Folly Beach, South Carolina

We had just the best time on our family beach trip to Folly Beach, South Carolina. It's actually considered Charleston and is only about 15 minutes from downtown.

I must admit, the two day drive there and back REALLY took a toll on us. We were pretty grouchy by the time we arrived. Blakely was nothing short of miserable that second day of traveling. Luckily, for the drive there we caravan-ed with my parents so Blakely and Stella each got a couple turns riding with G-Daddy and Gommy (bless their hearts!!). We arrived around lunch time that second day and immediately met up with our extended family (my mom's brothers and sister). We had chosen these specific dates in order to coincide with my Uncle Richard's 70th birthday - so it was a family reunion and birthday celebration beach trip!

I have never stayed at a hotel at the beach. Growing up, it was always a beach house and after getting married, it was always a condo. Listen, I can most definitely get on board with a hotel at the beach. Someone to clean up and make up your beds, replenish your towels...and let's not forget room service and the amazing restaurant where you can just order food and take it down to the beach with you. Win, win. The pina coladas  were an added bonus!

The family time was wonderful and I wished we could have extended the trip by at least a day or two. My cousin, Lauren, has a daughter Stella's age and they were FAST friends and inseparable on the beach. My cousin, Michael and Nelson, also have 3 older boys that were just so sweet to the girls. Stella was attached at the hip to Stephen, Jordan, and Rich! Blakely was obsessed with my cousin, Kristin's, husband, Benito, who she fondly called "Ito" - and still asks about him a couple times a week! And then remembers "he lives faaarrr away."

 

  

 

 

 

 

Blake and I were able to sneak away to one lunch together while Gommy and G-Daddy kept the girls on the beach.

We also had some great naps :)

 

We had a pizza party at the pool one night with the whole fam - lots and lots of fun! {Side note: this has become my meal of choice at the pool....so easy, just order pizza, have it delivered to the pool, swim, eat, enjoy!}

 

  

The girls couldn't have been more different in their ideas of beach bummin'! Blakely stayed close to me under the shade at all times and Stella barely left the water! Although Blakely didn't care for the water, she made it up for it in her love of sand! That kid had sand in places I didn't even know sand could get. It made for some intense bathtub scrubbing, but I'm so glad she found her little beach niche!

 

 

 Poor Stella got a sunburn the second day we were there and had to wear a t-shirt and cap the last day! She loved building sand castles, digging holes, boogie boarding and chasing seagulls.

 

The night before we left we had a birthday celebration for my uncle and then family pictures by the pier! I mean, who doesn't love a good family pic with coordinating outfits? This girl sure does!

 

 

 

 

Some love between Blake and Benito!

 

 

And just for kicks - an oldie but a goodie picture of the family!

 
Folly Beach - you treated us right! I just wish you were a tad closer ;)

Check...Check

It's been about 2 1/2 years since I last posted. And on a whim, I went and started reading some of my old posts and had the best time remembering the little, insignificant happenings in our lives. And I'm so sad that I've already missed two years of documenting my girls' lives. So, I have no idea how often I'm going to post, but I'm going to give it a go! I'm sure I'll mostly talk about my girls and my Paleo woes, but after realizing how special it is to look back at, I'm just going to go for it!

Let's hop right in!  We've had the best summer so far. We've already been to the beach in Charleston, SC. It was a family reunion and I'm already aching for more time with our extended family. We were missing 3 other families on this trip and I'm hoping the next time we come together we'll ALL be there!

For Fourth of July, we visited some of our besties who live outside of Austin, TX.

And now for the girlies. Blakely is 2 1/2 and says the most ADORABLE things. She randomly looks at me and says "I love you too" - she ALWAYS adds the "too" on the end, even if she's the first to say it. Also, when I tell her it's bed-time she likes to say "Not me, not me!" And one of my favorite phrases is what she calls her bikini. We call it her "teeny bikini" and the only way she can say it is her "penny tenny."

She's her big sister's biggest fan. Blakely is my cuddle bunny and wants to be in my lap or right next to me. And I don't mind one bit. She calls me "honey" a lot, and I have no clue where she picked that up, but I'll take it! She has fun doing my hair I fake cry to her just so she'll rub my face and tell me "no crying" or "all done" in her sweet little voice. She started things later than Stella did - Blakely didn't walk until she was 14 months old and didn't have near the vocabulary that her big sister had. But, boy has she made up for it recently. She's crazy flexible and will probably be more athletically inclined (she definitely doesn't get it from me!). Her hand-eye coordination has been amazing since she was around 6 months old (again, that's not from me either). We started her in swimming lessons this week and she screamed bloody-murder the entire time....such a delightful little thing. We still have 6 lessons to go, so we'll see how she progresses!

Stella is our sweet and sassy and spicy girl. Her momma is her best friend and she loves her alone time with me. She has periods of sweetness and protectiveness with her little sister and then periods of not wanting anything to do with her. Her room is her special place and she spends lots of alone time in there playing with Barbies, stuffed animals, ponies and all things girlie. Stella turned 5 at the very end of May and after much prayer and careful consideration we've decided to give Stella one more year before she starts Kindergarten. So, we have big plans this next year of spending our Friday's together, just her and me...I'm thinking matinee movies, pedicures, and some good ol' lazy days. Anyone who meets her is instantly endeared to her. She can talk to anyone and make friends with everyone. She has a sensitive heart and a (typically) unfiltered mouth - we're working on that one! I've been saying lately that Blakely is difficult in all the ways I expect children to be difficult, but Stella is difficult in ways I never could have imagined! They're lucky they're both cute ;)

Two special, very different little personalities!

Here's to hoping I can keep this up at more regular intervals!