I turned 30 today. And in a betrayal to my gender, I am actually excited. It is like crossing into true adulthood. Some of that may be due to how blessed I feel to be where I am right now. The Lord has given me so much--a strong, dedicated, loving husband, a beautiful, sweet baby girl, the job of my dreams (stay at home mom), an incredible bff, and 2 snuggly dogs, as well as plenty of wonderful family and friends. Turning 30 has been more about reflecting on how much I have to be thankful for rather than a sign of getting older, not to mention the promise of many more exciting years to come, Lord willing.
Well, the goose literally learned how to climb onto the couch while I was typing this, so I have to go. I will post about my birthday goings-on later when the goose is not scaling the furniture.
Here's to being thirty, flirty, & thriving.
(13 Going on 30 reference)
Thanks to Carrie & Lottie for the precious shirt and to Dad & Carrie for the banner!
Last weekend, Nana (Chris' mom) took Chris, Lottie, & I to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. It was a wonderful weekend of relaxing, site-seeing, and playing on the beach.
Nana flew in Thursday morning, and we left for Myrtle as soon as I finished working. We first showed up at the Holiday Inn on the strip, which thankfully was the wrong hotel because the strip was ridiculous. It was crawling with drunk college students on their spring break and covered in cheesy, garish stores. Not really our scene. We finally ended up at the correct Holiday Inn on Surfside Beach, which was just our speed. Surfside Beach is quiet and much less crowded.
Friday morning, Chris, Charlotte, and I took an early morning walk along the beach, showing Lottie the beach for the first time.
We spent some time playing in the hotel while everyone got ready. Lottie dressed up in Nana's shower cap and made faces in the mirror. She looked like one of the mushrooms off Mario Brothers. She is such a little ham.
We later ate lunch by the pool and in front of the beach.
We then decided to visit Ripley's Aquarium. Lottie loved it. She was mesmerized by the fish.
Touching a horseshoe crab
Touching stingrays
Chris and I decided to treat Lottie to a souvenir since she could actually pick one out. We offered cute sea turtles the size of her, pink sea turtles, and sparkly funny stingrays. However, she choose a realistic-looking octopus. And she loves it. This girl loves her animals.
Lottie with the real octopus and her stuffed octopus
Despite the cool temperatures and strong wind, we donned our bathing suits and headed to beach that afternoon.
Lottie did not appreciate the cold water.
Or the sand at first. However, the sand grew on her once Daddy showed her how to play in it.
We didn't stay long because the little goose started shivering (note she is tucked into Daddy's shirt in the pictures above to help keep her warm).
For dinner, we ate at the Nacho Hippo. Chris and I are rarely suckers for advertising, but the Nacho Hippo was advertised everywhere, and we loved the name and logo. It ended up being a great pick--the food was delicious. Lottie really enjoyed the black beans. They also had a pretty good reggae singer.
The following day, we visited Huntington Beach State Park, which we loved. We love the wilder beaches of state parks. It was a lot like North Padre National Seashore. We had a great time even though it was still too cold to get into the water.
Jumping waves
Playing in the sand
She still wasn't impressed by the cold water.
She did love walking on the beach.
Of course, both Lottie and I got cold, so we hoodied up, so we could keep enjoying the beach.
For dinner, Nana treated us to a yummy seafood dinner. It was a wonderful day.
Sunday morning, Chris, Lottie, and I took a 3 mile walk on the beach right after sunrise.
Before leaving town, we visited the Governor's Lighthouse.
We arrived back in Spartanburg just in time to drop Nana off at the airport. We are so thankful to Nana for treating us to this incredible weekend. We love and miss you Nana!
Labor Day Weekend, Gigi and Poppa flew to Spartanburg to
hang out. We, of course, started the weekend by eating at Caribbean Sweetness,
one of the yummiest restaurants in Spartanburg and a must-have when my parents
visit.
Gigi
enjoyed feeding Lottie her cereal.
The
next day we left for Atlanta and spent the afternoon checking out minivans. Once
places closed, we grabbed dinner at a fun burger joint, Farm Burgerand headed
to the hotel. The next day, Chris and I headed out to hunt down a minivan while
Gigi and Poppa stayed with Lottie at the hotel. We found the perfect one as
discussed here. Once we wrapped up all that business, we headed to the Georgia Aquarium, which Chris and I love. We had been the previous January for our
babymoon.
Oh the difference 8 months makes
Whale Shark
I love this picture of my parents
Lottie definitely looked at the fish and mammals, but she
did fall asleep halfway through. We all loved every moment though. Once we
finished, we picked up the minivan and headed home.
The next day, we left Chris at the house to
study and attended a Greenville Drive, the minor league team for the Red Sox,
game. We sat on the lawn and enjoyed the beautiful evening. I really think that
is the way to watch baseball.
It was another wonderful weekend with Gigi and Poppa. We
always appreciate their willingness to tag along and help as needed. We could
not have done the Atlanta car shopping trip without them.
We were blessed to celebrate Easter at the Aero-Bee Ranch
with our family, including both sets of Lottie’s grandparents. After a yummy
pancake breakfast, I spread some plastic eggs around the living room. Lottie
crawled around and put them in her basket. However, after about 5, she decided
she had enough and sat down and started playing. The hunt was over.
She was only moderately interested in what was inside them (yogurt drops, puffs, a bendy rabbit, foam letters, and magnet letters). Mostly, she enjoyed shaking the eggs.
She also enjoyed hanging out with Luke, "sharing" all the new Easter goodies and "helping" Luke empty his basket.
Lottie received several fun items in her Easter baskets.
Great Gran gave her a big stuffed kitty, and Poppa and Gigi gave her a book, 2
little stuffed animals, a dress, and bubbles. Uncle Brian, Aunt Sarah, and Luke
gave her a Boynton book. The Easter bunny brought her a Curious George book, a
coloring book, crayons, and a wind-up rabbit toy. She is a very blessed little
girl.
Sarah and I made flower pots for the family. The frogs and purple butterflies are Lottie's footprints, and the blue butterflies are Luke's. (Yes, Luke's foot is almost the same size as Lottie's.)
It was incredible spending the day with so much
family in the best place in all the world.
.JPG)
