Lots of Fun in North Carolina!

The kids and I have been staying very busy while we have been in Charlotte. Savannah participated in Vacation Bible School at Sardis Presbyterian (the church that I grew up in) and they did an end of the week program. They have already announced the dates for next summer and she has already informed me that she plans to come back for it!

Savannah with Paul and Brutus from the Underground Church

G-Mama had a birthday on July 21 and Savannah asked her how old she was turning. Her reply was "35" and Savannah said "Mom, you are older than G-Mama!" She then asked her Great Uncle how old he was (Uncle Harold) and he said "39", and Savannah said "that's the same age as my dad!"

G-Mama with Savannah, Vincey, and Wilson

We have been to the indoor water park (Ray's Splash Planet) and the JCC with Davis and Mary Grace. We joined Shanna McCollum Tucker and her older boys at the Monroe Aquatics Center, and went out to her house for dinner one night. The kids loved playing outside and Savannah enjoyed riding the 4-wheeler with Hunter (Shanna's youngest son).

Vince trying to play with a ball at the JCC

Savannah on the Lazy River at Ray's Splash Planet

Savannah, Luke, and Blake at the Monroe Aquatics Center

Savannah and Hunter at Shanna's house

Savannah stayed with Nana and Grandaddy for the weekend while Vincey stayed with G-Mama in Charlotte, and I went to the mountains with longtime friends Leigh Long Kugler and Rebecca Sweeney Anderson. We had a great time, and it was a nice break for me to be kid-less.

We went to visit Aunt Crissy at work and were able to meet Eli

Our First Weekend in North Carolina

Savannah and Great Grandaddy

Jeff Stewart Sr (Great Grandaddy) and IV (Vincey)

Savannah and Vince playing in the car

We decided to leave out of Macon around 3pm on Friday, and we arrived at G-Mama's house around 8:30. The kids did wonderfully in the car. A stop in Madison, GA for a snack and a stop in Commerce, GA for the bathroom, and that was it! Both kids slept for about 45 minutes, just not at the same time.

Saturday morning Uncle Gary, Aunt Lin, and Wilson came over to visit. Savannah was very excited to meet her newest cousin! She entertained him by making silly faces and playing with him on the floor. Wilson (6 wks) and me

Thomas was helping Savannah pick the best squash!

Today we went to Sardis Presbyterian for church and for Savannah to see the VBS set-up. She is excited to be going to VBS at G-Mama's church this week and to see many of her new friends in town. After church, we drove to Newton, NC to visit Great Grandaddy. We picked some okra, squash, and cucumbers from his garden and Savannah is looking forward to fresh vegetables tonight for dinner. Great Grandaddy is doing well and we were all glad to see and visit with him.

Snaggle Tooth Savannah

The Tooth Fairy came to visit last night and brought TWO $1 coins!

Savannah and "Tigger" after the extraction

Savannah lost her first tooth today! She said this morning it was "a little wiggly" and when Jeff picked her up from camp, there was a note saying that she had lost her first tooth and it was in a ziploc baggy in the camp office. Her camp counselor, Tigger, helped her get it out. She has already put the tooth in her tooth fairy pillow for tonight.

The Gulf!

This was taken on our back porch, just before we left for the Pirate Cruise
Vincey and me at the beach

The girls taking a break at the "squirters"

Goggle Girls!

Savannah and the Pirate Captain

The kids and I have just returned from a weeklong trip to the Gulf Coast. We met my college friend, Meredith Bagwell Matlock, there with her two daughters. Savannah is right between Ella (6) and Rose Mary (4), so they all had a blast playing together. Trisha, our babysitter, also joined us, so she was able to help with Vince and the girls so Meredith and I could go to the grocery store, or run other errands.

While we were there, we met up with two other pledge sisters for dinner in Grayton Beach. We all enjoyed laughing and remembering our days in the Theta house!

This was Vince's first beach trip and he did "ok" at the beach. His favorite toy always seemed to be what another random kid was playing with, so he would venture over to other groups and "borrow" the shovels, nets, etc. I guess after his wooden spoon washed away, he was looking for something to replace it with.

