more playground pics and a break from the rain

Will spent Sunday with Maggie while I got the garden cleaned up for the season and some other random yard chores done, and Maggie got to spend a bit more time on the playground with Eli.



It's been raining all week, but on Tuesday we got a break from the rain so Maggie and I went for a quick stroll on the trails at the N.C. Museum of Art. Here are some pics from her "fashion photo shoot" (note the windblown, supermodel poses).

playground playdate

Maggie had a playdate this weekend with Eli and one of Eli's friends from daycare, Franklin. They all played very well together, and Maggie was mesmerized by Franklin. The last time Maggie and Eli played together on this playground, they had a little "power struggle" over the cars, but this time they all shared and took turns.


"Well... here we are, hanging like meat in a cooler. They are called "SWINGS" ladies. Could we get a push over here!? Nice camera though, we are all real impressed..."


"Great. The house will have burned to the ground before you two sort out who is driving. Why don't you take turns? Boys..."


"Don't push that one! Are you trying to kill us all!? Try the other one. Can you believe they are letting us drive this thing?"


"I call it my 'Honey Wagon'."


"Yeah, the manufacturer calls it 'Red'. Could have gone with 'Yellow', but I'd have to wait for delivery. Who has time for that? Only 35 more payments. Nice though, isn't it?"

"Mountain Vacation" aka "Momma's Last Car Ride"

We had a busy four-day weekend visiting family and friends:
Thursday: Boone, NC to visit Peter and Kim.
Friday AM: Helen, Ga (via the Dillard House) to visit Ginger, Big Lloyd, Uncle Lanky and Mary.
Friday PM: Rented a cabin with some old friends of mine - the Clines, Clarks & Segars.
Sunday PM: returned home.

I'll spare the details, except that it was wonderful to catch up with friends and family. Pictures below.
-Will

Donning herself with decorations at Pete and Kim's. You'll be interested to know that "Simon (the cat) haf whikers"

Sitting in a rocker at her Great Grandparents' house. Least expected favorite toy: flyswatter?

Anna Ruby Falls

"The Family" at Anna Ruby Falls. Momma (at 33 weeks pregnant) passed quite a few folks on steep trail leading up there. Much respect!!

Maggie and and her new friend Ava Grace enjoying the ride. Don't be fooled by our lack of pictures, there were four other little girls and one lone boy there, but we weren't fast enough to catch them on film.

Maggie and Ava enjoying a cold one in the stream at our cabin while the big kids were toobin' in Helen.

Daddy and Maggie 'splooshing' rocks in the creek. We sat in this spot and did this for over an hour. You can see short excerpts of our afternoon below.

trip to the arboretum

The weather is finally starting to cool off a bit, so yesterday morning Maggie and I went to the Raulston Arboretum to stretch our legs. Not that there was ever any doubt that this little girl is a hydrologist's daughter, but she was way more interested in the waterfall / fish pond than any of the trees and plants.
Posing for the camera.
Looking at the "fishees!"
Maggie's favorite critter of the day, a "big 'ol froggie!"
Admiring the frog.
Cooling off in the shade.

jam session

beach trip!

Last week we headed down to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for our "annual" beach trip with Will's family. Since we didn't make it down there last year, this was Maggie's first beach trip. It was a fairly short, mid-week trip this time around, but we had a good time nonetheless and Maggie enjoyed seeing Mimie, Pappy, aunt Katie, cousin Gage, and "uncle" Kris. She didn't really like the ocean, but she did like playing in the sand in the shade. On the very last day we were there, we finally got her comfortable enough walking in the sand and playing in the shallow tide pools. She absolutely loves seashells, so she would find a good seashell in the sand, say "wash it", and scamper down to the tide pool to wash the shell off. There were also teeny, tiny fish in the tide pools that Will would catch in his hands, but not before Maggie would say "come here fishies!" It was pretty cute, but unfortunately I left my camera in the house that morning so I don't have pictures or video of it.






One of the nights we were there, we strapped some headlamps on the kids and went down to the beach looking for crabs. Here are a couple of pictures of Gage (in front in the first photo) and Maggie practicing their caving skills before we went out.


Despite having a toddler to chase around, plus being 7 months pregnant and not able to take the heat and humidity of coastal Florida for too long (or being able to bend over very comfortably!), I did manage to sneak away from the house for short increments of time for my favorite beach activity, shark's teeth hunting. It definitely wasn't my best effort, but not too shabby for a total of just a couple hours of hunting.

Sorry for the blurriness of the next photos...Will and I went out early one morning to see the sunrise, and in the first photo you can see one of the two dolphins that were playing in the water that morning.




And here's Maggie relaxing with Lexi, one of her two favorite beagles.

showing off for the camera

Maggie loves to help me with the laundry...here she is in action, as well as showing off some fancy moves for daddy.