The Playhouse

Well...we have almost finished fixing up the playhouse.

Back in March, I was taking a walk with Anna Grace when Dan (the man we bought our house from) pulled his truck up beside me and asked, "Would you like a playhouse?" I was caught off guard and replied, "Maybe." He proceeded to tell me that the rotted one in his yard would be a great playhouse for Anna Grace and all we would need to do would be to fix a window and paint it. I told Dan I would send Thomas over to look at it and get back to him. Thomas went and checked it out (and had no clue what he was looking for), but decided it was in good shape, so he knocked on the door and made plans to move the playhouse from Dan's yard to our yard. Dan lives right up the street from us, so it wasn't too far to move the playhouse. Thomas wanted the playhouse in our yard by April 25th (AG's 4th birthday). With a little help from some neighbors, and Dan's bush hog, we were able to move the playhouse to our yard.

One of our neighbors said to Thomas as he left, "Your wife is going to kill you for putting that thing in your yard." Needless to say, it was in pretty bad shape and looked horrible. Thomas was so excited about it. I brought AG out to see it and she was so excited and exclaimed, "For me?!?" Then she ran inside and got her dolls and toys and brought them outside and told us, "I am going to sleep out here tonight!" Thomas had a few friends from work stop by and give us their thoughts on this new project in our backyard...is this worth it?? How much work would be involved? The whole time we talked AG played and played in it. She was so excited about it. It just reminded me that it didn't matter what it looked like, AG LOVED it and couldn't wait to play in it.

My parents came to town that weekend for AG's party. My dad helped Thomas get the playhouse level with cinder blocks and bricks. My dad also pointed out some termite damage and helped Thomas tear off and replace rotted wood boards. Lastly my dad helped Thomas extend the deck. The following weekend Thomas bought a pressure washer and washed off the paint, spider webs, wasp nests, kudzu...you name it. Then we picked out paint colors and painted the play house (inside and out). Lastly, Thomas spent this weekend replacing the front door, fixing the windows, and adding lattice to the bottom to cover up the cinder blocks and bricks.

Well...we can finally play in the playhouse and it isn't an eye sore anymore. It actually has come together and looks pretty cute. Thomas still has to replace the window screens, paint the lattice white, and we want to landscape around it, but AG is able to play in it and enjoy it.

Here are some pictures of what it looks like. Thomas and AG enjoyed playing in it tonight.

Time to sweep the floors.


Side view of the playhouse. We painted it green with black shutters.


Daddy, you eat your dinner and I will be in after I sweep the porch.


Bye Bye. Time to go to sleep.


We are looking forward to fun times in the playhouse. We hope AG enjoys it and loves it as much as Sage and I loved our childhood playhouse in our backyard. Sage and I used to spend hours playing house, grocery store, Ice cream truck, apartments, work, McDonalds drive thru - and any where else our imaginations would take us as we played in our playhouse EVERY weekend! What fun, special times those were.

A week at the Beach

We had a great time at Litchfield Beach this past week. Our week was filled with fun times with Gram and Gramps, Sallie, Bess, Frank, Frank, Yah Yah and Big Daddy. We relaxed at the beach, played in the waves, built sandcastles, swam in the pool, rode go-karts, played putt-putt, shopped and went out to eat.

I love to watch Anna Grace on the beach. I could watch her for hours. When we first get there, she always walks down to the ocean, gets her feet wet, and dances and sings.


Then she sits down in the ocean and watches it move through her hands. I love seeing life through the eyes of my child. Watching her makes me appreciate the small things in life - like waves in the ocean.


Anna Grace, Gramps and Gram relax on the beach.


Anna Grace and Thomas build a sandcastle...you can see who did all of the work.


Anna Grace and Gram play in the sand and look for crabs and sand fleas.


One of the highlights of our trip - playing with Bess!!


Anna Grace and Bess played for a few hours on the beach together.


They had fun getting water in the watering can, making sand castles and just laughing together.


They play so well together.


Thomas buried the girls in the sand.


Anna Grace wanted to be a mermaid


Bess wanted to be a mermaid too


We took the girls to the pool for a little while and then we went back to the condo for some lunch, a bath, barbies, and a movie. The girls had such a wonderful time together.

