Pumpkin Festival

I will get caught up.....I will get caught up.....maybe??? I'm so trying to be current :) So, about a month ago, while daddy was up in DC for his big trial, we decided to head down to Florida to spend some time with the grandparents (and for some help & sanity for mommy while daddy was gone a LONG almost 3 weeks!). While we were at Meemi & Poppee's house, we went to a local pumpkin festival. Mackenzie was a little sick, so she wasn't feeling great at first, but she rallied to have a great time & even (miraculously!) posed for some pictures with her sissy in front of the pumpkins AND they both smiled. Amazing. Really, it's the small things in life that make me happy!

Ready to go!





















Posing through the pumpkin hole. Love this kid!




















Posing with the old/slightly scary looking snow white that was overseeing the pumpkin area.....





















Mack - ready for a fun pony ride














Keelyn LOVED her first time on a pony ride! Poppee was just sure she would - and he was right!














Checking out the wierd looking pumpkin with all the bumps!














One for the picture frame - LOVE it!





















Another (shocking) smiling photo....this one with Keelyn showing some of her standing/walking skills





















Pretty girl showing off her FOUR teeth :)

A Few More Trip Photos

Here's a few more photos from our spontaneous adventure to Chattanooga, Rock City & Ruby Falls:

Ringing the bell on the Chattnooga Choo-Choo





















Daddy and his two girls :)





















Pose? I need to check out this waterfall!





















Looking at all the states (7?) you can view from Rock City














Keelyn - just hanging out in her fave spot!





















Walkin' with her daddy.....

We Can Be Spontaneous Again!!!

We've had a busy summer. Really busy. We bought a house. Brannon worked & traveled ALOT. We did a major home renovation on the house while he traveled. We moved into a partially finished remodeled home. All this with a baby and a two year old. Busy. So, when Brannon had a little break (over a weekend, mind you, which working on weekends has been a large part of the busy summer!), where he actually didn't have to work that weekend like a normal person. And we could be a normal family :)

So, he came home that Friday and we had dinner and were done eating and cleaning up by like 6:30. Pretty early for us. We were trying to decide what our plans were for the weekend. I wanted to go up to a big pumpkin patch in north georgia on Saturday. He said, why don't we just go ahead and drive up there tonight so we can have the whole day to do stuff up in the mountains. I couldn't think of a reason we couldn't do it......So we just started getting ready, bathing the girls, packing, and he looked up places to stay and what to do. And by 9pm, we were on the road with girls in their pjs ready for sleeping in the car!

His research online had led him to decide that we should head on to Chattanooga since it was only about 30-45 minutes further than where we would be in north georgia. And he wanted to go to Ruby Falls and Rock City. We had a great time. I was totally impressed with Mackenzie because each place required about a mile walk. She did it no problem! And Keelyn, of course, just chilled in the Ergo carrier! It was fun to take our first little family trip. I look forward to many, many more adventures with my crew in the coming years :)

More Pics From the Grandparents

Here's some more pictures of our fun at Granmommy & Grandaddy's house:

We made a trip to the junior museum





















"High Grandaddy!"





















Keelyn enjoying herself too (though she didn't require us to push her nearly as high!)





















She insisted on wearing her souvenir necklace like this - I think she wanted it to be a crown! I love how she's crossing her eyes to see it!




















Mackenzie posing (thanks to Granmommy's coaching!) in front of a motorcycle on the way to the pool





















Keelyn enjoying the water with Grandaddy at this great city pool that had the zero entry, water fountain mushrooms, a water slide, spray things, etc.....
















Mackenzie enjoying spraying the water!





















Posing with Mommy & eating a treat after some serious pool play!
















Blowing bubbles in the backyard with my monkey on my back!
















Making brownies with Granmommy
















Keelyn enjoying the swing in the backyard





















Grandaddy still has the knack for getting Keelyn to sleep!

Fourth of July

After almost a week with the McKays at the beach, the girls & I headed from Jacksonville over to visit my parents for the week in Tallahassee. Brannon headed back up to work in Atlanta & ready to travel some more & we headed for some more help from another set of grandparents! This was the one leg of the trip I drove by myself, figuring 3 hours would be doable. It was, but not much more! The girls did not sleep nearly as much as I hoped, there was a lot of screaming (mostly from the baby), and a blow out diaper I had to change at a rest stop. Yep, 3 hours is my max right now!

We went over on Sunday night, and got to spend July 4th with my parents. They just recently bought a paddle boat, so we went out in the late morning to give it a try. Mackenzie talked a big game while we walked down to the boat dock, while we carried & loaded it into the water, and then sat in the boat for a nice little picture. Then, when Grandaddy started to push it away from land, she freaked out. She insisted on getting OUT. Nothing we could do could convince her that it was safe, fun, etc. That girl has a decent little fear of the water! We let Mackenzie out & gave Keelyn a try. She thought it was fabulous! We paddled all over the lake with Grandaddy & she enjoyed it the whole time. And Mackenzie, happy to be out of the boat, played on the shore with Granmommy watching us!

