Fun times in Georgia

We've finally come to the end of the Georgia pictures.

Charlotte had a blast hanging out at the pool, which is the best thing to do anyway in Georgia in July!

All that swimming made her hungry--double fisting the food!

Cutie in the rocking chair!

On our last day in Georgia, we went to visit my friend Susan and her boys. They've grown up so much! The last time I saw Jake, he was 1 (now 4 yrs), and Nick was just a newborn (now 2 yrs). The boys are both super cute and tall, like their parents :)  And congrats to Susan and Scott who have baby #3 on the way, due in December!  Here's Charlotte with Jake and Nick.

We went to Monkey Joe's, a big indoor bounce-house place. Charlotte was in hog heaven, as were Susan's boys. Unfortunately we realized that chasing around after 3 kids in the bounce-house craziness did not allow much time for grown-up talking. Lessons learned for next time...

All the kids loved this little fire engine. At least this was 1 toy that would keep them occupied, and together in a small space, at the same time.

The kids in 1 of the bounce houses. I was asked at least 3 times by other parents in disbelief: "How old is she?" Charlotte never ceases to amaze people with her take-charge, no-fear attitude. She was not in the least bit afraid to jump around with the big kids and go on any size bounce house.

Case in point: this huge climbing wall and slide. One of the workers helped Charlotte up.

Peeking over the top

Whee!!!

Cute pic of Charlotte and Susan.

This would have been a cuter picture of the 2 of us if Charlotte hadn't been preoccupied with pulling up the ribbon on her dress and chewing on it.

And one final picture, taken back and Grandmomma and Granddaddy's house. Charlotte found this big calculator and decided it made a good phone. Here she is, "phone" propped up like a pro on her shoulder, while she is conducting some business.

We were so glad to get the chance to visit family and friends in Georgia, even though it was a short trip. We look forward to spending some more time, and to have Jack also with us, at Christmas!

Charlotte and her animals

That look just says it all, doesn't it?

One of Charlotte's favorite things about our trip to Georgia was all the animals she met, though I don't think the animals felt the same way about her. Charlotte met Shelly, Uncle Lawson and Aunt Helen's dog, on the way home from the airport. At first Charlotte was a little intimidated by Shelly running around, but the tables were eventually turned and it was Shelly that had to keep an eye out for Charlotte--see the eye below.

Charlotte squealing in delight

Charlotte being nice, though I'm sure Shelly would have preferred to just be left along while eating her bone. Note Charlotte's sweaty hairdo.

Once we got home, Charlotte was ecstatic to see all the cats, though she was disappointed to learn most of them stay outside. So any time we had to go or leave the house, it was difficult to get Charlotte in or out of the car, as she would start running after the cats.

Footy is 1 cat that's allowed in the house. He's not the brightest bulb in the box, but he at least had enough brains to take one look at Charlotte and go running the other direction. He found the perfect hiding place behind the little couch in the sun room.

First Charlotte tried to squeeze behind the couch.

After reassessing the situation, she decided for an under-the-couch approach.

But her head was too big to squeeze through.

Tears upon succumbing to defeat.

Later, trying to push through the door to get at Footy once he escaped outside.

I didn't realize until I was going through all the pictures that I never got a photo of Charlotte and Max, John and Anna's dog. Max is not used to children, and he was understandably very wary of Charlotte. But I think he made a lot of progress as Charlotte was around him for a few days. By the last day they were together, the growls had almost disappeared, and he even let her touch him a couple times. Though maybe this was less because he liked her and more about him being worn out by her chasing him around the dining room table 500 times.  Maybe when we go back to Georgia for Christmas, he'll make buddies with Jack and Charlotte.

More Georgia pictures to come....

Trip to Georgia

Charlotte and I went to Georgia for a few days and had a wonderful time! The trip was way too short, but we look forward to going back with Jack and Christmas and getting to spend more time with everyone and meeting other relatives.

On the way home from the airport, we stopped by Aunt Helen and Uncle Lawson's in Atlanta. We so enjoyed seeing them! Charlotte had never met them, and the last time I saw them was very brief and John and Anna's wedding. Here's Aunt Helen showing Charlotte the fish in their pond.

Charlotte and me with Helen and Lawson

One with Grandmomma and Granddaddy Fields too. I have other pictures of Charlotte with Shelly, their dog, that I'll post later. I have so many pictures of Charlotte with animals that she tormented, I mean played with, that they'll take up a whole post on their own.

Charlotte and Granddaddy at the pool, where we spent a lot of time. Wish I had zoomed in closer with this one.

The pool house. We had a fabulous dinner Saturday evening with Uncle Danny, Aunt Nancy, Uncle John, Aunt Anna, Uncle Stephen, Katie, and Anna and Katie's relatives.

Charlotte entertaining everyone at dinner. Needless to say, she was the center of attention.

Charlotte with Aunt Anna. Not sure what they were looking at--probably an airplane. Charlotte is obsessed with "panes." Much to the delight of other passengers on our flights, she pointed out (i.e. loudly squealed about) every "pane" we saw that landed, took off, was taxiing, was stopped at the gates, etc.

Looking at lightning bugs with Aunt Anna

And some more family pictures that we took on our last night there, after Charlotte had put on a show for everyone at dinner. Here's us with Aunt Nancy and Uncle Danny.

Having a good laugh with Uncle Stephen and Katie

So many more pictures to come!!

4th of July

We stayed at the lake house for almost all of the 4th of July week. On Friday, Aunt Lisa came to join us, along with Sarah and her friend Issi.  Almost every day was over 100 degrees--of course except for Sunday, the day we left--so when we were outside, we were in the water.
Charlotte loved when Aunt Lisa would toss her up and down in the lake. Too bad this picture turned out blurry.

Great pictures of Sarah with Charlotte on Friday evening!

Jack, Lisa, and Charlotte

This is how Charlotte spent 99% of her time in the water. We couldn't believe how long she would just lay and float around.

When Charlotte wasn't laying in the water, she and Jack both had a great time jumping off the dock over and over again. Here are both of them jumping with Issi.

Sarah and Issi both went tubing for the first time. Issi won the best of 3 rounds of battle tubes; but she did have it easier with the donut tube.

Another sweet pic of Sarah and Charlotte.

Mr. punk rocker

We were so proud of Jack--he finally worked up the courage to go for a tube ride. We went extremely slow, and while he wasn't thrilled about the whole thing, he at least lasted for a nice 5-10 minute ride.

Jack behind the wheel. Daddy actually let him do a bit of real steering this time.

Snuggling with Auntie Lisa after his big tubing adventure!

Weekend with the Jacksons

We've been at the lake house a lot over the last couple weeks! We spent most of the 4th of July week there, and prior to that, Rachel, Bobby, Chloe, and Scarlett came to visit. Cute picture above of Jack and Chloe hanging out in the tube.

Playing on our neighbors' big water carpet.

Bobby and Scarlett

The kiddos taking things out of the big toy box.

Charlotte being silly, with a messy face from chocolate ice cream. She loves to accessorize with her beads (even if that's the only article of clothing she's got on.)

Jack and Scarlett eating their ice cream cones on the dock.

Setting off some fireworks.

I'll post some pictures from the 4th of July week soon. We had a great time with Aunt Lisa and Sarah!