On Tuesday we went to the pool. AG enjoyed jumping in the water with her goggles on. She is doing so well in the pool this year. She is holding her breath, going under the water, jumping in and kicking her legs really well. We are so proud of her. This is a BIG improvement from last year.


Woa! what a splash!!


After the pool we went to Yah Yah and Big Daddy's condo to meet up with Sallie, Bess and Frank. Thomas played golf with Frank and Big Daddy while Debra, Sallie, Bess, AG, little Frank and I spent time together at their condo. Sal and I took the girls to shop at a "girlie" shop and then to play on a playground at the Hammock Shops.
When we got back to their condo we enjoyed a yummy taco dinner.

Wednesday was spent back on the beach.


Anna Grace spent her time in the ocean.


She started digging for treasure...


and look what she found!


Nothing like a good piece of seaweed! She played with this piece of seaweed for hours and entertained herself.


We enjoyed lunch at River City Cafe. AG loves to eat the peanuts and throw the shells on the floor.


Then we went to NASCAR park for some fun rides and putt-putt. AG enjoyed riding in the go-kart with daddy.


She told me they went slow and only passed one car.


Daddy was a safe driver. AG held on to the side of the car the whole time and watched everyone.


AG and I enjoyed a ride on the spinning oil cans. Thomas can't ride on the spinning rides because they make him sick.


Round and Round and Round we go....


Thomas and AG get ready for a ride on the Ferris Wheel


Woohoo!!


AG enjoyed riding these cars too. This was her favorite ride. She rode it three times!


Then we played putt putt. Thomas is showing AG how to stand when she putts the ball.


I think she's a natural! Her favorite part was putting the ball into the hole.


She also enjoyed hitting Thomas and my balls into the hole. Then she would take the balls out and carry them to the next hole for us.


It was fun watching her play. She enjoyed putt putt a lot.


Until she got hot and sweaty. Then she wanted to jump in the water that ran along the course. Yes, that brown stuff to the right of AG is water.


We finished up the game and decided to cool off with some chocolate ice cream. Can you tell she is enjoying it?


Thursday was our last day at the beach. We spent some time at the pool swimming and eating snacks, of course. I think snacks are AG's favorite part of going to the pool.


Then we ran into my dad?!?


My dad got into the hot tub and relaxed...you can see him behind Thomas.


We came in for a light lunch and I packed up while Thomas took AG back out to the beach one last time. He said she had a ball and didn't want to leave.

We enjoyed dinner at Lee's Inlet Kitchen with Gram and Gramps before we left town.


After this picture was taken, we got in the car and headed towards home. AG was asleep 15 minutes later. She was exhausted. What a fun week at the beach! Thanks Gram and Gramps for letting us come and stay with you. We always enjoy our time at the beach.

Question: Did we run into my dad at the beach??

Is this my dad?? Was he at the beach??

We are back!

We are back from the beach and I plan to write up a blog from our trip. I have lots of pictures and fun to share.

Hopefully I will get to it tomorrow!

A final get together

Today we went to my friend Wendi's pool for an afternoon of swimming and fun. Wendi found out she is moving this week. Her husband took a job with a company in Chicago. She and Mike moved here a year ago, and I have enjoyed getting to know her and her family. Anna Grace has enjoyed playing with Wendi's girls this past year. Wendi has four girls who range in ages from 9 to 1. They will be leaving on Tuesday of next week. Paola, Isabel, Jackson, AG and I went over to their house for a last get together/swim in her pool.

It was fun watching Maegyn, AG and Jackson play together. They all got on the float and were singing "Row Row Row your boat" while using "noodles" to paddle in the water.


Isabel enjoyed playing with some pool toys.


A thunderstorm came up, so we had to go inside for a snack and some tv.


We would have stayed longer, but Wendi's house turned into Grand Central Station. Her house went on the market today, so realtors were calling, yard maintenance stopped by and we were adding to the chaos, so we left.
Wendi, we have enjoyed getting to know you and your family this past year. We are thankful God brought you into our lives. You are a blessing to us. We look forward to staying in touch with you through the years.