4th of July

Hailey and I went to Charlotte for the 4th of July weekend. Ryan was preaching at our church that Sunday morning so we wanted to give him a little peace and quiet to prepare. We traveled down on Wednesday night at bedtime, like we've been doing for a while now. Usually she falls asleep about an hour or so into the trip. This time, Hailey stayed away until 15 minutes before we got to my parents house! So she went to bed over an hour later than normal and woke up at 4:45 in the morning! Not the way I planned to start out my holiday weekend.
As soon as she woke up Hailey asked to go pick Grams' vegetable garden. Now last time she was in Charlotte there was a garden, but no vegetables yet. We have not talked about the garden at all since that trip. But somehow her little mind remembered it and thought to bring it up at 4:45 in the morning. That's when I had to break it to her that it wasn't light yet and we would have to wait to pick the garden. She was super excited when Grams got up and they immediately got dressed and went outside...at like 6:30.

 Hailey was so excited to pick tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. She came in to show me and kept saying "not ready yet." Apparently there were a lot that weren't ready yet.
Then they picked some flowers.

When it got a little warmer and the rest of the world got up we went swimming. Hailey did great at the pool in Hilton Head but was still unsure of not being able to touch the bottom and me letting her go to float in her Puddle Jumper. As soon as she saw Tucker (my 4 year old nephew) swim in his Puddle Jumper, she took off across the pool! I turned around and she was halfway across, just kicking her little feet!

She kept saying "I in the deep sea." (the deep end) Apparently all she had to do is see someone else do it and she figured she could too!
We did a lot of swimming after that. All afternoon and evening with Tucker and Mack. Then we went to bed nice and early that night. Getting up at 4:45 and swimming all day will make you tired.

Friday morning my dad took Hailey on a date to get Krispy Kreme donuts.

not in a picture taking mood

Hailey wouldn't eat any of the donuts, but she did eat two cookies when they went to the grocery store! And her new thing is reminding you to pay for the food before you leave. "It's an important rule."
When they got back, she picked the garden again

and played in the cabinets until it warmed up and Tucker and Mack came over to swim

Once again, we swam all morning until lunch and naptime...and then woke up and swam some more.

I still cannot get over her swimming!

We came home Saturday afternoon to spend time with Daddy and get ready for Sunday morning. We had a great weekend at Grams and Das' house and can't wait for more!

Hailey Says

I keep meaning to write down all of the crazy things Hailey says, but never do...so here are a random few...

While at the beach we were swimming in the pool and Hailey looked down at the numbers that tell you how deep the pool is
Hailey: "3 Mommy!"
Me: "That's right! You're such a smarty pants."
Hailey: "No. I just a sock."
Me: "What? You're not a smarty pants?"
Hailey: "No Mommy. I just a smarty sock."

Playing outside on the splash mat with Abbie, Hailey pours a cup of water on Abbie's feet.
"I watering her Mommy. So she grow bigger."

Playing with Abbie today, Hailey pushed her away.
Me: "Hailey if you push Abbie again today you will get a spanking."
Hailey: "Ok, I push her tomorrow."


Where does she get this stuff?! I seriously have to try so hard not to laugh at her sometimes!

Hilton Head Island- Part 2

We did some fun things while at the beach. One was going to play putt-putt. Now, we knew that playing with 3 kids who were 4 and under would make our game a little different but we went for it anyways. Here's how Hailey enjoyed her time:
throwing her ball into the water,

 and getting it out (over and over)

 and playing with the flags

Needless to say, I didn't finish my game with all of the chasing and making sure she didn't fall in the water. It was still fun though! And Tucker and Grams both got hole-in-ones! (and won free ice cream for it)

We also went to a Japanese Steakhouse one night. Before we left the condo, Hailey saw my mom's necklace and insisted on wearing one like it. She wore it all night too!

She also wanted to wear lip gloss like Grams.

She really enjoyed the Japanese Steakhouse. Ryan and I joked that this was the first time we've gone out to eat with her and one of us hasn't had to leave the table to take her outside. This is how she watched a lot of the cooking part...

