made it to Mamaw and Papaw's, Sarah immediately picked up her garden tools and assisted in the creation of a flower bed. She was so proud!

She adores her Papaw and is fascinated by all of his tools. He is preparing to cut some rocks to fit the bed border. Watch out!

A break for the ladies. Boy, I look like I need one!

Daddy and his girl.

Sarah is sooooo happy to be in the mountains. I am convinced she would go there to live if I said the word.

This is the reason why. Papaw takes her exploring on the 4 wheeler and Mamaw takes her on long walks to look at rocks, plants, wildlife, etc. This time Papaw and Sarah even "camped out" on the front porch! Mom said it only lasted about two hours past bedtime, but Sarah was still ecstatic. I only wish we could create as many adventures here in the old subdivision, but I don't think this is possible. One day I dream of a ranch home on a basement and lots of land (with few neighbors). Maybe someday... But for now, we are blessed to have a safe home to raise the family. We are lucky she has a place to go now to find her inner"country girl."

A day at the park

Sarah and I snatched the rare opportunity this spring to hang out at our local park, just us girls. It has a really great playground and a nice pond where we like to feed the ducks. We sat beside the pond and had lunch and then decided to let Sarah slide to her hearts content.

Here is a photo of the playground. I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but it was mighty crowded on this day. I think every school in Scott County was in attendance!!


Luckily, Sarah opted to hang for a while in the smaller kids playground, away from the chaos.

Then she moved over to the big kids side to conquer almost every slide at the park!


We quickly got tired of fighting the "big kid" crowds and decided to go pick flowers and hang out by ourselves. This quickly turned into a mini photo shoot when I noticed the blue sky and green grass looked really pretty against her yellow shirt.

Here is the look I know so well. This is Sarah's "Mom, do I really have to take more photos?" Look.

There's a smile!

Finally, she gets into the photographing spirit.

Here comes the "ham."

Of all the photos of the day, this one is my favorite. What a beautiful day to be with the little girl I love most in the world. Our days as a twosome are numbered. Next spring, we will have a sibling photo shoot in the park (God willing).