Self Portraits

I always download pictures the same day I take them. Today when I started downloading, there were 117 pictures. I didn't realize I had taken so many. Turns out I hadn't. The first 70 were taken my Jalen and my nephew, Asher.

Jalen

 The refrigerator??

 Asher's feet

A Perfect Ten (or at least in the high nines)

Our engagement picture - 2002

In the midst of all the family madness, David and I celebrated our 10-year anniversary. I remember when we first got married and 10 years seemed so very far away. Now I can't figure out where all the time has gone. 

Port of New Orleans - 2007

Five years ago we were on a Caribbean cruise, debt free, living in our own home with relatively few cares in the world.

Riding segways in Cozumel - 2007

Now we are living in an old apartment, up to our eyeballs in debt, cruising in a car where we have to roll the windows up with a crank and happier than ever because of the two little bundles of energy that have made the past four years seem like 40.  

10 Years!

So for our big anniversary bang (okay, let's call it a whimper), we went to The Avengers, which we loved. Afterwards, we went to a little shake place where they make ice cream shakes out of real pieces of pie. They were delicious and the place was a real cute hole in the wall.

And now for the rest of the evening...I'm on an air mattress with the kids and David is sleeping on the family room floor at the feet of one of my nephews. Who says romance is dead?

Can't wait to see where we'll be for our 20th!

Utah Visit/Family Reunion - Day 3 (Friday)

We have had such a fun day now that we are finally with family. We colored.

 Practiced the piano (David was Parker's first teacher).

Played (and secretly jumped) on the bunk bed.

Vegged out in front of the t.v.

Got free rides in the clothes hamper.

Went to the pool (no pictures). Painted with water colors in the bath tub.

Jumped on the trampoline.

Had root beer floats.

And just had fun being together. We love our family! The official reunion starts tomorrow.

Utah Trip/Family Reunion - Day 2 (Thursday)

We woke up at 5:00 a.m. to head back to the airport. And - what do you know??? - our flight was delayed again. Seriously, folks! It wasn't too bad though and before long we were on our way. We got to Chicago and got bumped off our first flight. Fortunately, the Chicago's O'Hare Airport (ORD) is not a bad place to get bumped.

The underground walkway between terminals B and C is really cool. It's dark with neon lighting and music. It's pretty hard to capture in a photo, but it was like something out of Star Wars. From ORD's website: "a 744 foot long kinetic neon sculpture of light and sound titled "The Sky’s the Limit," designed by Michael Hayden."

  

After a few hours, David and Baylie were able to get on a flight and it was just me and Jalen left. Jalen slept for a couple of hours. I'm pretty sure I was out hard for an hour as well.

When he woke up, we headed back to the dungeon.

Jalen wasn't wild about the music. (Not sure why since it's pretty cool and not too loud.)

Then we visited the display from the Field Museum. From ORD's website, "Our Brachiosaurus is one of the largest mounted dinosaurs in the world. The four-story high, 72-foot long skeleton model is on loan from the Chicago Field Museum."

 

Another walkway between terminals features this beautiful gallery with painted windows, glass fixtures hanging from the ceiling and painted benches.

In one terminal, there is even a large seafood and sushi bar.

But the very best thing about ORD has got to be the children's museum. Seriously! A children's museum in an airport?? Genious!

Jalen flew a jet. (I think he tried to order pizza from the phone in the cockpit.)

He operated the control tower.

Ordered more pizza.

Loaded cargo.

And flew first class.

What a great way to burn a couple hours.

When we finally got on a plane at 6:25 p.m., we hit a major storm that stretched from Iowa to Texas. We had to fly clear down to Lubbock to go around it.

Original route

 New route

The pilot was concerned we wouldn't have enough gas to get to SLC, so we made a pit stop for gas in Grand Junction, Colorado. We finally made it to Salt Lake at about 10:30 p.m. (For those of you keeping track, that's 17 1/2 hours of travel.)

So happy to finally be here! Let the partying begin!

Utah Trip/Family Reunion - Day 1 (Wednesday)

Flight benefits are awesome - except when they're not.

We were originally going to fly to Utah on Thursday, but decided to go Wednesday because the flights had more seats available. Unfortunately, our flight ended up being delayed by several hours. In the end, we decided we would probably miss our connection in Chicago, so we decided to wait until the next day. We were told they would pull our checked bags so they would not go without us.

We waited....and we waited...

...and then found out our bags were on their way to the Windy City.

Our kids are amazing flyers and despite being in the airport for five hours and not going anywhere, they were still pretty good sports. Baylie was really sad that she wouldn't get to see her cousins. We cheered her up by going to the Yoghut where she was super excited about the fact that she got to build her own yogurt with toppings.

In the end, the flight from Chicago to Utah was also delayed and we would have made it if we had decided to go. The flight (with our luggage) arrived in Salt Lake at about 2:30 a.m. Part of me is glad that I was sleeping in my own bed at that time.

P.S. The gate agent in Columbia needs a major course in Southern Hospitality because she was an awful grouch. Fortunately, everyone else was helpful.

P.P.S. At some point we must have left our case with all our Disney movies in it at the ATO because we no longer have it. This is a major bummer.

P.P.P.S. Here are some close ups of Baylie's latest hairstyle. 

A Day at the Beach

One of my favorite things about living in South Carolina is the beautiful beaches. I love the sand dunes covered with tall grass. The beaches here make me think of Nicholas Sparks books. They seem so natural and romantic.

This is loggerhead turtle season and near where we set up there was an area marked off. Each night turtles come on shore and find a place to lay.

There were LOTS of these little crabs. The kids were freaked out by them - so was I a little bit. They were tiny, but pretty mean looking.

I found this part of a sand dollar. It's been years since I've found a sand dollar.

There was a lot of drft in the surf this year, probably because of the tropical storms. There was even a palm tree washed up on the beach.

Jalen and Baylie love playing in the sand.

They made a jacuzzi with their friend Jake.

They buried their daddy in the sand.

Jalen tried to pick up on some chicas. (Seriously, he marched up to these girls he didn't know, plopped down by them, then got up and kicked water on them. We'll need to work on his courting skills.)

Rejected! (Actually I'm not sure why he's having a tantrum here.)

We actually lost Jalen for about five minutes. I was completely freaked out. When we finally found him, he was about 100 yards down the beach. I was reminded of the time when I was only five years old and was lost at Huntington Beach for five hours. I can't even comprehend what my mother must have gone through. The beach patrol was searching for me and said children always walk away from the sun. My mom knew I wouldn't ever do what most children do, so she looked for me in the opposite direction. I knew where I was the whole time. When she found me, I put my hands on my hips and asked, "Where have you been?!"

Jalen loves to be with his daddy.

So does Baylie.

He taught her to body surf...

 

...and boogie board.

But he didn't teach her how to apply sun block.

Contrary to photographic evidence, I was at the beach today.