Out in the Great Wide Open....

All my things are packed and ready to go.  I'm not leaving on a jet plane, but my little CR-V is going to lead us to HHI for the week!  Excited to actually be going on a trip that includes Justin and Emma! Traveling solo with a toddler can be touch and go at times!  I'm really excited to see my dear friends too!  Erika lives on the island, so Ashley will be driving down and staying with her.  I can't wait to wake up to the ocean!

Maybe my child will look in some pictures this go around......

Something I find useful!

Kavu bags!  I love mine and really want the one above for summerish.  Mine is darker.  This bag is a great thing for kids, concerns, and shopping!  I can shove a pull up and wipes in there or I can pack it with things I need for a day long concert!

You can find them at Kavu.com or Zappos or of course Ebay.

"Camping"

Justin has Wednesdays off this summer so we took the chance to run down to Mom and Dad's camper to go to Dollywood and enjoy a quiet day.  I woke up that morning with side pain (kidney stone I'm carrying around) so we decided to stay closer to "home."  We spent the morning shopping and then Justin took Emma for a swim before we loaded up to head back home.  (Was much cheaper than a ticket to Dollywood!) It ended up being a nice get away so we may do this a few more times before summer is over.

Father's Day 2013

Me and my sweet Daddy.  He turns 70 in just a few weeks! 

Dad and Emma after church

Emma and Justin

Justin, his dad "Grandaddy" and Emma

32 months and swimming

Today I took Emma's 32 month picture (maybe I will give it up, maybe I won't!)  I love this little hippie outfit.  She wanted to show me some dance moves.

We headed to Mom's to enjoy some time in the sun!

88 years

There's a lot of life to have been lived in 88 years.  My Mamaw Kat turned 88 last week.  She spent the whole week celebrating.  Mom and I took her to lunch along with Emma and two of my nephews.

Mamaw Kat was the one who always watched me when Mom needed someone, I loved counting change out of her big change jar and looking at all the matchbooks she had collected over the years!  I have been really blessed with a great Mamaw and to have so many years of memories.  Here's to many more!

Summer trippin'

Monday morning Emma and I loaded up and picked up my mom and headed to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  My parents have a camper set up on a permanent site and so we always have a place to stay if need be!  It's a nice drive and we pass Carson-Newman, where I got my undergraduate degree. I started stopping by and taking Emma's picture in front of my old dorm and with the painted eagles that was started by some of my friends back in the late 90's.  Emma was not very cooperative but I have the 2013 pictures completed! I was also able to buy her first CN girl shirt, she has some unisex ones, but I was excited to get a girly one!!!

We headed to the campground and then did a little shopping.  Then E and I hit up the playground where we slid a thousand and one times until it was dark and hit up the swings too!

Tuesday morning I decided to take Emma to Dollywood, (I call it the White Trash theme park, because you see all kinds there!)  We waited FOREVER to get a season pass then I went to get Emma on the carousel and you would have thought I dropped in her a vat of hot oil! She clawed the life out of me.  I have cell phone pictures, but I have to load everything to flickr or photobucket and that's too much work tonight!  We left soon after and plan to try later.  She loved the pool and we spent the rest of the afternoon there and then hit the playground again.

We came home today and enjoyed some more time outside.  The weather calls for rain for the the next few days, so I'm glad we got some sunshine time in while we were gone!

Summer break!

It's time for summer break for Emma and myself!  I was hoping she would either be potty trained or wanting to be....  Neither happened, but I think we are slowly getting there....SLOWLY!

I have no plans for the summer yet, I'm just going to go with whatever comes up!

Look how my girl has grown....