Trip to the mountains

Chris had a nice LOOOONG vacation (17 days) in Aug so we packed up and headed to see Phil and Marcia in North Carolina! It's so hard to get everyone packed up for a short trip, so since Chris had a bunch of days off we decided to spend a week up there.

The trip was good... Anna is pretty good in the car. She got a little fussy, but it was because she missed a nap - so overall I'd say she did just fine ;) Of course Piper always does good in the car....

When we got there Phil and Marcia were there to welcome us and when we walked in the door to our cabin - there was a bottle of wine, stocked fridge and yes, gifts for Anna. Phil had pulled out his old chair from when he was a little boy and Anna just LOVED it. It was JUST her size and she thought she was hot stuff when she was sitting in it. They also had her a little book that had a puppet and talked and her very own cell phone. We also got a glimpse of a little blow up pool they had set up for her at the 'big house'. Spoiled??? Um, yep.

Most of the trip we just spend RELAXING. Chris played golf with his dad a few days while I got to go antiquing!!!!! OMG let me just say - I think the final count was 13 antique stores in a 15mile radius.... WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN GOING??? And they are AMAZING too.... I found lots of stuff!!! (came home with a car full of glass....) and Marcia got to babysit Anna :)

We also went hiking up Pearson's Falls. I'll post pics in a separate blog post just to keep this relatively short. It was beautiful - I love that place.

Anna went swimming in her pool, played with bubbles ("buggles"), got MORE toys (including a toy laptop, more books and the bubble machine), ate DELICIOUS food, and just hung out with Nana and Papa.

It is amazingly beautiful up there and it was the perfect mental detox. We love being able to spend time with Phil and Marcia - just wish we could do it more often.

And now here are a few misc pics from the trip - I'll do a separate post for her 'little chair' and another post for Pearson's Falls cause there were just so many pics ;)

Chris - don't hate me for putting this in here.... I titled this pic "Baby Stealer". Actually, Anna was crawling around in the grass and Chris was concerned about the yellow jackets in the ground, so when I was trying to take a pic of her being cute in the grass, he snatched her up. I clicked this on accident but started DYING laughing when I saw the result... Looks like he's trying to take my baby!!!! ;)


It was an "all you can eat buffet" for Anna - she ate NON STOP


I think I may have deleted some pics from my camera because Aug 10th is completely GONE from the camera... but fortunately I had a couple of phone pics of AC's swimming pool :) She LOVED it.






Blowing Buggles and reading






This pic was taken at night - but I was trying to show her cute little dirty knees... she had been crawling ALL over the grass and her knees were just filthy.


This was taken through a window... and there were about 4 more that were out there with them.


Through our cabin window.... Turkeys GALORE.... they are hard to see but if you look closely you will see them ;)


Saying bye bye to Nana and Papa.... always the worst part of the trip :(


Notice the way Anna is tucking her chin in to her neck... she does this with D-Daddy too.... she just isn't too sure about the granddads yet, but I think they are growing on her hahahha

Look what all AC learned

Trying to jot this stuff down before I forget... I'll come back with video proof later.

Words Anna has learned just this week

• Mountain - (Mou-nin)
• Bird - (Bir-Dee) - doesnt know what it is, but will repeat us when we point to them
• Book
  
• Love You - (LA-ju) - well, she has said this before - but we are working on perfecting it
• Bubbles - (Buggles) - seriously - the cutest thing ever when we blow bubbles and she says BUGGLES.... just love it
• Light - (LI-yea) but she will point to them when we turn them on so we know she is saying light haha
• hat - (at) - no h sound but very clear t sound. 8/14/10
• boo - like she's scaring us - and she LOVES to scare us.
• Juice - 8/16/10 moomoo kept saying 'Good Juice' when she was drinking [mostly water with a little juice] and she started repeating her.... now she will say 'juice'. And speaking which - as of today she is 100percent sippy cup hydrated.... if you know what I mean. No more nursing for this little girl.
• Cracker - (ka-ca)
• Apple
• More (Mo) - cant remember if I've added this one
• Cheese Toast (has upgraded to che-to from dee-do haha)
  

She has also learned

• To 'dance' on command. We say 'Anna Dance' and she starts wiggling her shoulders
• To 'sing' on command
  
• Where her toes, eyes, mouth, hair and belly button are
• Where the light is (when we turn it on she points up and says "LI-yeah"

Ok this is an old blog post I never finished, so I just added a few things... better go ahead and post it before I forget again.

Pics that make me laugh

First off I'd like to wish my mom a HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY (twice) ;) Love you mom!!!

Next I'd like to post a few pictures of AC I took when preparing my camera for our 'little chair' photoshoot (pics to come). This girl CRACKS me up... she is just so goofy!!! I think she cracks herself up too ;)

Trying to take out her bow.


So Chris tries to distract her... and apparently she decided it was time to start posing.






I have no idea what Chris was saying - but she was just having a big time in the chair.


Telling us a story - check out the hand movement.... they really start going when she starts talking.


Check her out - DOUBLED OVER she's laughing so hard!!! I just LOVE this little girl!!!




Couldn't even keep the camera still in this pic I was laughing so hard.


When Anna was little, she never left the house without a bow... now she refuses to keep them in, but I have to admit- I just love her little 'disheveled' look :)


Sharing her toys


And finally.... my favorite. When we ask 'Anna where is your belly button'... she points...


but she doesn't stop there... then she starts DIGGING. And this goes for mommy and daddy's belly button too!!! She LOVES her belly button (and ours)

OOPS

Sorry - I see my blog background and header is a little 'last month' - I'll update the look when I get back. Also have quite a few blogs to 'back blog' on.... how did I get so behind. I'll give you a hint on one of them... AC's party was featured on 2 party blogs. But I think each site needs their own blog entry, so I'll give them the full credit soon.

And now I will leave you with 2 pics from our little home away from home...



Could 'serious' be any more cute//// - oh yeah, forgot to mention my shift keys are broken. Yes, both of them.... those were supposed to be question marks. [sigh]

Pearson's Falls

We LOVE to go hiking up to Pearson's Falls. It is SO beautiful and AC loved it too!! It was her first time in the hiking backpack!!

Here are a few (hundred??) pics from the falls. It was noon so the lighting was a little harsh... and we had a mixture of shade with bright sun so just pardon the whacked out shades and colors ;)

Ready to go hiking!!! She loved her little hiking back pack.






Little falls along the way.




At the top! I accidentally deleted the pic with me in it :(


The lighting is WAY off in these... super bright behind us and super dark on our faces... oh well you get the idea ;)




Marcia brought a little fan with a mister - AC liked being fanned and misted ;)




So curious!!






















Marcia was putting leaves in the stream and Anna would watch them float by - she LOVED the water... and it was COLD!!






She started putting her own leaves in the water.






















Heading back down




Looking a little tired ;) I think it's time to go home.