Almost-Farewell, Summer

I love the Fall. Always have, always will. Last week I was making minestrone soup to try and chase away the very-much-still-summer heat outside, but it just felt wrong. It could have something to do with the fact that we were planning on swimming later in the day, but right then I also realized there's a possibility that this will be our last summer here in Georgia (Pete finishes school in May and we're toying with the idea of hightailing it right back home to the West). 

Like I said, I'm a crunchy leaves and pumpkin seeds type of girl, but at the realization that we may not be here for another Southern summer, I have to say I'm glad summer has clung to us for much of September. I think I will always have fond memories of summers in Atlanta: splash-pad play groups, barbecues and pool parties with good friends, sweaty and humid morning runs, pungently flower-scented air, evening walks with the fireflies. Maybe we'll embrace the extra swim days and warm weather outside (especially since we've had such a rainy summer this year). After all, we still need to catch a firefly!

But eventually, I'm going to declare it Fall, whether the weather obeys or not. Because bees the size of small hummingbirds and unrepellable (yep, that's a word now) mosquitoes have got to fade away at some point. Saying sad goodbyes to good friends as they finish school and move away always happens in the summer, too. And shorts on Halloween is just wrong. That's all.

Gulf Shores, Alabama

After finding out Pete, Brian, and Ashley had Labor Day weekend off of school/work, we couldn't resist getting together. After talking about the possibility, Brian whipped up a Google Document with appropriate meeting place options listed, along with rental houses and all the details on them. We're glad we opted for Gulf Shores, Alabama and that Brian and Ashley were willing to drive a bit further than their share of halfway from Houston to Atlanta.  

We loved spending time with these two...or should I say three? Ash's itty-bitty pregnant tummy was so cute! We are so excited for Emery and Cameron to get a new cousin in February 2014. Since moving to Atlanta, we've gotten to see Brian and Ashley (who live in Houston) way more than we expected. Pete and I always have a great time with them and are glad they put up with our kids...and us :)

This trip really made me realize how well beach vacations jive with our family. Pete can play in the water til his heart's content, while Emery can dig in the sand and play/laugh with her crazy daddy for hours on end. I, on the other hand, can snuggle my sweet Cameron, play with the other kids (meaning Emery and Pete) at my leisure, and maybe even relax a bit, read a book, etc. The entire family is happy for a cheap cost!

We sure love the beautiful, fine white sand of the Gulf Coast. Definitely something I will miss when/if we head back to the West Coast.

While the sand is nice and the ocean water warm, our party had far too many encounters with marine life for my liking. The dolphins were fun, but Pete and Ashley both got stung by jellyfish, Pete and Brian saw giant stingrays swimming right by them, the fish were abundant and jumping like crazy (I think one almost hit Brian), and on Sunday we even saw a small shark in the shallow water (which made the decision to not swim on Sunday a very easy one to stick to)!

dolphin watching

boogie boarding

Sand castle crashing

Sand castle...um, tackling? I love the looks on Brian and Emery's face in this photo.

Ash mirrored my thoughts when she talked about feeling very grown-up about this trip. We rented a cute little beach house right across the street from the ocean and each Hoyt family planned a meal for one of the three nights we were there. We put the kids to bed at night and enjoyed chatting, watching football, eating treats, etc.

Besides playing at the beach, I enjoyed a non-hilly, stroller-free run with Ash!

On Sunday, we went to Sacrament Meeting at a cute little branch in Foley, AL. Pete and I spent our time outside with cranky/hungry/tired/crying Cam and Emery for most of the hour, but no big deal...made me super grateful that that wasn't the norm for our kids (usually they're pretty good at church).

Here's just a few more photos from the trip:

Sharing one of our favorite books with Ash before bedtime

Brothers with matchy-matchy pants

Just hanging out with Cam-man

A spare, newborn-size diaper for Ash! Can't wait to hear what the gender of her babe is.

Emery thinking she's pretty cool wearing Ashley's shoes.

Emery-sized sand castle

In love

There is no reason I should not be in bed right now. But because sleep is elusive, I've been obsessing over these photos that just melt my heart. I am so in love with these two boys. These photos make me think many so things...

