Lexington Week!

Addie Kate and I were in Lexington for our first week of summer. We had event after event that led us to just staying there a whole week. We stayed busy visiting people, eating at some of our favorite places, sewing and making things, and just having fun! For some reason, I don't take many pictures when we are in Lexington. I don't know why and I hate it, so I'm going to have to improve!

On Sunday we visited with Sanders, Alice, and Aunt Mary, then went to see Paul and Sue's new fence, then had dinner with them. Monday we played with Heather and Lawson. Lawson and Addie Kate have always gotten along and played together so well. I hate that they don't get together more often. We also got to visit Ms. Libba, Elliott's (Addie's godfather) mom. We visited Mimi at work on Tuesday so Addie could terrorize that place, then she and I went to visit Mema and Aunt Sharon. After that, she and I ran some errands in Lexington, and then visited Uncle Everett, CoCo (Aunt Carol), and Emily. (You would think we still live in Lexington with the huge amount of errands, etc. that we still have to do when we are there!) On Wednesday, Mimi stayed home and we sewed and shopped some, same with Thursday, and Friday, eating lunch at both Flight Deck and The Farmer's Shed!

Tommy came in after work on Friday and we headed down to the beach for our first trip of the season. More on that to come. We had a fun, jam-packed week!

Here are a few pictures of our week:

Addie Kate playing with Lawson (Right before this first picture was taken, they were pushing each other on this! Of course, they quit for the picture!)

Lawson showing her that its ok to jump on his bed!

And Addie Kate going in for a kiss!

Addie playing with Sanders (And in another outfit made by Aunt Sharon - we get TONS of compliments on this one!):

Dr. Addie again - she cracks me up with this!

Addie Kate showing Sanders some of Mimi's toys:

She just plopped her little self in Alice's lap and expected her to play!

Mimi and Addie Kate swinging at The Farmer's Shed:

Then it started to rain, sideways. Mimi jumped up but Addie sat there until she got soaked - crazy girl!

Kiddie Pools Are SO Much Fun!

Our friends Shannon and Will's neighborhood has a kiddie pool (ours just has a regular pool) that Addie Kate loves! I think she loves being able to walk around and sit and even lay down in it, pretty much just like we adults can do in the regular pool. And personally, I liked just being able to sit there, in the water (since it is already ridiculously hot) and let her do her thing. We took a few little toys, her swimmies, some snacks, and she was set for hours! It was fabulous, and I imagine we'll be enjoying their pool a lot more than ours this summer!

Daddy blowing up Addie Kate's new swimmies:

And, she wasn't wild about them...

Addie Kate and Cody checking out the pool:

Now, this is a pair of happy little swimmers! Ha!

And here's our girl playing in the pool, she loved it!

One minor meltdown...

Enjoying the snacks - she didn't get any of the crab dip that the rest of us had!

Love this pic - she still has a little baby face!

For Hire...

A sweet little cutie pa-tootie that loves a broom...

Unfortunately, not that much stuff actually gets swept...

(Precious outfit made by Aunt Sharon! Thank you!!!)

Addie Kate Updates

Since the weather turned warm here, we have been busy, busy, busy! In order to get myself caught up for summer blogging, below are a few updates of what Addie Kate's been up to!

Eating ice cream (at Marble Slab, of course!):

Of course, she thought she owned the place:

Finally riding her train! (Remember she's been afraid of it!)

Taking a break to look at a very special picture:

Going to church, wearing a beautiful dress that Ms. Libba gave her when she was born (and yes, she's just now wearing it - note - Lavendar Blue brand runs very big!), reading the Gigi books (she adores them!), and playing in Mommy and Daddy's bed (now that we have the stool that matches our bed, she can get up there on her own):

And, as usual, getting into anything and everything!

Freedom Weekend Aloft

One of Greenville's biggest festivals each year is Freedom Weekend Aloft. Tommy and I have tried to go several years in a row, but since it's over Memorial Day Weekend, we seem to always have other plans. This year though, they continued the festival through Monday, so we ended our out-of-town plans on Sunday to be back for it on Monday.

