First Day of Kindergarten!!!

Whoa. I cannot believe I just sent my little baby girl to "big school" for her very first day!!! I'd like to state for the record that it is currently 8:40 AM and I have not yet cried a single actual tear, although it's definitely still pretty early. ;)

Last night we were able to do all of our prepare-for-the-first-day-of-school stuff, from picking out her outfit, to painting her fingernails, to planning her lunch. For the most part, I was pretty much prepared and ready to get this day rolling bright and early this morning.

I was up at 6:10 AM to get ready. I was downstairs cooking LO's special first-day-of-kindergarten breakfast, which included blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and chocolate milk.

She was quite pleasant to wake up (nothing like her mommy!) and came bounding downstairs for breakfast. Even with both of us being extremely quiet, to my amazement, Chase came down less than 2 minutes later. No biggie! This worked out for us today, so he enjoyed a yummy breakfast alongside his big sister.

While LO was getting dressed and ready for school, I packed her lunch, exactly to her specifications:

• PB&J (shocker, I know)
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Apple Slices
• Yogurt (not pictured)
• Juice

I'm beating myself up right now because, while I remembered to include a sweet note in her lunch, I forgot to add a cookie in there to surprise her with an extra special treat on her first day. #mommyfail

After she was ready, we went outside for some first day of Kindergarten pictures!!

I can't believe how big this girl of mine is!

Let's flash back for a moment, shall we? Here are last year's first day of K4 pictures:

Cool stuff!

And let's not forget the first day of K3:

She's so totally the same but yet so totally different! It's insane how fast time flies... it's totally true what they say!

Anywho, back to our day... After taking pictures out front, we all loaded up in the car to head to school. Luckily we got there waaaay before the craziness and were able to get a quick parking spot. Hubs and Chase waited in the car while Mommy and LO went in (but not before a few more pictures in the parking lot). I let LO lead me to her class and she was greeted immediately by one of her teachers. She was so so so much different than Monday at Meet the Teacher when she hid behind me, clinging to me, unable to speak or make eye contact with her teachers. She's really warmed up quickly and I'm so very proud of her!

I took a few more pictures in her classroom before heading out. Ain't she purdy??

Before I left, the students were all asked to sit at the tables, so I snapped one more pic...

As you can tell from this last one, she was tired of taking pictures. In fact, she said exactly that just seconds before I snapped this pic!

Haha! I'm so glad we had a great morning and she did such a great job with her first day of Kindergarten. Today should be interesting as it is the start of an entirely new routine for the kids and I. Since Chase was up and eating breakfast bright n' early, my plan is to feed him lunch around the same time LO will eat hers at school (11:30 AM), then put him down for a way-earlier-than-normal nap at 12:30 PM. I'll need to have him up and ready to get in the car to pick up LO by 1:45 PM (yes, I'm that crazy mom that wants to be one of the first ones in the car pick-up line) as school gets out at 2:30 PM.

I can't wait to hear all about LO's first day of Kindergarten and I also can't wait to see how Chase handles his new routine today. I'm really looking forward to having some fun mommy/Chase time now that she'll be at school every day. There's a lot of good stuff happening and I promise I'm doing my very best to embrace it -- without tears!

HAPPY FIRST DAY

OF KINDERGARTEN, LO!!

MOMMY LOVES YOU BUNCHES!!!

Beach 2012!

Last week we took a much-needed family vacay to Pawleys Island, just south of Myrtle Beach. It was an awesome trip that also included my sisters, nieces/nephews and mama! Good times!!

I've shared a little photo recap of our trip below for those of you who are still reading this ol' blog of mine! ;)

First up on any road trip? Movies for the kids (including headphones to keep things quiet for mommy & daddy) and m&m blizzards from Dairy Queen for all!

Our first night in Pawleys Island we hit up a local pizza joint/pub for some delicious eats. We had a simple cheese pizza and a pepperoni stromboli. YUM-O.

After dinner it was time to head next door to the Piggly Wiggly (yes, we're in the South, folks), for some groceries we'll need during our stay. I can tell you with complete honesty that I've NEVER EVER EVER allowed the kids to ride in one of those car carts pictured below, but since we were on vacation, I knew I could let them get away with it (without them expecting to do so every time we go to the store in the future). They had a blast with daddy speeding them up one aisle and down the next, and even thought it was hilarious (as did I) when daddy knocked over a display with the cart as he zoomed past it. LOL!

