Wrapping Up Summer: Part 1

It just so happens our summer was split right down the middle this year.  The first half we spent in South Carolina, and the second half we will (mostly) spend in Connecticut.

Before I dive into the joys of our new Yankee lifestyle, why don't I catch you up?

We enjoyed Father's Day

"King For a Day" crown, colored by Millie.

We enjoyed the great outdoors in Helen, Georgia with family. 

While in Georgia, we took a quick trip to Atlanta.  We did all kinds of things there, but somehow the camera only came out for the park.

Standard Millie "pose."  This girl can move.

That brings us to Part 2!

Like everyone else, we celebrated Independence Day yesterday.

Unlike everyone else, we celebrated here in Connecticut.

Sneak peek into my kitchen.  No that mirror doesn't go there.  Yes, that's the dress Millie wore last year.

We moved in on Friday, went to church on Sunday, and by Monday we already had friends to do things with!

We went to New Cannan's Fireworks to celebrate.

Did you know that's where the Stepford Wives was filmed?  Me neither.

I must say for a public event, it was the best dressed crowd I've seen.  Not a redneck or true hoochie momma among them.

I know it's impossible to see, but Millie loved the fireworks.

So, we're here. 

We are still unpacking and decorating, but I love our new place.  I was telling Buck yesterday that I really feel like I wont the lottery.  Our new apartment is twice as big as any one we've lived in, and has nearly everything I could want.  I say nearly because I completely forgot to ask if there was air conditioning, hence Millie running around in her diaper up above.  Also there is no garbage disposal.  Ugh, I hate pulling food out of the drain.  Eww.  After I said that to him he gently reminded me we are paying an arm and a leg for our place.  Like seriously, three times as much as we've ever paid.


Once I get all set up I'll share pictures and give you a run down of our gem of a home.  It's beautiful.  Don't worry about us roasting to death either.  We're hunting for a window A/C unit (or more) but for now we sleep with a window open and have fans in a few rooms.  It's really hot here by Utah standards, but basically a spring day by South Carolina standards.


We are very slowly learning our way around our neighborhood, and have met a few very nice people.  While driving around town during our move-in the pin broke off our trailer we were towing causing the whole trailer to come off and the brake to lock down at a stoplight.  Two different men saw us struggling (and by us, I mean my grandma and Buck since I stayed put in the car...oops!), ran to where they work and brought back pin substitutes so we could get driving again.  Here I was thinking Yankees were selfish.


At church on Sunday we met lots of new people and saw some old friends from church in Utah.  Millie went to nursery for the first time.  She loved it.  I had to come out and change her diaper, and as soon as we were finished she bolted back in there barely even turning around to tell me "bye bye."  Seriously she dove in there and rolled around on the carpet.  I checked on her a few times through the window and couldn't help giggling when I saw her playing with other kids.  She even sat in a chair up to the table during snack time.  I'm just amazed.


We're here.  We're doing well.  Hopefully you'll hear from me a little more often now that life is "normal" and I have a real nook to blog in.  See, I told you my new place is great.

Southern Girls Love To...

(Just like our old friend Ouiser on Steel Magnolias)

Garden,

Beach, beach, beach

and Bite!

Well maybe just this Southern Belle.

Millie got four teeth finally with three more about to make their debut.  I'm blaming the biting on that.  Truthfully I am mostly who she bites, but she has bitten Buck (when he tried to buckle her in her high chair, bless his heart).  The sweet girl still doesn't get "No" yet, or she has us all fooled at least.  What's a Momma to do?  She is two Sunday's from entering nursery.  I am seriously considering making her a button that says "Caution:  I bite."

Enough complaining.  She's still the apple of my eye, even with the bite marks on my arms.  She still runs into my arms (I get down on the floor with my arms open, and sometimes she'll run across the room to jump into them) which melts my heart.  She's obsessed with dogs.  She says "dog" all the time, and then breathes like a dog (you know, like when you stick your tongue out and pant).  She says "Hi" and "Bye" while waving to everyone.  I think it's adorable, but I keep running into those grumpy people that ignore her.  Rude.  She also says "duck" and "cracker."

This girl is doing great and running at her own pace.  She's still so tiny I'm able to put her in some of her summer clothes from last year.  Thankfully girls clothing is so forgiving she can wear the stuff intended for this year as well.

We're soaking in the last of our vacation here in the Carolina's.  I've very much enjoyed living down a gravel road all summer, completely surrounded by woods.  Even more so, I've enjoyed catching up with family and  so many long lost friends.   

I'm ready though.  There is something so nice about having your own home.  You can make messes wherever you like, live on your own schedule, and just be lazy easier.  Just in case you're wondering, we still haven't found a place to live in Connecticut.  No place yet, but we're moving "in" in two weeks.  Haha!

Signs of a Good Nap

Hope you and yours had a chance to take a few good naps this weekend.

I know we did:

Yep, that's where you put your head through.

Lake Moultrie Has Alligators

Been wondering where we've been?

I left my camera cord in our storage unit in Connecticut, so updating our blog has been quite a challenge.

We loaded up these sweet faces:

Finally can do a spout!

Notice Nora's cute little camo outfit.

And headed to the woods!

Well truthfully it was the lake.  It has been a very long time since we've vacationed with my Dad, so we were excited to visit the Short Stay on Lake Moultrie.

We scoped out the entire place.

We spent time together.

We played on several awesome playgrounds.

Nora is a playground professional.

We went to the "beach" a few times.  Of course that means sunscreen...

Just to the left of my foot is Millie's tiny foot print.

It's about as big as my heel.  I only wear a size 7.