She did enjoy it though and even tried, and liked, the fried rice!

Another night, my parents kept the kids and let us girls and husbands go out to eat. We went to a seafood restaurant and then down to the lighthouse for ice cream and to walk around. These are the pictures we got:
Walking to play on the tennis courts before they had dinner. Hailey loved to walk holding Tucker's hand all week. He was definitely her favorite person.

and she had to carry her purse

Eating dinner at the kids table

Watching a show on the iPad before bed...started like this

 and ended like this!

And you can't go to the beach without taking a family picture on the beach...

We had such a great vacation with everyone and can't wait to do it again!

Hilton Head Island- Part 1

Last week we went to Hilton Head with my family. This year was exciting because everyone was coming, both of my sisters, their husbands and my nephews. It was a high-energy week with lots to do and we had a blast!
We went to the beach a few mornings/afternoons and all of the kids loved it. Hailey loved looking for seashells, standing in the waves, playing in the sand and looking for more seashells. The girl was serious about some seashells!

standing in her sandcastle

 Mack and Tucker had a blast on the beach too!

Even though, Hailey had a blast on the beach I have to say she just as much enjoyed the ride back to the car in the wagon. :)

We spent a lot of time at the pool over the course of the week too. All of the kids loved it. There was a zero-entry pool that was awesome because they could just walk in and play wherever they felt comfortable.

taking her mermaids on a ride

playing in the fountains with Tucker

 Hailey didn't mind wearing her "swimmies" and enjoyed swimming in the deeper water with Mommy and Mary Katherine.

"jumping" to MK- more like falling

learning to lay out early :)

everyone on the raft!

Even though we aren't going back to the beach this summer I hope we can enjoy some more pool fun with our cousins at Grams' house!

Stay tuned for more beach posts!

Day with Mimi

To start off our vacation, we made a pit stop in Charlotte to leave Hailey with Mimi and Poppi so that Ryan and I could go to a wedding in Asheville. We figured Hailey would have much more fun with her grandparents than at the wedding. ;)
While she was there Hailey learned how to feed Bobo (the dog)

Then we went to the mall and looked at the fish at Bass Pro,

tried on hats with Daddy,

rode the merry-go-round (which she has been begging to do for months since we went to Pullen Park)

and pick out a toy at the Disney Store, which we had to take out and play with at the table in the food court.

Ryan and I left that afternoon and Hailey got to go see PawPaw, help Mimi outside and play at the pool with Mimi. She had a blast and can't wait for our next trip to Charlotte!

Loving Abbie

I've mentioned on here before how much Hailey loves Abbie. While we were gone over Memorial Day weekend at the beach Hailey talked about Abbie a lot and kept telling us that she wanted to show her things. She told Ryan that she wanted to show her this starfish

So when we got to see Abbie on Tuesday Hailey was thrilled. She insisted that they wear matching socks

They were so sweet playing together all day. In the afternoon Hailey turned our suitcase into a rocket ship and said that they were "going to the moon".

Today Hailey was sitting in her chair watching Curious George and Abbie climbed up in her lap. Hailey didn't get upset and just put her arm around her.

They are so precious together. I am so grateful that I get to watch Abbie and for the friendship that has started so young with them.

Fun with Grams and Das

This weekend my parents came to visit! Hailey was super excited to show them her playhouse! (They got it for her for her birthday and Daddy had just finished putting it together.)

Ignore Evan...He helped Ryan carry it to the back porch :)

Saturday morning we all went strawberry picking.

Hailey was a lot more into it than last time. She was so excited to find strawberries. Her favorites were the "baby ones".

She insisted on carrying her own bucket.

And she ate quite a few as she was picking too. She kept saying "Mmmm. Juicy."

We had to see the animals and ride the horsey swing before we left the farm too! :)

When we got back home we set up a little splash mat that my parents had brought for Hailey.

She loved it! She splashed and slid and splashed and splashed!

She looked pretty cute in her bathing suit too!

Hailey had a blast with Grams and Das this weekend! We can't wait to see them again!