new hammy

i have still yet to post about our super fun trip to new hampshire this summer! we go every year to hang out with austin's amazing family and always have the best time. austin was able to spend about five days with us and then the girls and i stayed for another week and a half. we had the BEST time!

needless to say, we spent A LOT of time outside. but the girls' favorite spot was definitely the little beach right by the house. 

 my two best girlfriends!

 playing in the chairs their grandma teri made for them. aren't they adorable? she sells them if you're interested!

 ella started walking a few weeks before our trip. but by the time we left, she was pro!

 

 my mother-in-law so graciously got out her camera and had a mini photo shoot with the girls the day before we left. here's what we ended up with! 

 buddies!

 typical!

 love this girl to pieces!

eating their snacks that we had to bribe them with

my absolute favorite activity is taking the boat into town and getting ice cream at bailey's bubble! i'd go every night if i could. the girls loved it too. they are definitely their mother's daughters when it comes to their love for ice cream.

ella and uncle tone were buddies while daddy was away!

crazy reese!

eating ice cream while listening to some music in the park

ugghhh! i wish i had more pictures to show, because these don't even do the trip justice. we honestly had such a great time. new hampshire is truly a magical place for our family!

next summer can't come soon enough!!!


p.s. after a million bazillion years of no posting, i finally updated my other blog 'runs with scissors'

the park

the girls have been loving the park lately. they are finally old enough to actually enjoy more than just eating the wood chips. woohoo!! we go almost every day now. is that normal? of course they've hit this milestone just in time for the snow to start falling in a month. boo. here's a few pics from my phone (ya ya ya, i know, i really gotta start taking pictures with my nice camera. the phone's just SO convenient).

 reese is OBSESSED with slides lately

 trying to smile for the camera. she always flashes me a big grin but sometimes forgets to keep her eyes open. love it!

 OBSESSED!

 and all ella wants to do is climb every stair in sight. i'm pretty sure its because she's "stair" deprived at home since we live in a one story. 

 waving "hi" to mom!

 reese is still a little timid of the stairs at parks

too bad these girls won't be getting too many more park days here soon. i guess that just means we need to live it up!

tennessee

while in SC, we decided to take full advantage of our close proximity to our family in TN. so we drove up to go see my grandparents, uncle, and cousins. the trip was a blast and i'm so glad we drove the 8 hours to get there (don't be fooled, we did stop halfway and spend the night). 

i hadn't seen my uncle and cousins since our wedding over four years ago, so it was a much overdue visit. the girls and i loved every second of it and hope to get back sooner next time!!!

while we were there, they threw a little belated birthday party for the girls. it was so sweet and filled with cupcakes, presents and a lot of laughter. i love my family to pieces!!

  

(and once again all the pics are from my phone... lame)

reese is jonesing for that cupcake

waiting patiently. ugghh, i just want to squeeze her!

this girl knows how to punish some sweets! i wonder who she gets that from ;) 

the whole crew! 

gracie, katie, allison, nicholas, ella and reese... cousins

 present time!!

 the girls absolutely love this sesame street remote control, even though i found it in the trash the other day!! its their new favorite game.

picture time with grandma teri and grandma great

 not sure if anyone ever notices but there are ZERO pictures of anyone holding Reese except for me or austin. she just won't have it. it took her a week and a half to finally be comfortable enough to let my mom hold her. she's a stinker to say the least.

 ella with cousin katie. thankfully she'll let pretty much anyone old her! otherwise i would be in trouble.

yum... dirt from grandma great's plants!

until next time!

carolina girls

the girls and i were able to spend two amazing weeks in SC this summer. we had an amazing time. as you'll see from the pics below (which are horrible quality because they were all taken with my phone) our trip could be summed up in just few a words: family, food, fun, and sleep! you'll see what i mean!

on the plane about to take off (snacks are your best friend on a flight)

both girls were great on the flight! i won't lie and say it was easy, but considering i was by myself it really wasn't bad.

waiting for our bags. reese was on cloud nine and ella was just plain pooped.

 the first day we were there, we hit the beach. the girls were still exhausted from traveling, so they pretty much slept the whole time. i'm having the time of my life. can't you tell? actually, i didn't realize i was going to be in the pic. surprise!

 lots of eating! 

more sleeping!

 grandma teri and grandpa greg. reese wasn't really in the picture taking mood. 

ashmo (who hopefully won't kill me for putting up a pic of her. she just got off of a flight straight from hawaii. true friendship right there. she looks uh-mazing!!) 

and uncle chris with ella who was up SUPER late. 

in fact, i think ella's favorite part of the trip was when she figured out that she would get to hang out for a few minutes if she needed a diaper change around 10:00 at night. she was in baby heaven. this girl never wants to miss out on the action.

and a trip home is never complete without some sewing! we made these sun hats for the girls and this uber cute flower floor pillow. the girls absolutely loved it. and it was made of all vintage fabric that my grandmother left to me and my mom. doesn't get better than that!

can't wait for our next trip to SC. it can't come soon enough!!!

red footed

we are finally home from all of our summer vacations and one of these days i'll update the blog and tell all about it... some time very soon hopefully. we had a blast and i can't wait to share.

but until then, please enjoy this pic of our sweet ella girl. 

she must have been reminiscing about the good ole days when she was a wee babe this evening, because when i looked in the back seat to see where the odd sucking noise was coming from, this is what i saw. 

just sucking away on those chubby flintstone toes

caught red handed (red footed is more like it)