July 2013

We had a super busy July.  I'm really looking forward to the normal routine of school and church activities.  We traveled almost every weekend this summer and the packing/unpacking thing is getting on my nerves!

We headed to Destin for a rainy July 4th.  It was of course great to get to spend some one-on-one time with Baylin, and we were sequestered with family at the cottage, so it was still fun.  We even saw some fireworks!  But the rain this summer has really put a damper on our plans, no pun intended.

Happy 4th!

Sweet cousin Janna will play with Sylvie for hours.  They had matching red, white and blue tattoos. 
Janna will indulge that kid like none other.

Cousins in matching outfits, and no one puts a baby to sleep better than Nanie.

Sparklers with a protective cup.

Love these two buddies.  Would love to know what they were talking about.

Sylvie enjoyed her first alone trip to Mimi and Poppy's in Houma for a weekend.  From the looks of the pictures, I think she had a great time and will want to go back over and over.  Parrish and I really didn't know what to do with free time at home...Movie?  Eh.  Dinner?  Eh.  Golf?  Eh.  Bored?  Yes.  Lonely for Sylvie?  Yes.  I couldn't wait to pick her up on Monday in Mobile.  She was so big I didn't recognize her!  I guess I was really eager to get home because I also picked up a hefty speeding ticket, too.  Back to traffic court in September.  Guess I didn't learn my lesson last year.

Feeding the turtles in the bayou.

Fun with birds at the aquarium.

A Sylvie fish!

Begged to ride the trolley, then missed it.

Hot day.

Lunch at Felix's, a big girl who is old enough to stay with grandparents by herself!

The next week was my birthday week.  Yikes to 32.  I have gotten over my fear of aging, so this really was no big deal.  I was super excited to get to host my family in Destin for the weekend.  Hard to believe that I've been with Parrish for over 10 years and this was only the second time they've stayed at the beach house.  Aunt Carey and the girls drove all the way from SC and we had a great time.  We had a quick trip to the gulf due to stormy weather, ate at Old Bay Steamer, shopped and played at the splash pad at the Commons and ate at Vintij.  The guys were supposed to play golf but got rained out, so now they have an excuse to head south again soon to make it up.  My mom was sweet to indulge me with a GF cheesecake and lots of other goodies.  It was a great birthday!  Now on to planning Sylvie's 4th!

Girlies on the beach.

Rosie getting big at about six months old.

Special tea for the birthday girl.

Sand is delicious, according to Lu.

Sassafras.

Munchkin would not cooperate, but B was ready to pose.

We've had lots of at home this month, too.  Highlights:

First soccer camp.  Not ready to play this year, I think, but def next year.  She had a great time and really could hang with the boys, especially with her pink shin guards and socks.

Ready to go!

Sweet kiddos playing dress up.

Making homemade dog treats for Rosie.

Constant dance party/dress up at our house.

Thought this was hilarious.  I gave her a toy catalog to circle a few things she'd like for birthday/Christmas.
She circled the laptop on the order page...not for sale, my dear.  But go for the gold, anyway.

Sylvie had two weeks of Dance with Us at Andalusia Ballet.  Girl loves to dance.  
She's taking two classes a week this year.

I hosted some girlfriends at the beach and we kicked off the weekend with some paddle board yoga with our resident natural lifestyle guru, Shanda.  It was awesome and I'll definitely do it again.  So challenging in a good way.

YOLO (an annoying catchphrase but appropriate here since Shanda works for the company!).

Headstand attempt and success.

Crow, my white albatross.  So challenging, even on land.

We showed our house once in July (no dice), we hosted a AU Club Senior Send-off for incoming freshmen from Covington County, Sylvie has had croup (or some other mystery illness), I've decided to take up golf after one stellar lesson, I saw an endocrinologist for lingering hypothyroid symptoms (with no new diagnosis...guess no news is good news, but I still feel crummy), Parrish is nursing a foot injury (acquired while trying to play soccer with kids half his age) and learned Sylvie weighs a whopping 27 pounds!  Whew!  

August holds the beginnings of school, dance, football season and a trip to South Carolina to see the cousins.  And if it's anything like July, a whole lot more is in store for our family!

God Bless,

Katie