Millenium Park

Sarah took the kids to Millenium Park a couple weeks ago. It was a perfect day for splashing in the water!

Charlotte and another little girl checking out their reflections (I think).

Mr. Cool

Cutie-pie

William and baby Sophia came along too. With Charlotte's passion for food, it's no surprise she was fascinated by Sophia learning to eat. Here she is "helping" with some blueberries. Sarah said for the most part Charlotte was very good, but she did try to shove the blueberries in Sophia's mouth a couple times.

Of course no trip to Millenium Park would be complete without visiting the Bean (aka Cloud Gate). Sarah got some great pictures of the kids!

I think William was trying to lift Charlotte up.

Big jump!

 

Cute pic of Sarah and Jack

Weekend with the Words and Pedersens

A couple weeks ago, the Pedersens and Words came to the lake house. The kids had a blast and spent hours playing in the sand, water, and riding on the boat (except Charlotte, who is still very anti-boat). The cute picture above was taken Saturday morning, before the Words arrived. Jack and Charlotte are laying with Hannah (3) and Katie (2).

Jack hanging out with Eric and Katie in the water. Jack has become a regular little fish this summer and swims pretty well when wearing his puddlejumper.

The kids fascinated by some electronic device.

All the kids except Charlotte on the boat. Aubrey is now 6 (I think?) and Leah is 3.

The kids enjoying a meal together.

Eric playing with Charlotte

So cute! Everyone gathered for a bedtime story--even Lou.

Charlotte and Katie pestering Jack while he was playing with Aubrey's game.

A tea party on the porch. (The cups are actually bubble makers.)

Everyone hanging out on the beach.

Best dog in the world

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!!