Since I knew that my long fun days with Kailyn would soon be coming to an end, we have tried to do a few fun things together to sort of celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of a new time in our lives. One morning, I asked Kailyn what she would like to do and she said she really wanted to paint her nails. I thought this would be great, so I set up a “spa” area and gave Kailyn a pedicure and manicure. She loved this andreally loved picking her color out from our limited selection. The best part was when I was done and her nails were dry she turned to me and said, “Now it’s your turn, Mom.” So, I sat there and let her give me a pedicure and manicure! It was so cute, she proceeded to file my nails and do exactly what I did! She picked out several colors and did a fairly good job…if the color hadn’t been a bit much for me I really would have left it! It was just a fun morning and one I will always remember with extreme happiness!
As previously mentioned, we spent a week in Athens while Tony went through some training for work. During this week, we stayed at a hotel that we just a few minute walk from downtown Athens. On the second night there we decided to walk downtown and try one of the little restaurants there. Little did we know that we would stumble upon our new favorite place to eat. We walked around a bit and stopped at a modest looking eatery. Despite its simple looks, we came to find out that this little “burger shack” is not merely an Athens original, but all over the country! We ordered our burgers and fries and proceeded to eat. Delicious! I have never seen Kailyn eat a hamburger so fast! She didn’t even touch her fries till her hamburger was done…a Kailyn first! As we headed home, we left wishing we had a Five Guys Burgers and Fries to eat at back home in Augusta. I was telling my mom of this scrumptious place to eat when my sister Rosie chimed in, “You know we have one of those here.” I was astounded and elated! Later that night I was telling Tony about it and Kailyn overheard me and said, “We have a Five Guys?!” I told her we did and beaming she stated, “We can eat there on my birthday!”So, that’s what we did. We ate there on her birthday, we ate there on our special family night before daddy started school and yes, we are going to eat there on our special family night the weekend before Kailyn starts school! I think it is an understatement to say it is our new favorite place to eat. It’s still so funny to me how much Kailyn likes to eat there and how the last time we went she noticed that they sell shirts! Needless to say she is dying to get one, especially since it has a 5 on the back and she is now a big five year old!
A few years back, my sisters and I decided to take Sarah’s three boys and Kailyn to the beach for the day. It was a great day. We had so much fun, running along the beach, swimming a bit and playing in the sand. We were reminiscing about this the other day and decided, why not try and recreate our fun day. So, being the spontaneous girls that we are, we decided to just go ahead and head to Charleston. We decided to leave around 8am, pack a picnic lunch, stay at the beach all day and get some dinner before we headed home. For the most part we accomplished all that we set out to do and had a blast doing it! We pulled into Charleston around 11 and headed straight to the beach….after a bit of driving around and getting lost…we found it. We wanted to go to the same place we had gone before, which was a county park. It was great because it had access to showers, restrooms and even a life guard. We set up our little area and immediately started playing. We had so much fun playing in the water, making sand castles, taking mud bathes (thanks Tina and Sarah), looking for seashells, and laying out. It really was the perfect day. The one difference in this time and last time was that the kids were older and didn’t require hardly any maintenance…which was nice for us to be able to lay out and just catch up…as sisters. There were so many wonderfully hilarious memories we made that day…and if a picture is worth a thousand words…then, I love the one of Tina and Sarah covered in mud! I am sure people thought we were crazy, covering ourselves and our kids in muddy sand and letting them run around screaming…but hey, we’ll never see them again, and what’s wrong with being a little crazy!
After our draining day at the beach, we head to a seafood restaurant to engorge ourselves in beachy food! Let me tell you…I have never seen four children eat so much!!! It was such a fun day, followed by a fun dinner! And, despite the monsoon that hit us on the way home, it was all a completely awesome experience and I can’t wait till next year!
This summer, Tony’s school sent him to Athens for some AP training. He found out he was going to be gone a week and since our family hates to be separated, we decided to go along and make a sort of vacation out of it. It was a fun week filled with swimming, eating out, playing video games, watching movies and just spending time as a family. The funniest thing about the whole trip was when Kailyn and I met Tony at the UGA campus bookstore (which if you know anything about us, you know that this was very hard for Tony to take a course at his college rival). We arrived about five minutes before Tony and proceeded to look around. All of a sudden I hear Kailyn mumbling, “Georgia, YUCK!” I quickly shushed her, especially since we were in the heart of bulldog territory and were there to get something for her Papa. “But mom, we don’t like Georgia! We like Georgia Tech, remember!” I reassured her that I knew that, and we were just getting something for her grandfather. Her simple response was, “Why does Papa like Georgia…ugh. I like Georgia Tech! Oh, a dog.”For a moment she forgot about the team rivalry and focused on the little dog she had found. When Tony found us, I told him what his daughter had said and beaming he responded with, “That’s my girl.” All in all it was such a great time to just be together as a family despite the fact Tony had to be in class…and despite the fact we were in bulldog country.
Last summer my sister and brother in-law moved back to Augusta and into their new home. Since they have a pool, Kailyn and I planned on spending quite a bit of time there. After only one time of having to use her floaties, Kailyn decided that she was big enough to swim without the bother of floaties. So, in early June, my sister started teaching swim lessons and Kailyn was proud to be part of her class. It was crazy, just after one lesson Kailyn could jump off the diving board and make it to the ladder! Needless to say she LOVED swim lessons with Aunt Sarah and by the end of the time she was a little fish. She even was swimming in the deep end and diving to get things off the bottom as well! She is quite literally our water baby. She loves doing crazy jumps off the diving board, swimming in circles, diving and even has tried a bit of free style swimming! Of course Tony and I love that she can swim and are both so proud of all her progress!!!
Yeah…SUMMER!! As with every summer, we are exstatic to see this one come…although, I must admit I am a little sad. This is the last summer before Kailyn starts school! I can’t believe in a mere few months our baby starts school!!! Ahhh….well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it! However, for now we are going to enjoy our lazy days filled with family time, swimming and laying out at my sister’s pool! So, here’s to a great summer…WE LOVE THE SUN!!!
So, Kailyn finished going to her pre-school…or Ms. Solde’s as we call it. She is very excited that she is big enough to go to school and can’t wait for her first day! And though this is a wonderful new chapter of our lives, I have to admit I will miss her old school and her simply wonderful teacher. I asked her the other day if she would miss it and she just responded, “No, I am a big kid now. I will never go to a little school again.” As I sat back, a bit astounded, I looked at her and realized…she’s right! She isn’t our darling little girl anymore…she really is a big kid! What a bitter-sweet moment!
My husband Tony and I are blessed with an amazing, inspiring, enthusiastic daughter whom we love dearly. Since I thoroughly enjoy writing...what better thing to do than write about our little ever-changing wonder God has given us!
