Chilly Swimmers and Beach Pictures.

I'll be taking the girls to a swimming camp every morning this week, so I went along yesterday to learn the ropes.  Emily and I grabbed our Starbucks and headed to Si View Community Park.  Once we rushed in amid the chaos and got settled on the little bleachers, we had a great view of the little ones.

This sweet baby was not convinced of the fun.  She was cold and a little out of her league, I think.  They wanted to be in a class together, and I think it was too young for Graysen and too advanced for Kate.  And they were freezing.

She sucked it up, though, and managed okay.  They ran into Isabella who was there for her little brother's lesson, and it was fun seeing her.

We came home and had little pizzas and got ready to go to Issaquah for me to take a bunch of their outgrown clothes to Small Threads.

We had a nice package when we got home.  Ramona books!  We can never find them in the library, and they love them, so I got the first four for them.  I'm not sure it warrants THIS kind of reaction - but whatever.  I'm glad books excite them.

Kate looking for pictures - any pictures!

They were just the best on our errands and did exactly what they were supposed to.  We had to waste some time in the consignment shop while they looked over the clothes and things I took, so we "shopped" a little bit.  I knew we weren't going to add another item to their already-crowded closets and drawers, but it didn't keep them from zeroing in on every sparkly thing they could find.  In the toy section, I was looking at games and hoping to find Uno cards, but they hyperventilated over a huge bag of Shopkins figures, and so we came home with it.

We also got milkshakes at McDonald's, but unfortunately Graysen's vanilla one tasted like toothpaste.

A few more beach pictures.

We spent the night in the Apalach Motel after we arrived in Apalachicola while waiting for our house to be ready.  The girls played in the pool and enjoyed that, and then we stopped by the Appalachiacola Farmers Market, the very end of it, on the way to the island.

I think Emily and Ryan managed to pick up some fish and other food for lunch, and I bought all the tomatoes that anyone had left.  Plus snow cones for the girls.



Not many pictures.  We were tired and HOT and ready to get there.  I wish we could have been there earlier.

It's really a nice pool area.  We remembered it from two years ago.  The motel itself was great.  We had several conversations wtih the cleaning lady who gifted us many things before we left, including bubbles and body wash.

I had a room of my own and, even though I was exhausted when I got there, I didn't miss a little surprise on my pillow.  I thought it was a mint, but when I looked closer, I found this.  Thoughtful.

We certainly weren't chilly on that particular day!

Cousins, More Park Fun, and More Beach Pictures

Debbie has sent me some sweet pictures of Sophia, and I've stolen a few from Facebook, so here are some of our cutest little Georgia cousin.  Wish Debby, Sherry, and I could get all our babies together one day.

She looks so much like her grandmother did when she was a baby.  I remember it well, because I was 6 years old when she was born and dragged her around until she was big enough to protest.



And the whole family:  Courtney and Brent with Big Brother Waylon.



I've been asking for recent pictures of the girls' South Dakota cousins, but I haven't gotten any yet, but I'll include those when I do.

They also have some Florida cousins, Emma and Trevor, Sherry's grandchildren.








The whole family:  Najla, Ryan, Emma, and Trevor.  Sure wish we could get together with these folks again.


I love these ice cream pictures.





I think these were taken last fall when they all met up for a vacation in Asheville.

Our adventure today involved cold things, but it was us.  I packed a big bag with a picnic lunch, plenty to drink, a towel in case the slides were wet, and my knitting.

The first place we went was the park with the zip line, which is Gray's favorite, but there was almost no place to park, and it was overrun with big kids.  Graysen immediately decided this was not where we wanted to go, so we headed up the hill to the biggest park we've been to and found it pretty much deserted.  We unloaded, and Graysen immediately saw her school friend Carter and they had to have a hug and grins.  He was on his bike with another friend, so they were zooming off immediately.  We unpacked our lunch, and ate it while we were chilled by a brisk little wind.  I'm glad I insisted on sweaters at the last minute.

The girls had fun swinging and sliding for a bit and then met another little girl who had been there with her mother the whole time.  Sadie Grace.  Graysen is shy and slow to initially meet people, but once she latches on to someone, she's a really quick friend.  Once the three of them got names straight, they played for nearly two hours along with a friendly little boy named James.  Something about the "ship" and pilots and lots of other stuff.  Sadie has an older brother, so I'm guessing some of that came from him.

They were so sweet to include Katherine, and Sadie was a polite and friendly little girl, the kind you would like the girls to meet up with again.  Unfortunately, she lives in Fall City, and I'm not sure what the chances of them landing at the same park again are.  I did tell her we went to the Fall City Library on Tuesdays if she got a chance to go.  

I sat there on the bench without even a shaft of sunlight to ease my chill, but I put on a happy face and knitted away, just checking my phone every once in a while to see if it was ever time to go home.  

Okay.  Some more beach pictures.  I think I'll do the trip to FL first.

All the airport experiences were good except for the Tallahassee one on the trip home where they delayed our flight twice and then cancelled.

On the way to the airport WAY too early - but excited.  

We have a little routine where Ryan drops us all off at the curb at the airport and goes to park the car and brings the car seats (probably tempted to head back home).

Then Emily and I manuever our 4 big bags and the girls and their 2 bags apiece up to the check-in place.  It always works out - some places easier than others - but it's a hassle.

Sometimes the waiting is sooo long.

A little bribery goes a long way.  

Once on the plane, they're good to go.  All the snacks and surprises they want and a couple of naps and more snacks and the full attention of 3 adults - or the awake ones anyway.

 

Once on the ground, we waited for the rental car and took off for a night in Apalachiacola.

After a quick trip to Wal-Mart to pick up the absolute necessities and also a trip to Chic-Fil-A for dinner.



Then the long drive to the motel.

And finally rest.

I'm exhausted just remembering.  And we haven't even gotten to the beach yet.