happy 4th, maddie's new ride and the kid is all over the place!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

We had a great day. We woke up and packed up the car in the morning and headed down to the coast to see Aunt Susan at her new house and hit the beach! She lives just a few miles from Carolina Beach and we loved being able to visit her and spend time at the ocean.

I did a great job packing up all of our stuff... and then realized once we got to Susans house that the big bag with the girls bathing suits, sunscreen and swim diapers was on the couch at home... so we had to make a quick stop at Wal-Mart to pick up some suits. Whats more American than that? Surprisingly, Wally World had no bathing suits smaller than a 3T and this one she's wearing below was about the only one they had. Luckily it was only $5.00 so I couldnt complain that it wasn't exactly my "style."

Maddie really really enjoys the beach now. She played the entire day in the sun. She had Susan taking her out in the water over and over and building sand castles. Im proud to say that she was in the sun all day and did not get a sunburn! Im a little phobic about my pale skinned family getting burned! Me on the other hand forgot to put on sunscreen altogether (because I was too busy keeping Maddie lubed up and making sure Caroline wasnt eating sand) and I didnt even get a tan! :)

We don't have many great group shots at the beach because we all had our hands a little full. Little Ms Caroline decided not to nap at all ... all day! She was happy and playful, so we were happy about that - but I spent most of the time in the chair trying to get her to sleep! Of course, as soon as we got in the car and past the canal, they were both passed out. Nothing like a day at the beach to wear two little girls OUT!

We got home and gave them both showers (just a little PSA: Be careful bringing babies in the shower with you. They get SLIPPERY WHEN WET!), and put Caroline right to bed. We let Maddie stay up because I wanted her to see the music and fireworks on TV. She's never really seen fireworks as she's always been fast asleep by 8pm - so i thought it was time she had the whole 4th of July experience (on TV of course, i knew she'd hate fireworks in real life). So... we all loaded up in the theater room with the DC 4th of July show on TV. We danced and waved our little American flag to Hootie and Reba, but once the fireworks started... she HATED it. She didnt even like the loud noises on TV!!! We had to mute it for her to even watch the show! There was also a good amount of neighborhood fireworks going on right outside our house -which she (and Tucker) also hated. So, she asked to go to bed and we put her to bed. She made me sleep with her for a bit and Tucker crawled under the bed until I got up. Oh well, better luck next year!

On to something she does like... check out Maddie's new RIDE! I thought I would have at least 13 more years til I had to worry about her running something or some one over... but no, the time is here.

Grammie and Grandad got her a really cool pink and blue JEEP! She's still getting the hang of steering and putting her foot on the pedal to move, but she'll get it. Grammie and Grandads backyard is perfect for cruising.

Caroline decided to sneak a ride while Maddie was off playing with Grandad. Don't you see this happening in 17 or 18 years?

She looks too cute, doesn't she?? How can anyone get mad at her for stealing Maddie's car? I can't get enough of this little baby. And her big news?? She's CRAWLING NOW! She starting crawling just this week- so at about 8 months. She's getting around great and I'm reminded that I need to get anything and everything out of reach! She LOVES tearing and eating paper (oh and choking on it if she gets a good bit of it in her mouth before we catch her)!

Just a few more days til our big trip up north to Nana and Pop Pops house! We can't wait. All four of us on an airplane... should be interesting! Hope they're ready for us!