After a morning out on the water, we went home and took some naps, ate dinner, and got ready to go see some fireworks. We went to a local church that does a big 4th of July celebration, which was just the right size for us. It had been raining a little & threatening to rain all afternoon, but we headed on. And we were lucky, the rain held off. I was glad we braved it! And I was also glad that the girls weren't too scared of the fireworks :) Keelyn seemed a little nervous at first, but didn't cry, and just took her bottle while watching the show! Mackenzie was really excited when they started and said, "It's like at Cinderella's castle!". We couldn't believe she remembered seeing fireworks at Disney! In the middle of the show, she got a little scared, which was wierd since they'd been going for a while when she did. She hid her face for a little while, then started watching again! Overall, I she enjoyed it :)

The McKay Open 2011

One of the reasons we hit the beach for the 4th of July is for the annual McKay Open golf tournament / McKay family reunion. It's a good time & we get to see all the family that we might only see once a year at this event. All the family started rolling in on Friday night - including Uncle Jake & Daddy! There was a family hors d'ouerves party on Saturday night, along with the "draft" for this year's golf teams! And Sunday was the golf tournament and a ladies tea that I attended :) Always a fun time with the McKays!

Mackenzie was excited that her Uncle Jake arrived!














Mommy & her sweet girls!














Another snooze after another rough day at the beach. This time she's cuddling up to her daddy who just got in town :)














Daddy & his festive girls on their way to the draft party!





















That sea breeze puts her to sleep every time! This time on Aunt Ginny














Still snoozing after a transfer to Aunt Bonnie





















Tickle time with Poppee














Mackenzie & Meemi














Family photo with 'gansta' Keelyn














The whole gang of McKays (minus a few)

Beach Trip!

We were lucky to get to take a trip to Florida again this year for about 2 weeks around the 4th of July. We've done this the past couple years, and I really like this tradition! This year, it was a bit more complicated b/c I've always driven without Brannon since he works & just meets us on the weekend of the 4th, but driving with two kiddos was just not something I was up for! So, my parents & in-laws stepped up to the plate! Poppee bought a one way ticket up to Atlanta and then drove down to the beach with me (anything to get to see the grandkids!) and my parents rode back to Atlanta with me at the end of our trip :)

We had a lot of fun at the beach. Mackenzie was pretty scared of the ocean & waves, so she didn't go out in the water too much but had a fantastic time in the sand and with buckets of water :) Keelyn LOVED the ocean. She took amazing naps on the beach each day, falling asleep on whoever was holding her! She also went out in the ocean with Poppee pretty deep and really enjoyed it :) She seems to be our water girl!

We enjoyed getting there the Tuesday before the weekend of the 4th b/c there was very few folks on the beach. The weather was pretty good. Pretty hot, but not as hot as it had been. We had some afternoon showers, but we were always off the beach by that time. We also spent a day at a neat Turtle research center where they do state of the art medical treatments on sea turtles that are sick or hurt and have been rescued. Another day, Brannon's cousin's three kids came and spent a day at the beach with us, so Mackenzie got to play with her (2nd?) cousins and it was nice to have some kids around for her!

Mackenzie & her cousins














At the sea turtle center with Meemi & Poppee














Meemi & Mackenzie checking out the sea turtle tanks. You can see one in the mirror reflecting back so they could be seen more easily.














One of the sea turtles in the tank

Beach Pics Day 2

Day 2 was just as much fun as day 1. Don't think I mentioned this yet, but the weather was amazing! Warm but not blazing hot. No clouds. Slight breeze. And the water, cool, but not cold. Perfect. Both days. Just what we needed before life got all kinds of crazy busy when we got home (and it was crazy busy before we left!).... More pics:

What mommy enjoyed so much this year......independent play! Hours of it :)














Keelyn got another couple hours nap in the ergo carrier.....this time on daddy :)














The closeup





















Mommy & Keelyn (and a little photo bomber in the background splashing & having a marvelous time!)














Keelyn was a little less neutral on day 2. Here she is crying with a death grip on me, basically begging me to pick her up! Notice our photo bomber again!














The girls & Ali enjoying the waves














Doesn't that look like a kid who's having a grand time??





















Keelyn's first dip in a pool. She was not the biggest fan. Tolerated it as long as she could hold on with a tight grip to mommy! The floatie was a no-go.














I loved this picture of Brian & Mady Kay. Brian had created a little shade for himself with the baby floatie.