We found a...

DOG! 

This cute little girl was wondering around in the middle of the road this morning on our way to school. Me being the animal lover that I am quickly hopped out in the road to snag her up! Stryker was quite in aww of her and immediately went to playing with her. We drove around several of the neighborhoods near where we found her over and over. It was getting later and no one seemed to be looking for a dog. I was about to give up and take her with me and finally we saw a car slowly driving around as if they were looking for something. I waved them down, asked if they had lost a dog and sure enough they were the owners. Turns out she was just a puppy and had gotten out. She belonged to a teary eyed 6 year old desperate to have his best friend back. 

We were very excited that we could help find the home of this precious animal! And Stryker was quite the good citizen!

A Monstrous Fifth!

Today we headed up to Lexington to celebrate our most FAVORITE nephew's fifth birthday! Peyton Michael will be a WHOLE HAND tomorrow! So hard to believe since I can remember him just being a wee lad... My how time flies!

Peyton hosted a Monster University themed party. Aunt Lorie did another great job decorating and of course making a most fabulous cake!

(Yep, she has so much talent!)

We started off the party with a little coloring. All the kiddos gathered around to color their MU coloring sheet.

After everyone got done coloring, we headed outside for a little "Pin the Eye on the Monster". Everyone had a turn to be blindfolded and give it their best shot. Mr Brannon was the closest and won! Next, Aunt Lorie had each of the children sit on their coloring sheets and pretend they were 'doors' (you know, as in the Monsters Inc movie). We then played a little Musical Doors. The Birthday Boy himself won that game! It was a lot of fun and everyone got into it! 

Uncle Bubba was busy grilling up some dogs while the kiddos played. We soon headed in for some lunch and fellowship. Even the smallest of babes were having a great time!

After everyone had a full belly, it was time for presents! Peyton got a lot of great stuff and lots of Monsters Inc gifts. He was thoroughly excited with all the presents. Soon it was time for everyone to say goodbyes. We stuck around for a bit for some family time. We chatted, played and Miss Maddie showed us some of her dance moves. I just love this little face so much!

And no family gathering isn't complete without a cousin photo shoot. One of these days they'll all be smiling, my camera will be perfect and everyone will stand still... yeah right... we can only dream! :) Either way, they are a cute trio!

We hit the road to return home shortly after. Wouldn't you know Stryker fell fast asleep on the ride home? He was a party pooped little one. And after dropping Granny off, he was wide awake. This is our party animal on a Saturday night when Mom's ready for bed:

(We're going through a no shirt phase)

Such a handsome fellow! Luckily I was able to wrangle him to bed at a decent hour :)

Happy Birthday to our dearest nephew Peyton! We love you buddy and hope you had a fun party day!

Other July Happenings

Other fun things we did in July 2013:

{We did lots of swimming this summer; Daddy & Stryker enjoyed evening swims!} {We celebrated Logan Honour's 5th birthday! We painted our own piggy banks to keep!} {We visited the dentist for the fourth time. This time wasn't as successful as the other times, but fingers crossed that you won't be so nervous in January} {For our Daddy's last night home, we went to Sapphires-your first trip there-and enjoyed chicken wings!}

And in other excitement: Daddy bought you some really neat fish for your aquarium! You got some tiger shark fishes, some red tip sharks, some algae eaters and a goldfish!

Hilton Head Mini-Vacation

Daddy came home in July and was insistent on having a family getaway at the beach. He found us a good resort in Hilton Head so he booked it and treated us to a wonderful 4 day mini-vacation! We had a lot of family fun. 

We arrived at Sonesta Resort and got all checked in. Right from the start, Stryker scored lots of goodies from the bellman and the hotel staff. 

We ventured upstairs to check out our King Suite (thanks for the upgrade!) and to have our luggage delivered. Daddy & I were super hungry so we went back downstairs to find some dinner. The resort had a couple dining options and we settled on their restaurant... very upscale and very good eats! After dinner, Stryker wanted to do some swimming so we hit the pool. He's quite the fish these days and will stay in the water for as long as we let him! Daddy & I enjoyed lounging and watching him expend his energy!

The pool was a lot of fun, but at sunset we headed down to the beach. We were NOT disappointed in the beautiful ocean, sand and sunset. How gorgeous! 

Stryker dipped his toes, ran around in the sand, found some sand dollars and tried building a sand castle. 

He & Daddy even had a game of tag on the beach.

Soon it was drawing close to 9 and it was time to head back upstairs to get ready for bed. Our little man wasn't hungry at dinner but of course after swimming and running around, his appetite was in full effect. Daddy ordered him some room service for the first time. He thought that was neat-o!

With a full tummy, he snuggled up & watched some Big Brother with Mommy and was soon fast asleep!

On Friday we slept in, ordered in breakfast and spent a relaxing day by the pool and on the beach. Nothing beats spending the day with your two favorite boys in the sun having fun!

And nothing beats a nap after all that fun... It was so nice to enjoy a good afternoon snooze with my loves. After resting up, we decided to head off the resort to find some dinner. We came across a little steak and seafood restaurant and decided to give it a try. Needless to say, we were not disappointed! 

