Growing up and letting go

Our baby Cady is growing up. She's been out of her crib for months now and Ray and I finally decided that it was time to get rid of it. This old house doesn't have enough space to store extra toothpicks, much less a crib! Since we will never be in a position again where we have 2 children in cribs at the same time (I know, never say never, blah, blah, blah), we opted to keep Maddy's and to put Cady's on Craigslist. Waalaa, 2 days later, it was riding away with a young family with a baby on the way.

You may wonder why I would even make mention of this. Well, I was unexpectedly emotional about it. My first baby slept in this crib. We arranged our first nursery using this crib. And when I was telling a friend about it later in the day, I started to choke up!! I know it's just a "thing" but it felt like letting go of a precious piece of Cady's infancy, like the moment pictured below, and it made me very sad. Perhaps a little overly sentimental, but then I'm not known for my stoicism!

The best time of year!

I LOVE AUTUMN!! I love working inside the house, with the fresh breeze blowing in through the open windows. I love being able to play outside with my children and enjoy it without sweating/freezing to death. I hope this breezy, pleasant weather lasts until Thanksgiving -- ok, at least until Halloween -- because it just makes me happy!!

Good times in Garden City (SC)

After Ray got home from work last Wednesday, we packed up the girls and headed to Garden City Beach, SC. Ray's grandmother has a condo there and she generously lets family members use it for vacations anytime! We invited our good friends, the Hullinger's, and good times were had by all (except for on the 4 hour trip ... if anyone has tips for smooth sailing on road trips with toddlers, I'd love to hear them!).

The condo could not be any better situated. It's right on the beach, which makes for beautiful sunrises (I admit I didn't see any of those!) and gorgeous moonlit waves at night.

On Thursday and Friday, it was quite overcast and a little rainy but we felt that, with kids, that was totally OK. They played and played and played on the beach without getting too hot. It was wonderful. Except for some occasional bucket conflicts and sand throwing, the four children got along very well and loved playtime every day on the beach.

Thursday morning, taking advantage of a rain break, Ray and I took Cady and Maddy down to see Tutta, his grandmother, who lives about 10 minutes south of Garden City. She is a delightful southern lady. The girls loved riding around the assisted living facility on Tutta's "cart", although Cady wanted her to go faster!

Thursday evening, Ray's mom (who was in town visiting her mother) offered to watch all the children (THANKS, Louise!), as long as the majority were in bed, so that Ray and I could go out with Nick and Julie. We went out to Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach for dinner, then strolled around and checked out the shops afterward. On Friday evening, we decided to put the kids to bed early and make a delicious dinner at home. Ray grilled steaks, whipped up a Ceasar salad and a few other things and we had an amazing moonlit dinner on the balcony! Wouldn't mind doing THAT every night!!

Saturday was a perfect beach day ... sunny and warm! We wore the kids out on the beach for a few hours in the morning, but kept them cool with popsicles and pool breaks. Digging a big hole was a hit, too!

In the afternoon, Ray and I took the girls to the Garden City Pier and the Arcade. You grownups have probably been on dozens of piers and even more arcades so it may not sound too fun, but to toddlers, WHOA, it is EX-CITING!! Buying cheap trinkety crap with tickets you win from playing pointless games ... THAT is good times!

All in all, we did NOT want to come home!! And given the ride home, we shoulda stayed ... Cady threw up twice in the car on the way home. It was not pretty and I have to give a HUGE shout out to my husband here --- he was an absolute TROOPER at cleaning it all up, not just on the trip but doing the laundry when we got home. Thanks, honey!!!

Also, speaking of Ray, he was having lots of fun learning what our camera is capable of on this trip. Behold the results!! Isn't that black and white sketch COOL??

The Bulldogs visit Death Valley

Thanks to a customer at work, Ray came by 2 tickets to yesterday's football game between Clemson and The Citadel. An EXTREMELY kind and generous friend offered to watch the girls for the afternoon, so the two of us set off on a football adventure!

For those of you who know us well, you know that The Citadel is Ray's alma mater and if you follow college football, you may already know how this story ends. But let me add our little details, in addition to whatever you may have seen on ESPN Sports Center!

After tailgating with a small contingent of Citadel grads outside the stadium, Ray and I headed in and UP to our seats. They could've been higher but they were definitely in the upper deck! And no matter which way you looked, there was a LOT of orange. I told Ray that perhaps it's so striking because both his and my alma maters wear shades of blue to the games, colors that you would wear any old day. Clemson orange is so bright and blaring, NO ONE wears it except on game day!!


The final score was 45 - 17, I believe, so there was lots of Tiger growling and spelling of C-L-E-M-S-O ..... (pause, as if trying to remember how to spell) N!!! I think that Ray's favorite part was yelling "Roll Tide" at strategic moments, to remind the Clemson fans surrounding us that they had been stomped by Alabama last week.

Leaving my baby

Yesterday was a sad, sad day for me.

For various reasons, Ray and I have decided that it's time for me to test the waters and get my foot back in the classroom. So, I have committed to cover the maternity leave for a Spanish I teacher at an area high school. For the sake of clarification, I AM NOT PREGNANT!! It's someone else's maternity leave and it starts in 2 weeks. In order to make it all work, we enrolled Maddy at the preschool that Cady attends, which we love. Her first day was yesterday.

Ohhhhh, I was sad. Dreading it. She is so little. Not even 2. I took her into her new classroom last week, just to see it and she seemed quite happy, checking everything out. However, I was sure that she would just FREAK OUT when Mommy LEFT HER THERE.

Didn't happen. Cady and I went with Maddy into her new class and they both wandered off to explore. I chatted with the teacher for a minute then snuck out the door. I know "they" say that you shouldn't sneak off but I wussed out. I went on my merry way (ok, not so merry ... I cried in the car) and got SOOOOOO much done in 3 hours with zero children. When I returned to pick the girls up, I asked the teacher if Maddy had cried when I left. Nope. Just when Cady left to go to HER class. That's good, right??