Saturday fun!

This Saturday started off with a.....grunt :) Stephen got a new basketball goal (Thanks uncle Pat!)and Sat. morning was the first time he used it, and every time he got the ball in the net he grunted with pride! It was hilarious, we have no idea where he got that from! After a little basketball game in the living room Alan and I took Stephen down to Fairhope for a nice Saturday afternoon bike ride. There is a great sidewalk that goes to Point Clear, on the way home we stopped at Sacred Heart Catholic Church right on the bay - yes again I didn't get a photo of him in the bike trailer....sorry!!

Slam Dunk!
Look mom it's Mary!

That's Jesus' mommy

Bubbles, hot chocolate, and water

Every Thursday night Alan and I attended a Bible study and my parents so kindly come over and watch Stephen. This past Thursday they were able to come over a little early and I got to play with them also :) So we headed outside and my mom served us all hot chocolate (I"m sorry to say I didn't get pictures of that!) Stephen loved it and couldn't get enough, he taught himself really quick how to drink out of a big boy cup..... no spilling when we're talking about chocolate! Then came the out the water bottle and bubbles! All for a fun fallish evening on the porch!

Playing outside

Though we didn't get a picture of Stephen in the bike trailer, here are some pictures of one of our latest family outings on the bikes. Alan finally convinced me that a bike trailer was a good idea - we are now riding our bikes all the time and Stephen loves it. Last Saturday I had to go to a workshop in Daphne so Alan took Stephen to Fairhope. There is a path that goes along the bay and Alan said that Stephen didn't make a sound the entire ride - he just stared out at the water and smiled! :)

Here are some photos of us stopped for a break to say hi to our friends Dan, Lauren, and Emma!
Emma say's "hey I want to go for a bike ride!"
Quick snack time! :)

For Aunt Jo

Here's to Aunt Jo! That's my sister who lives on the West coast and we miss her so much, and here's a little video for her! We love you Jo!

Random fun from the summer

Daddy and Stephen taking down the gate that Augie broke
"Hey Mom, take a picture of me!"
Stephen taking a nice dip in his pool on a hot summer afternoon.
"my best friend!"

Going in for the kiss :)

10 year Reunion Fun!!!

The girls are back together! We had a blast spending the majority of the time standing around and laughing about old silly memories, it was a blast and I miss each of these ladies very much!
Jess O'Dell was smart enough to grab me right when we got there and get a quick shot before the humidity took control of our hair :) The reunion was right on the bay in the "Swamp Room" :)
Hey Amber! :) Amber, Jess O, myself, the two babies (Jessica's little man Reed and Stephen) and the husbands hung out at the Eastern Shore Center and got some much need relaxing chit chatting in while the dads watch the boys playing in the fountains! Thanks dads!
Reed O'Dell says "HEY!" You can check him out on his blog www.adventuresinpregnancy.blogspot.com

There's daddy and Stephen - Stephen was trying to run off again at the fountains! I love that place!

Camping/Hiking on the AT!!!!

We're back, we totally missed the hurricane! I can't believe it got here so quickly!
Camping and hiking was amazing! We heading up to Atlanta Thursday night to my dear, dear, friend Stephany and Mack's house. Our trip started Saturday morning, we drove up to North Carolina to a opening of the AT. Our original plan was to do an easy 8 mile hike, 4 miles each day mainly downhill. We wanted to do this for many reasons - Mack and Steph have been doing sections of the AT for the past 4 or 5 years and this was one section they hadn't done yet ( a much smaller section then what they usually do). And of course other major reasons for an easy hike - I'm pregnant, we had babies, and well it's been a while for Alan and I to do this! But all that said our plans changed a few times. First we had to move to another location b/c the bear activity was very high deep in the Smokies where we originally wanted to go. You have to reserve a spot in a shelter and they closed all shelters. So we changed our plans to the location we went to - totally of 9 miles, mainly downhill with a few good mile long climbs....that is if we hiked through the section.
On the way up there the dilemma of car seats came up - see we were going to hike through a section and have a car waiting for us at the end... but we couldn't transport both kids without car seats so we would have to have the guys drive back to the cars and then come and get us- possibly an hour or more wait for the car after a good hike and two babies...... um we didn't like that idea.
So the great final plan came.... since Mack and Steph weren't trying to do this particular section (they had done it before) we thought we would leave both cars at the beginning of the trail, hike in to our camp site, camp, and just hike back. Great idea....right? Well, in all actuality it wasn't that bad except we didn't realize it was a 5.7mile hike in so that meant another 5.7 mile hike out. And if the way in was mainly downhill, yet with some major inclines - then the way back would be primarily uphill. It was great though if you don't hurt a bit after you finish for the day then you don't feel like you did anything! We had a few mishaps though, Alan hurt his knee on the hike in so he was in major pain on the way out - to the point that he almost fell multiple times... his pack was very, very heavy - he had Stephen plus stuff. So before we hit the 1.5mile summit climb to the top/end I took the pack - wow that was heavy! Steph had to grab the sleeping bag just to help me out a bit.
All that said - we had an amazing time! Loved it. The babies had a rough evening and didn't want to go to bed - and Stephen took a few falls at the camp site, but isn't that what campings all about :) We had so much fun with our close friends and Stephen had a blast!! He kept laughing and giggling when Alan picked the pack up to keep moving! :) He is soooo cute..... Here are some pics..
Check out the link on the right of the screen for the full album