...like how Pete had been bugging me for days to give him a haircut. And how I'm so glad I didn't, because it looks so fun, all crazy and wind blown at the beach. His eye crinkles have been making my insides melt for years. Cam's little tiny hand makes Pete's look gigantic, and Holy shmoly, how did I get lucky enough to get some cute photos of Pete in which he is not wearing a T-shirt with some form of "Washington Huskies" plastered across the front of it?!

And how much I love a baby in just a onesie (even if I didn't realize that the onesie had cheesy words on it when I bought it. What the heck, this kid is "mommy's happy camper"). So hold-able and snuggle-able and unencumbered by layers and sleeves and pants.

These birds in the sky just make me happy inside. As does the crazy cowlick on the back of Pete's head.

Babies can't just fake a smile. Or any emotion for that matter. This picture is just real. Real life: Happy baby, joyful daddy.

Oh it's so fun to see a little baby smile. I will probably be up two or three times tonight feeding that sweet face and it's so worth it.

Thanks, Brian/Ash, for capturing these sweet moments! 

Pete is currently threatening to go watch more football unless I come to sleep right now.

Goodnight.

Roadtripping

We couldn't pass up the rare opportunity of seeing Brian and Ashley, so for Labor Day weekend we met them in Alabama for a little beach trip. Pete snapped this photo while we were stopped at a gas station in nowhere, Alabama:

Can you tell by my fake smile how NOT excited I am to be doing another road trip with 2 kids so quickly after Chattanooga? We had already busted out the goldfish (usually more of a secret weapon/desperation act) and we had only been on the road for like an hour or something. Luckily, the drive got much better---the kids did especially good on the way home---and it was SO worth it to hang out with Brian and Ash and play at the beach. We always have so much fun with them!

Weekend Trip to Chattanooga

Chattanooga. Chattanooga. Chattanooga. I just love saying that word. If you're Emery, you say "Chat-anooga," but if you're a local, it sounds more like "chad-anooga." The word is Cherokee and I forgot what our tour guide said it meant. I do, however, remember that he said "Chicago" is also a Cherokee word and means "lover of wild garlic" (why does my brain remember random things like this?).

Here we are eating cupcakes and walking around downtown in the pouring rain. I kind of loved watching little Emery walk around, holding onto her adult-sized umbrella.

Speaking of adult-sized, check out Pete's cupcake! It was filled with ice cream and now I'm convinced I need to invest in a jumbo size muffin tin so I can make something similar.

A highlight of our trip was Emery being brave, steering the DUKW (vehicle that drives on land and then launches into the water to become a boat) around the Tennessee River. We had lots of fun on our little amphibious truck tour.  The entertaining tour guide was a local and we enjoyed hearing about the history of the city, good places to eat, and fun things to do.

Probably the best thing we experienced was the Tennessee Aquarium. I'm no connoisseur of aquariums, but this place was awesome! It had two buildings---one for salt water animals and one for fresh water animals, and the fresh water building was particularly interesting! We started at the top (we being Pete, me, Emery, Cam, and Bob--our beast of a double stroller) of the 4th floor and wound all the way down to the bottom. It really never got old. I was totally getting hooked reading all the informational plaques about different rivers/lakes around the world and then gazing into the tanks to see the different kinds of fish that live in them. I was surprised by the amazing fish/turtles/alligators that are in fresh water lakes and rivers.

petting stingrays

pretty macaws

relaxing with a pretty view of the Tennessee River

This alligator snapping turtle really scared me. The big one looked like it was trying to kill the smaller one and these odd-looking creatures just looked like they belonged in prehistoric times, not the swamp lands of the South.

Notice the DANGER sign...I'm not surprised.

A replica of the world's largest known turtle shell

 Other adventures included eating yummy pizza and playing at Coolidge park, where the fountains are free and the carousel is $1. Emery has a slight obsession with carousels---she loves them. Cam hasn't really caught on yet, though, as you can see he's mid-yawn in the photo below.

There were so many other fun things we didn't get to do in Chattanooga, and we really liked this cute city. Our trip there made us think how fun it would be to live in a place where there's water (river, lake, or ocean) nearby. We ended our trip with a walk on the Pedestrian Bridge. As you can see from the grumpy Emery photo (and Pete playing along), it was time to head home!