They boys started a game of corn hole after dinner at the restaurant, but a sudden downpour ended that as quickly as it started. So, back to the resort we went. Stryker insisted that Daddy take his fishing pole and find a spot for some fishing. Daddy headed over to a pond on the grounds and cast the line a few times. Before we knew it, he had actually caught something! Unfortunately, there is no fishing in these resort ponds! HA! We took a quick picture and threw it back. Stryker was thoroughly impressed with his Daddy's skills though!

We did some more relaxing on the deck by the pool for the evening. They were showing Monsters Inc by the pool and Stryker liked that. 

Saturday was pretty much a repeat of Friday... Beach, pool, naps... relaxing! 

That evening though, Stryker headed to the resort kid camp while Mommy & Daddy had a date night dinner. We rode around Hilton Head and ended up going to Wild Wing Cafe! HA! Regardless of where, it was nice to have dinner & drinks with my Love.

Soon it was time to head back and pick up Stryker. He had lots of fun... Swimming, dinner, t-shirt making, playing... Seemed our date night was fun for him as well! We headed to the hotel lobby bar area and relaxed with some desserts. Apparently the staff delivered a special cake to our room for someones birthday. It was delish! We had fun being silly and people watching. 

We had to head back home on Sunday. We checked out and had some breakfast at a local breakfast joint. We stopped by the outlets to walk around for a few and Daddy took us on the scenic route home. It was quite the getaway and we all had a great time!

4th of July Weekend

Stryker & I spent the 4th of July holiday with my family in Aiken. He actually went up with his Nana on Wednesday and I drove up on Thursday. I got there just in time as Mom & Lorie were serving up a lot of delicious food. In true 4th of July fashion, our table was abundant with burgers, dogs, BBQ and all the fixin's! We all ate & talked, played some cards and then had a quick photo shoot before the Honour's had to hit the road. 

The many cutie faces of my niece Maddison! What a ham she is!

Stryker LOVES Maddsion! Peyton is one silly boy! Nana & Peyton strike a pose.

I just ADORE this picture! What a couple cuties these two are. Oh how I love these boys!

And after many, many, many tries.... A picture of the cousins.

That evening, Mom & I enjoyed some frozen drinks and Mark & Logan showed off a brilliant fireworks display. They were like kids in a candy store with those explosives :) 

Friday was another rainy day (seems to be the norm for SC this summer). We went and met Papa for lunch (he had to work Friday). After our lunch, Nana, Stryker & I went to Augusta for some shopping. We checked out a couple new stores in the area and stopped by Target. We had a nice relaxing evening hanging around their house Friday night.

And lucky for us, the sun actually made an appearance Saturday morning! We quickly hit Richardson's Lake for a little fun in the sun while it lasted. Stryker loved going down the water slide in the kiddie area and soon graduated to jumping off the diving board. He really became quite the water lover this summer!

Mommy's sweet boy!

The rain returned in the early afternoon so it was time to call it a day for the lake. Stryker seemed to have gotten his fill anyway and was soon catching a cat nap on the way home. 

Later that evening, we packed up some blankets, drinks, snacks and stopped for some Subway subs and headed to the drive in movie! They were showing a double feature: Despicable Me 2 and Monsters University. The movies didn't start until after dusk, so it was a little late for my little man who was tired from all the water fun earlier in the day. He made it though Despicable Me 2, but was fast asleep through the second movie, Monsters University. All in all, our first drive in movie experience was AWESOME! We all had lots of fun!

Sunday we had to head back home to get ready for a new work week. Thanks Nana & Poppa for having us all weekend! We had lots of fun!

A Weekend at Short Stay

With Daddy home, we joined our friends at Short Stay in Moncks Corner for a long weekend. The Cortes, The Grammers and many of our other friends all camped out for Uncle Alex's birthday. Stryker's best joy of that weekend was... Fishing!

He loved just casting his line and reeling it back in... over and over. He was quite content being a fisherman and kept Daddy on his toes asking to fish constantly. 

{Fishing outside of the villa}

{Daddy & Stryker fisherman}

{So handsome doing his thing}

{Cool picture thanks to Aunt Karly}

Sunday morning was a lot of the same. Stryker waited patiently as Daddy got ready and across the way they went for more fishing.

{Like father, Like son}

When they got back, we had breakfast (bowls of cereal) on the front porch of our log cabin and enjoyed the views and the wildlife. These little ones waddled right up to us looking for some food. The female had a broken leg :(  They sat out front with us and we fed them what we had. I love that ducks mate for life... what a sweet pair!

Later in the day, we hopped on the boat and spent the day with Alex, Karly, Faith, Chris, Toni, Rilee and Avery having fun in the sun. We all had a great time catching up and chatting together. After a day on the lake, we enjoyed a dinner cookout at their campsite before relaxing by a campfire and calling it a night.

 {The futures: Avery & Stryker}

We had a wonderful 3 day getaway camping weekend with some of the besets friends! We celebrated Uncle Alex, laughed, talked, ate... It was great fun!

{A beautiful sunset over the lake}