Aaron, Xan and the girls were the only ones brave enough to go into the freezing water.

Shortly after this picture was taken the girls were ready to get out.

Aaron kept swimming until Xan noticed an alligator keeping an eye on Aaron.

Yep.  A real alligator.  With just his head sticking out, staring straight at Aaron.

He decided he'd gotten his fill of swimming right about then.

We had a great time, and I'm sad to see I didn't get any pictures of my Dad.

I'd say on this vacation we learned at least two important things:

1.  Lake Moultrie has alligators

 2.  Swim diapers are a must for swimming.

Wish I had a video of her trying to walk around with that thing on!

Goodbye Utah, Hello America!

(Not that Utah isn't American)

Nearly three weeks ago (already?) we officially said goodbye to the Beehive State.  Just before we left, Buck graduated.  His parents, grandparents, and Aunt Christie came to town to witness the big event and see where we've made a home for the last four years.

We took them to the ever popular Temple Square.  I love the Salt Lake Temple, and hope this wasn't a final goodbye.

 

Millie's proud.

 

 

The day before we left, we celebrated Millie's 2nd Easter.

Yes, I forced Millie to wear a bonnet with her Easter dress.  Surprisingly, she wore a bonnet easier than she wears a bow!  Maybe we have a hat girl on our hands?

 

One final picture outside our apartment in Wymount.

The first day of our trip (brace yourself, it was eight days long) was from Provo to Denver.  We made it out of Provo just in time to get stuck in a winter wonderland in Vail.  Oh I hate that place.  It is nothing short of a miracle we made it out of the Colorado mountains when we did.  We literally made it out thanks to heavy praying and a tow truck.  Paying $225 for a tow for five miles doesn't leave you with a happy feeling.  Take my word for it.  Our fancy hotel didn't even make up for it.  Oh, I love priceline.

Day two provided lots of sunshine and flat plains, which we fully embraced, and took us to just outside Tulsa to visit our dear friends, the Tiner's.  Matt, Jessica, and baby Colin showed us a good time.

Jessica and Colin showed us a great place to run around:

 

 

We took advantage:

We also ate some wonderful food (Braum's is probably top of my list, but it was all good), saw Matt's stompin' ground, and toured the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory.  They've certainly set the standard high for their visit to our new home.  Yikes.

We ended up staying with them two full days and nights, so day four of our trip took us from Tulsa to Springfield, Missouri.  Other than getting pulled over on Route 66 for "speeding" (we didn't get a ticket, thank goodness) it was an uneventful drive.

Day five took us from Springfield to Geneva, Illinois to visit my Uncle KC and his family.  They moved from Connecticut (the same area we're moving to) a few years ago, so it was great picking their brains for places to live and things to do.  They sure miss Connecticut, but have a great new home.

Sweet Lily gave up her room for Millie:

We finally got Millie in a swing!  Apparently those are hard to come by.  Who knew?

Although Geneva is just a suburb of Chicago, we still got our fair share of wind.

This is the gang watching Elle's soccer game:

Can you imagine playing soccer in that?

Millie loved playing with my cousins.  I think Elle could be Millie's biggest fan.

We sure wish we lived by Emma so she could watch Millie for us!  She's a great young woman.

Can you believe it?  That's all the pictures I took!  I'll quickly wrap up since I know this hasn't been super exciting as is.

Day six we left Geneva (with a rocking chair, rocking horse, and Barbie Jeep for Millie) and headed to somewhere in Pennsylvania.  That was probably the worst hotel we stayed in, and it really wasn't bad (Country Inn and Suites).  

Day seven we finally made it to Stamford, Connecticut.  We were shocked with how busy the U-Haul storage unit place was.  Stamford proved to be a kind of big city.  Really, we felt like country bumpkins.  Picture this: We pull up and I jump out to figure out where we should go.  An hour-an-a-half later we've got a loading dock and storage unit on the second floor.  So over the next few hours we keep poor Millie strapped in her stroller while I pull things out of the U-Haul and load them on a cart.  Buck then fights for the one working elevator to fill with our stuff, take to the second floor, and unload in our unit.  We pulled up at 4:30 PM thinking we had all the time in the world.  At 6:50 PM we found out they close the whole place at 7.  We were maybe half way done.  Take it from us, all U-Haul storage places are not 24-hours.  You've officially been warned.  We finished what we could and actually got some help from the manager there, but ultimately had to come back in the morning to finish.

Day eight we drove all around Connecticut to get a feel of the towns.  It is beautiful.  We still aren't sure exactly where we want to live, but at least have an idea of how far apart these towns are.  The shopping (my kind of shopping at least) seems to be pretty spread out, so maybe I'll have to take up a new hobby.  Gardening, maybe?  Building snow men?  Not sure.  By lunch we made the very long drive to South Carolina.

The end.

Whew, what a trip.  We loved seeing the great country we live in, and have a new appreciation for so many states.  We also loved spending that much quality time together.  Yes, I did 90% of the talking, but you probably already knew that.  Buck did 100% of the driving.  Millie was super the whole time (not perfect, but better than expected) and if you need advice on traveling with a toddler I could probably share some.  This post is a bit long for all that though.

We did listen to The Hunger Games and Catching Fire during our drive.  I need to get my hands on Mockingjay.  Anyone in Fort Mill got an extra copy?

One last thing, I promise.  If you are wondering who has the most expensive gas, you'd probably guess the North East.  Well we're here to tell you, it was Chicago.  When we passed through, I'm fairly certain it was $4.60 ish.  The most we ever paid was $4.30ish.  Makes $3.80 look good, huh?