Vince (day 1 at the beach) and his long lost toy

The "squirters" at Rosemary Beach were the hit for the girls...we were able to use those as an incentive for them to nap, eat right, etc! A special thanks to "Uncle Andy" for letting us stay at his place down there. It was about 5.5 hrs for Meredith to travel from Jackson, MS and 5 hours for us coming from Macon.

Father's Day Weekend Festivities

Happy Father's Day! We hope everyone has had a wonderful day. The weather in Macon has been extremely hot, so it was nice to join our church friends at the Mixed Nuts Pool Party on Saturday night. The kids had a blast playing in the pool and we are so glad that Savannah took swim lessons again this year. She enjoys being in the water and we feel much more comfortable with her being in the "big" pool while Vince plays in the baby pool or shallow area.

Today, Savannah and I went to church while Vince took a nice long nap this morning/early afternoon. As a family, we celebrated Fathers Day by going to McDonalds so that the kids could play at the indoor play area.

A Better Boy!

A large tomato finally ripened enough to eat! Savannah picked it off the plant yesterday and waited until Jeff returned from Atlanta to eat it. First, she said that she wanted to just eat it like an apple. After two bites she changed her mind to have me slice it up for a sandwich.

Last weekend when Nana was here visiting Nana told her how she had recently eaten a tomato sandwich; shortly thereafter, Savannah went out to our tomato plant and picked a "grape" tomato, put it between two pieces of bread, and ate it. I can't imagine that it had much flavor, but she was happy!

Savannah's Swim Lessons

Savannah just completed 2 weeks of swim lessons last Friday. This is her third year taking them, and she gets better each year. Last year she had an issue of being in the deep end of the pool. This year her hangup was diving through the hoop. But, when it's all said and done, she loves being in the water and swimming. I hoped to get Vince in for lessons for the current 2 week session, but all of the slots were taken. We'll shoot to have him swimming early next summer! I have put together a short video of her at the lessons. The class was about 10 students, all 5 or 6 yrs old. We were only allowed to go out to the pool on the last day, so I don't have more pictures to share. I hope you enjoy it!

Some Wet Weeks

It's hard to believe that Middle Georgia has had so much rain in the past few weeks. The first week of Trinity Woods Day Camp there were some afternoon sprinkles, but no big down pours like we have been getting at night (and about the time that I need to leave the grocery store with a buggy full of stuff). I am amazed at how well our shrubs and bushes and trees have done with it all-I guess we need to water more often!

Savannah doesn't have enough momentum to get her to the end of the slide so I brought out some dishwashing liquid to see if that would help her. (it didn't)

The kids have enjoyed playing on the slip and slide!

Savannah has been participating in swim lessons again this year through Bragg Swim School. She has done really well and we continue to work with her in the afternoons on her strokes and focus. Vince loves being in the water too, and really has no fear. He followed Savannah out on the diving board last week and I was scared that he would jump off like she did. (he didn't) He does like to walk the perimeter of the pool which keeps me pretty busy.

Robin Cook photographed Vince up at the office one day when we stopped by to visit

The Newest Addition to the Family!

Gary and Lin Leslie are pleased to announce the arrival of sweet baby boy, Wilson Howard Leslie. He was born yesterday, May 28th at 1:15pm and was 8 lbs 4 oz and 21 inches long. The family is doing well and will be heading home on Saturday afternoon.

They didn't find out what they were having, and Savannah guessed 5 months ago that it was a girl and named her "Susie-Anna". I told her last night that Aunt Lin had her baby and Savannah was sooo excited about it-then I told her it was a little boy. The smile quickly faded from her face and tears welled up in her eyes and she managed to say through the sobs "I wanted a little girl." We are all happy and blessed that Wilson is perfect and Lin is feeling good!

Last Day of School!

Savannah pictured this morning before school

Savannah's picture from her first day of school this year

It's hard to believe that it's Savannah's last day of school today. She has had a great week so far, and if she does "great" today, Jeff promised to take her out for pizza and ice cream tonight for dinner. She starts her day camp on Tuesday, and we are looking forward to a low-key weekend in Macon. It's been pretty rainy here the past few weeks and the yard is greening up well. Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!