Here is a hint for today!

Post to follow later today!

Chris

And We're Back

I am back from an extended absence. Rian, the Critters, and I were in Orlando for a little bit and we are still transitioning the girl Critters into their big girl beds. How long is this supposed to take?

First off happy belated birthday to Grandma B (July 28th) and Me (August 2nd)! We were in Orlando for both, well I spent half of my birthday on I-75 driving back to Tallahassee. I guess it was only a couple hours but it sure can fell like half a day. We are in the midst of transforming our guest room that was a relaxing green into a perfectly pink room fit for Critter princesses, complete with Lilly P bedding. And believe me when I say pink we are talking a serious pink. I just have the crown molding and door frames left to paint, but don't worry we are keeping those white to try to buffer some of the pinkiness. I will have some pics up by this weekend.

Brother is probably the most excited about this move as he will remain in the nursery which will be transformed into his own little nautical space, complete with a Coast Guard pillow in honor of Grandpa Dave. The girls have taken to moving his crib around the room while he is trying to sleep. Apparently this is not condusive to sleep, but that is just an assumption. The down side to painting the nursery is the infamous striped wall. Can you say primer, oh, and then say it again. I am not looking forward to painting that beast. But in the end it will be a nice khaki color with navy blue furniture (some repurposed and painted).

The weekend before we left for Orlando the Girls had a Princess Birthday Party at the University Center Club at Doak Campbell Stadium. Yes, that is FSU's football stadium. The girls had a great time and came home with lots of goodies. Brother and i had the morning to ourselves. We drove through campus, and got lost a few times. Things have changed a little bit, like roads vanishing. After that we headed to the capital so Brother could run around in the courtyard and see the dolphin (or as Hadley says, Dol-fiiiiii-nnn) fountain. Brother had the best time running around and navigating all of the stairs, and let me tell you there are quite a few. After that we headed to Brother's favorite, Dog-et-al. He apparently worked up an appetite as he ate an entire meal and then some of mine.

That's all I got for now but I have a few posts about the room transformations and trips to the Tallahassee Junior Museum coming up.

Here are a few pictures from Brother's day at the capital:

Brother in the Capital Courtyard.

Brother pointing out an American Flag.

As you can tell Brother likes to point.

Brother by the Dolphin fountain looking at the Florida Supreme Court, or probably the American Flag.

Hadley in some of her princess gear.

Chris

Big Girl Beds = Lack of Posts

This is the reason for the lack of posts lately. We are transitioning the girl Critters to big girl beds. Let me tell you that this is an exhausting ordeal. I am freakin tired. Don't fret though, we have made progress and the last couple of nights they have been getting down in under 30 minutes. We will be doing some room shuffling in the near future and get Brother his own room. I don't have any pictures of the girls new beds, it is just basically a mattress and box spring on the floor. Just imagine a crack den minus the hypodermic needles and trash, oh and throw in a luvie or two.

Chris

Haddie

I really have no idea what to type so I will let the picture speak for itself:

Chris

The 4th

Grandma B, the Critters, Rian, and I headed down to St. George Island for the 4th. Thanks Grandma B! We had a little condo down by the state park and I can't think of a nicer spot. We didn't have the crowds down toward our end of the island and we set up our canopy on Saturday morning and didn't take it down until Tuesday. Its nice not having to worry about your stuff being taken.

The weather was perfect and the water was a beautiful shade of emerald green. Brother and Haddie took off for the water as soon as we got down there. CarCar on the other had loves to stay in the dry sand. I was a little concerned with Carson being afraid of the water, but as soon as we headed to the pool she morphed into a water baby. The condo complex that we stayed at had a great pool right in the center. To say Carson liked the pool would be an understatement. Grandma B got them these little floatie devices and they actually appeared to understand the concept of swimming, especially CarCar and Haddie.

We just relaxed all day Saturday. It was definitely needed. We headed over to Apalachicola on Sunday to look around. I wanted to head to The Tin Shed to see if I could find some nautical themed items for Brother's room (when he moves). (I will post boards with how I would like the rooms to look later, similar with what I did for the nursery. The trip was a success as we found some hand painted buoys from Nova Scotia, and a shadow box with nautical knots. Brother did want the life size, well endowed pirate wench statue, but Grandma B and Rian vetoed it.

That nice we were invited over to the Marcus's parents house on the island for a little cookout. It was a great time and a beautiful of the bay. Had some great BBQ and a boiled blue crab. The Critters got a lot of energy out as they danced to the live band there. Thanks again to Holly and Marcus for the invite.

We laid low on the 4th, hitting the beach and pool. Around noon we headed to the lighthouse to watch the parade. We packed our lunch, threw up the tailgate and watched the parade in the jeep. I had forgotten about the whole water gun thing and Rian got soaked. I did remain relatively dry, I guess since I was holding Haddie (somewhat as a human shield). We headed back to Appalach that evening for dinner @ Boss Oyster. Man, that was some good eatin'. Raw oysters, grouper, shrimp, fried oysters and beer, what a combo. That night we headed back to the lighthouse for the fireworks show. It was a neat little show but we had a little too much redneck engineering behind us with the illegal fireworks. These things were zinging right over our head. At that point we decided to call it a night. We exited unscathed. Unfortunately, we had to head home on Tuesday but we had a great time down at the island. Can't wait till next year!

Here are a few pics:

Crits @ the beach. I think this was the great crab episode by the look on CarCar's face.

Dad and Grandma B trying to put the kite together. I was convinced it was broken until I read the directions. I guess they help sometimes.

CarCar with a big smile.

Brother with a smile.

Haddie on the dock @ Marcus's Grandmother's house. (Pic courtesy of Mary.)

All of the kids. (Pic courtesy of Mary.)

The Critters. (Pic courtesy of Mary.)

View from the back of the house. (Photo courtesy of Mary, courtesy of Hillary.)

The start of the parade.

We are still working on the right way to wear sunglasses.

Brother and his flag watching the parade.

Rian after a direct hit from a water cannon.

Brother (Quaalude boy) after the parade.

Haddie on the 4th.

Dinner @ Boss Oyster.

Haddie enjoyed the tartar sauce.

Mom and Dad.

Dad and CarCar.

Grandma B and Brother.

View from our table. Does seafood get any fresher?

Chris

New Tab @ Top.

I have added a tab with items that are for sale. Check it out. Everything that is listed is in excellent condition.

Thanks,

Chris

The Dreaded Binky

Yes those are binkies in the Critters mouths. The funny thing is is that Reese is the only one that still actively utilizes his at nap time and bedtime. The girls just seem to think it is a fun toy to play with now. Oh well, apparently the 'Binky Fairy' will be visiting our house soon, so that means no more binkies for anyone.

Poor Brother.

Chris