It began Friday night. On our way to dinner, we saw these beauties in the sky. Addie Kate was in awe. (The only other place I've ever seen so many balloons was in Steamboat Springs, CO when I was in high school - they would set off balloons in the valleys of the ski slopes during the summer months when there was no snow, and therefore, less tourism.) The next morning when we got in the car Addie kept asking for the "loons!" She doesn't miss a thing!

Then on Monday a friend of ours, who lives in the neighborhood adjacent to the Heritage Park where the festivities were taking place, had a Freedom Weekend party. Appropriately enough, most of the people Tommy works with are veterans, and many were at the party. What a beautiful way to celebrate all these fine men and women have done for our freedom. We enjoyed hotdogs (Nathan's of course - mmmm!) and hamburgers and tons of other food. We stayed outside trying to enjoy Leslie's newly landscaped backyard, between rainshowers. We attempted going to the park to hear Chairmen of the Board (I was SOOOO excited to take Addie Kate to her first beach music concert! We have to start shagging practice early!), but halfway there the sky opened up. Luckily, Will, who runs half-marathons and does triathlons ran back to the house, towing the wagon with Cody and Addie Kate in it! I ran behind him (not towing anything, thank you!), and Tommy walked back, pushing the jogging stroller, with David, under the umbrella. I did question his manhood after that! (That was also after I decided to run, letting go of the jogging stroller, and leaving it in the road for Tommy to push - but it started to roll in front of a car - luckily they stopped! I looked back to see Tommy running after it - ha!)

We then tried to head to the park around dusk, which is when most hot air balloons fly. It wasn't raining, so we were a bit more successful this time! However, because it had rained so much that day, many of the balloons had packed up and gone home, and only about 15 or so were left. That's still a lot for any ordinary day, but on Friday, we saw like 50! Those 15 were quite entertaining though, and it was so interesting and fun to watch!

Addie Kate wasn't tall enough to go on a balloon ride, which I hated! We will try again next year! She did enjoy riding the carousel with Cody though. She loved it, much more than in the past when she was 12 months and 14 months, even pitching a huge fit when it was time to get off!
Below are a ton of pictures of our weekend. I wanted to show every stage of the ballooning process, because we all just thought it was so neat to watch! Enjoy!

Addie Kate enjoying the balloons on Friday night (in the car):

These were some of the balloons that we saw on the way to dinner Friday night:

Addie Kate and Cody on our first attempt to the park:

And here they are when we finally arrived at the park, hours later! I had luckily packed some bubbles - it kept them entertained (and a few other kids) while the balloons were preparing to set off, which took a good bit of time:

The balloons after being stretched out, getting ready to have cold air pumped into them:

The baskets would just be laid out sideways on the ground. Either a van (like here) or a big truck would pull a small trailer with the balloon and basket packed inside:

Starting to get blown up:

Part of the ballooning team would hold onto these ski-rope type lines to keep the balloons taut and at the level they should be for blowing up. Eventually, these people (especially the little boy!) would be getting pulled across the lawn by the balloon:

Some snacks and entertainment:

This was the first one up:

Addie Kate waving "bye" to them:

This was one of the few times I could actually get a picture of the propane going into the balloon, which was only after it was mostly blown up by the cold air first.

David entertaining Addie Kate with his sunglasses:

Waving bye-bye again!

Staring at them in awe, I love it!

Yep, that's a Clemson flag hanging on the other side of that basket!

Yep, there really is a Remax balloon team! And a little family shot of us (please excuse the looks - it had been a much longer day than anticipated, but a good one nonetheless!)

My girl, looking so sweet:

And on the way to the other festivities:

Please excuse my cheeseball grin, I was just getting in a quick squeeze and Addie Kate didn't know what to think of this thing!

Cody, Shannon, and Sydney (who is less than excited!):

Addie Kate waving at her Daddy:

Rub a Dub Dub, Two Tired Babies in a Tub: