Time Flies...

We've been busy around here. Not really doing anything out of the ordinary...just staying busy doing our usual things. Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks...

Uncle Craig showing Ivy how to play on his iPhone...

Ivy hugging one of my childhood toys...

"Hello?"

Richard got tickets to a Carolina Hurricane's game through work. Ivy had a BLAST!! I wasn't sure how much fun she'd have but we had box seats so she could see really well and had lots of room to move around and dance!

Speaking of "time flies" - we ran over to the pumpkin patch this afternoon to snap a few pictures. I also included some pictures from last year so you can see how much Ivy has changed... I couldn't get her to sit still at all!! Last year I could sit her down and she couldn't get away that fast. So I didn't get too many posed pictures, but they turned out good enough.

They always have these really cool blue pumpkins. I've never seen them before but when you cut them open they are a beautiful, bright orange inside.

Ivy - October 2008

Ivy - October 2009

Ivy - 2008

Ivy - 2009

Ivy - 2008

Ivy - 2009

Mommy and Ivy

Weekend Beach Trip...

We went to Carolina Beach for a long weekend. We had a great time. We rented a condo with some good friends, Ken & Jessica. Their little boy, Corbin, is 3 months older than Ivy. Ivy and Corbin are great friends. Both of them would wake up in the mornings asking for each other.

Ivy and Corbin on the porch swing...

Ivy and Corbin playing in the cooler of ice...

We went to the Fort Fisher Aquarium. I think the kids had a good time. This is Ivy inside the big crab. She thought that was funny...

We went out to lunch after the aquarium. Ivy got into an empty thing of honey butter that came with the hushpuppies. You can tell she enjoyed it...

Ivy playing with Corbin on the beach...

The reason for our trip was the CNC 4x4 Club's Annual Beach Bash. Here is a group shot...

Ivy taking a nap in her stroller on the beach...

Ivy and Corbin playing in the sand...

We took the kids out on the beach dressed in white and khaki on the last morning we were there. We wanted to get some pictures of them playing on the beach. Here are just a few of the pictures I took...

Fall Weather...

It has been a BEAUTIFUL start to September. For the past couple of days it has been in the mid 60's in the mornings and then warming up to the upper 70's. It is supposed to warm up to the upper 80's by the holiday weekend, but I'm hoping we are past the hot, upper 90's. But this is NC, so I know that we're probably not through with the really hot days.

Below are some pictures I've taken over the past day or two.

Ivy playing at the mall in the "Kids Zone"

Ivy sitting on Tucker...

On the move!!!

Walking through the tall grass...

"Tree"

"Boo!"

Filling the pitcher...

Atlanta trip!

We drove to Atlanta last week for my dad's birthday. We had a great time. We went down a day earlier than the rest of the extended family so that we could visit the Georgia Aquarium. We had a great time!

Ivy dancing for Uncle Craig and Daddy while we waited for the aquarium to open.

Once inside, we started with the rays - Ivy didn't want to touch one, but she liked watching them.

Next came the jelly fish tank. Ivy seemed to like them a lot.

Another tank full of pretty sea creatures...

Walking through the tunnel under the really big tank. This fish was a grouper. The aquarium man said he estimated it to weigh about 200 pounds and it wasn't one of the biggest groupers they have!

The large viewing window looking into the big tank. I could have sat there all day. This aquarium has 4 whale sharks - 2 males, 2 females. It was so beautiful - I've never seen so many fish - they are just amazing!

Ivy touching a sea anemone (sp?). Ivy touched several of these...maybe she wasn't as apprehensive because they didn't move??

Friday night, after the aquarium, we went out to dinner to celebrate my dad and his brother's 60th birthday. They wanted to go to Longhorn Steakhouse. This is Ivy waiting outside.

The birthday boys!! Colby is on the left, the "younger" twin. My dad, Jimmy is on the right. My dad is older by 5 minutes.

Saturday morning, we met my Dad and Uncle at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Ivy really liked the hashbrown casserole.

Saturday afternoon we made a trip to the Ikea store in Atlanta. I've always heard great things about Ikea, but I've never been to a store before. I was overwhelmed at all that they had. And at how HUGE that store is.

And Saturday night, we went to an Atlanta Braves game. Ivy did much better than I thought she would. She actually had her own seat, so we had a little extra room for her to stand and move around. This is her doing the "tomahawk chop". She thought that was fun.

We got home late Sunday afternoon. We had a great time in Atlanta. We got to see Uncles and cousins that we haven't seen in a couple of years. I hope we go back again soon!

First off, I have to say "hello" to my Aunt Betty. My mom finally sent her the link to this blog. So now we have another family member checking in to see how Ivy is growing...

For those of you that read the last post, you know that Ivy got stung by a bee beside her left eye. You can see from the picture that it was a little swollen - not bad though.

I can't remember what morning this was, but Ivy had gotten up at 5:30 that morning!! She usually sleeps until 7:00 at the earliest. I think I snapped this picture at about 9:00 - she was so tired that she was laying on the kitchen floor!

We went to the Farmer's Market for Watermelon Day. Ivy wore one of her watermelon outfits (the one that I didn't mind getting soaked in watermelon juice!). We got to meet the Watermelon Queen and of course eat some watermelon.

Richard's 4x4 Club took some of their trucks to a local truck show so we went along to enjoy some of the warm weather and let Ivy play in some of the trucks. I think she liked this Hummer the best - it had LOTS of buttons to push. Ivy thought the cb was a phone...

Here is Ivy standing in front of a 54" tire. It is almost twice her size!!!

And finally, here are Richard's grandparents, Pop Pop and Grammy. Pop Pop was celebrating his 91st birthday! Happy Birthday Pop Pop!!