Our first day on vacation also happened to be one of my sisters' birthdays, so we celebrated with cake! As you can see, she was turning 6, and since I'm 3 years younger than her, I guess that makes me 3! ;)

Thursday was our first day on the beach. Ah, glorious sunny skies! The kids were beyond stoked and I couldn't wait for some relaxing sunbathing.

The kids were super excited about the water, and I was so impressed with both of them! LO was not a big fan of the waves on our previous beach trips, but she jumped in with no fear this time around! Chase had a great time, too, and wasn't worried at all about those waves, either!

Later that night we went out for dinner at a total tourist trap. It was supposed to be Margaritaville, but the wait was -- seriously -- 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Are you kidding me!? Anywho, we ended up at Planet Hollywood instead.

I opted for the rack (yes, an entire rack!) of ribs, with a side of sautéed veggies to balance it out. ;) Ha! The fun part was that my 21-year-old nephew got them, too, so it was a bit of a challenge to see if I could finish them since there was no question that boy could put down some food! As expected, he tore 'em up quicker than I ever could've dreamed!

After dinner, we drove over to Broadway at the Beach for some nighttime fun! I loved the Wonder Works building because it's upside-down. We never went inside and I still have no idea what it is... but it was pretty cool regardless.

The kids did fun stuff like ride the carousel...

...ride the train...

...and fly a plane!

I also made them pose for a photo with a really creepy bunny statue, because I'm just that kind of mom. See how stoked LO was??

Friday we all slept in and didn't really get moving toward the beach until the early afternoon. Hubs, the kids and I were the last ones to get ready after everyone else had already walked down to the beach. We were sunscreen'd up and ready to go when hubs suggested we wait a few minutes after checking the weather. We're VERY glad we did.

Here's a pic my sister sent me from the beach. It was too late for them to make a run for it once this "pop up hurricane" rolled in...

Hubs drove to get them since it was about 1/4 mile from the house to the beach, and they were straight up SOAKED, being pelted with raindrops as they tried to hurry back to the house. The poor things! The weather didn't really cooperate so we didn't end up at the beach on Friday.

We did go out to eat and ended up at a joint called Quigley's Pint & Plate. There was a bit of a wait for a party our size, but I think it was worth it! I hooked myself up with the fried pickles appetizer and my VERY FIRST experience of Chicken & Waffles! They were sweet potato waffles and were served with a sausage gravy, and OHMYGOODNESS people. These will NOT be my last order of Chicken & Waffles! Amazing!!

The plan on Saturday was to start early and get to the beach before any storms had a chance to ruin our fun. But lo and behold, these were my kids at 9:30 AM!! Still zonked! (Hubs was out cold, too!)

After we all finally got moving, it was beach time! Here's my handsome fella catching a lift on the walk to the beach.

We were able to get lots of time in the sun and sand!

Chase took plenty of snack breaks. ;)

As did his big sister...



But like a sudden pop-up storm rolling in, so was this mess that Chase turned into...

As you can imagine, it was about time for us to pack up and go! But not before I was able to take a pic of my sister's LifeProof case for her Droid!

Haha!!! She's been debating between an iPhone or the Samsung Galaxy III (gag) but I think my LifeProof case might have put her over the edge... especially when I could take pics of one of her kids like the one below.

After the beach it was time to clean up and pack up. We had a great trip and the kids had an amazing time playing with their cousins and enjoying the beach. It was only a matter of time before this was happening on the way home...

We had a super great time and it was just what we needed as we start to say good-bye to summer and hello to LO's first day of Kindergarten, which is just around the corner!

Hellooooooo!!!

Well howdy, folks! For those of you who thought I'd given up on blogging and r-u-n-n-o-f-t to Paris by boat, SURPRISE! I'm still here.
((insert gasps of shock & awe here))
It goes without saying that just like every other blogger out there, I've been staying quite busy this summer and haven't made the time to blog. Shame, right? Right.

Geez. I was totally planning an awesome, awe-inspiring, comprehensive catch-up post but I'm just not feeling it tonight (side note: this may or may not have something to do with my recent MacBook Pro and Apple TV purchases, or perhaps the fact that I'm in the middle of a rather atypical stretch of working 36 hours over a 5-day period). Regardless of my beautifully amazing distractions, I'm not leaving you empty-handed! As your reward for reading this totally lame post, I've shared a little clip of Chase (and LO) saying a blessing before dinner tonight. Seriously, Chase totally cracks me up!!
Enjoy!