Family Bonding

I'll apologize in advance for the LONG and late post...We've been on-the-go and busy, busy over the last few weeks!  Two weeks ago, we packed up the family...into the helicopter...to make a trip to visit Mimi and Grandpa...and lots of cousins, aunts, and uncles, too...in Georgia.  It worked out conveniently that Daddy had to take the helicopter for some maintenance work in the vicinity, so we were able to turn a 4 hour trip into an hour and a half flight!  I have to admit, I was a little bit nervous how the girls would do...it's a bit loud, but the ride was smooth, the girls adjusted quickly to the noise, and, by the end of the trip, were sound asleep!  It was so much fun landing the helicopter right in front of Uncle Smitty and Aunt Patty's house, and right in Mimi's neighborhood!!  It caused quite a stir with the neighbors too...I think some of them still think we must be some b-list celebrities that they can't find on Google, because Gary, as usual, was very scarce with the details when they asked questions!  :)

We spent the first few days in Georgia mostly working and tag-teaming with the girls, since Daddy had to take care of a few things, and Mommy was missing out on what should have been a busy week at work!  It was nice having a few extra hands around, since Mimi, Sabrina, Clayton, and Haley were there to help (when they weren't working too!)!  On Tuesday, we made a quick dinner trip to Chili's to meet Uncle Nathan, Aunt Lauren, and cousin Emmy Cate.  The girls had a great time watching their cousin, and, as hectic as dinner has now become with 3 little ones, it was great to catch up! 

Grandpa came back home EARLY Wednesday morning, and later that day the crowds piled in...Uncle Jason, Aunt Jen, Uncle Jared, Aunt Tonia, Aunt Melissa, and cousins Reganne, Riley, and Connor came to town!  We also had a few visits from Uncle Ryan and Aunt Sheryl, so it's not an understatement to say that we had a FULL house!  The girls had a BLAST hanging out with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and they learned a lot watching the big kids play.  It was fun watching them all interact, and everyone did a great job of sharing toys and helping the babies play along too!  Ironically, even amidst all of the excitement, one of their favorite activities for the week can be seen here!  :) 

On Thursday, everyone who wasn't working went for a boatride to get lunch. Unfortunately, I had to stay home and work, but I hear that it was a hit! The marina had it's own mini-"splashpad", and from what I was told, the girls LOVED it! (Gary took a few pics from his phone, but I've maxed out my space on photobucket, and if I keep messing around, I'll NEVER get this post done!)

The big news of the week was that Macy took her FIRST STEPS!!  She has been so deligent working to get and keep her balance, and finally perfected her stance on Tuesday.  By Tuesday evening, she was ready to move.  She started with 3 steps, and was stuck at that for about a day, but now she's toddling all over!    Up until her "competition" got started, Makayla hadn't put a lot of effort into anything besides crawling and climbing (yes, she could climb into Haley's slide pretty much on her own!), but after seeing her sister for a few days, she started spending a lot of time practicing her balance too...and, Finally, this week, she started making her move as well!  She's still unsure of herself, but making lots of progress, and Macy is quickly going pro!

We left to come home on Friday, and it turns out, Aunt Lauren and Emmy Cate were able to hitch a ride back with us.  Emmy Cate really hates being in the car, so Nathan drove early with ALL of our stuff, since we had the helicopter packed to the gills on the way down, so then we had room for our passengers.  I sat in the back with the three little ones, expecting quite an adventure.  Turns out, Emmy Cate passed out almost immediately!  Our girls decided to fight it for a while, but by the time we landed, we had 3 sleeping beauties!

Fortunately, Nathan, Lauren, and EC were able to hang out with us for the weekend, and it was nice to see them, since we don't get to see them nearly enough.  Saturday was Aunt Lauren's birthday, and our plan was to hang out at the pool...unfortuantely, that thwarted by a MASSIVE thunderstorm, so we sat around watching it rain and trying to entertain the munchkins.  Fortunately, that's a lot easier when there are 6 adults to share the load!  Grandma and Papaw were in heaven!!  On Sunday, as usual, Gary headed out of town, while the girls and I made their debut at a Childers Family reunion.  It was a pretty busy afternoon, since we spent most of our time there eating (i.e. feeding the girls and trying to stuff a few bites in myself) and then it was over.  I didn't even get by the dessert table!  :)  Needless to say, I didn't really get any pictures.  We did do our best to get a few shots of the 3 girls prior to leaving for the reunion.  We all look forward to the day when it's possible to get all 3 of them to look at us and smile at the same time!  Maybe not making them face the sun will help!?  (I guess that's why there's so much squinting!)

Last week, Gary and I made a quick overnighter to check on "Little Loose" (Greg's boat) in Charleston, and it was a fun but QUICK getaway.  Thankfully, Grandma saved the day, as usual, by watching the girls after daycare and overnight. We were happy to be home to spend a full weekend together...except for those painful few moments when we had to keep our eye on that Davies kid (our neighbor)...he was getting a little too comfortable hugging on our little girl(s) on Friday night!  :)  It was so cute!!

So that's our last couple of weeks in a nutshell...I'll try to post more frequently so I don't have to write a book!!