Weekend With Cousin P

Uncle KK and LA asked if we would watch cousin P while they went away for the weekend to celebrate their anniversary. Of course we said Yes! KFC loves her cousin P! We were scheduled to get her Friday morning... Thursday night after putting KFC to bed, Hubby got out of the shower to hear KFC crying, went in to find out she had gotten 'sick'! (Side note: I was ecstatic Hubby was finally here to take care of KFC! Some reason she always gets sick while I am all alone with her!) He brought her to our room because she was complaining of having a bad dream. I told her she could sleep in our room (on the floor). Around 12am she got sick again! Yay for Hubby again!!! At this point I hated to tell uncle KK & LA that KFC was now sick. KFC was fine the rest of the night, so we headed out that next morning to go get cousin P. We had prior plans to meet up with a friend and her son to go swimming at the sportsplex, but I was too afraid KFC would get another round of sickness while in the pool, so we canceled! We decided to do a 'wait and see' at home. By the time we got home, KFC was bouncing around like nothing had ever happened!

My uncle has recently put up a pool at his house and said we could come over anytime!!! Plus, he's only minutes from my house! I have wanted to take KFC swimming for awhile but never had a way to, YAY for family!!!. I decided to take the girls to his pool around lunch time. I  called Chessy to see if she wanted to swim too. Boy am I glad she came! The girls were scared to get in the water at first, so each of us held a kid till they were comfortable enough to swim on their own.

After about an hour of swimming, the girls took a break to eat a snack in the grass. We swam about 2 1/2 hours before we left!

The girls sleeping Friday night

Saturday night the girls were super board, so I found a recipe on how to make homemade cinnamon rolls. I asked them if they wanted to help, and they each quickly grabbed a chair. They help me for about 15 minutes until they heard the movie Cars come on the Disney Channel and the left me as quickly as they came! I finished the cinnamon rolls up by myself.

They turned out SO YUMMY! The girls basically only ate the top part off then they were done.

Sunday, Hubby wanted to take the girls over to grandma's house to let them swim in their 'baby' pool. As soon as we got there the clouds rolled in and started to rain! We left to head back home, but a few miles away it was completely sunny. So we decided to head back over to my uncle's pool. We swam about an hour before it started raining there too. By the time we got in the car and down the road, the rain was coming in sideways and was hailing! Glad we got out when we did!

Hubby throwing KFC in the air

and throwing cousin P in the air... she never let go of Ariel!

Here is one of my favorite pictures of KFC. I NEVER can get her to look at the camera, and if she does she is always making a face! I have to sneak taking a picture of her!

Hubby diving into the water. Yes I know it is totally not safe to do this in an above ground pool! At the beginning of our swim, he actually ran and did a flip into the water. But when I had the camera ready, he chickened out!

We kept cousin P till Monday since they were short a babysitter. There were a few arguments here and there but for the most part they got along great! I think after 4 days together they were both over one another, but later KFC mentioned she missed her cousin P!

Down By The River

Last Friday I took KFC to the Eno. I discovered a section of the Eno that I never knew existed. I thought I knew of all the entrances but I was missing one, or maybe more??? I dressed KFC in her bathing suit, packed our lunch, and off we went. After finding the correct entrance, we hiked down a little to find the river. We followed a child's laughter straight to the water. There was already a family down to the left of the beach area swimming where is was a little deeper. The water felt pretty good. The weather that day was also awesome! High was in the mid-80's with little humidity. A very nice break from the 100+ heat index we had and still have been having.

There was a little bench that we sat our stuff on. KFC quickly undressed to her bathing suit and into the water she went. After walking a few feet into the water, KFC told me "Mom, you need to tell the man not to put so many rocks in here!". Who is this 'man'... I guess the guy that made the river??? All I could do was laugh and think, wow have I really sheltered my child from this awesome place and she has no clue what a river is like! 

I guess people over time have come along and made a circle out of the river rocks. Water still ran through it so it stayed pretty cool and clear. I was afraid it was going to be still icky water. There were little fish in there swimming around. The bottom left picture is KFC peeing!!! Guess she got used to doing it in the ocean!

KFC had fun trying to catch the little fish with her cup, jumping in the water, and throwing big rocks!

After about an hour playing, we headed back to our bench to enjoy our lunch.

I have no clue what she was saying, but she was pretending to yell something and listen back. IDK?

After we ate and got KFC back in dry clothes, we headed down the river to a mini waterfall area. On our way back KFC spotted two boys swimming to the falls. I was surprised how deep it was because they couldn't touch the bottom. Their mom was following along with them but walking down the trail. She stopped and talked to KFC and was telling us that the other way was a jumping bridge that the kids love. We had to get going that day, but we will be back to check out the other trails around there! KFC is known to be very lazy and not wanting to walk any trails, but this day she had a blast running up ahead of me!

More Sewing Projects

Recently on a friends blog I saw where she made a 'crayon roll'. That got me inspired to make one too! I had seen a tutorial previously on one of my other favorite blogs but never had the need/want to make one. With our upcoming District Convention coming up in August, I knew KFC needed something new to keep her entertained. It took less than an hour to make, which is my kind of sewing project as I am a 'instant gratification' kinda girl when it comes to seeing the finished product of any sewing project! KFC was excited to see it when I was done.

Last week I went through the back-to-school section and loaded up some markers, crayons, and colored pencils  The crayons, skinny markers, and dry erase markers fit perfectly in the 'roll'. Dry erase markers... that explanation is for another blog post.

KFC didn't have anything to put her crayon roll in, so what did I make... A bag of course! I had a certain fabric in mind for the bag but I didn't feel like the drive to that particular store, so I settled on a fabric store closer. While they didn't have the fabric I wanted, I did manage to find two fabrics that I felt suited the needs for making a bag. Maybe another time I will get the other fabric and make KFC another bag - she really needs one to hold her library books in! The fabric I did choose wasn't marked correctly and just happen to be on sale! Total price of the fabrics was $6 and I had a ton of material left over for future projects!

KFC wanted her name on it, so decided a 'K' was sufficient enough. I wish I had added more embellishments  but I was trying to finish this in one night.

I also made the straps. I have finally bought a manual for my sewing machine so I could figure out how to work all the embroidery cams that came with it. I like the cams because they give you SO MANY options on different designs, but I have recently had the experience with using a digital sewing machine that could also do all these designs... but with digital, you just have to press the code for which one you want and it automatically does it for you...Very jeleous and now I really want a updated sewing machine... I know, appreciate what I do have! Here are the straps I made with the flower design down the middle.

Here is the inside of the bag. Its the same material inside as it is for the straps and the letter K. I am loving the inside material more than the out but the bag was meant for KFC and the outside is more kid-like.

Summer Beach Trip - Part Two

That Wednesday evening, Papa showed back up after driving back home to work for one whole day! He arrived about the time I was heading over to the beach to take pictures of KFC in the dress I made her. Papa goes to the beach in the evenings when the tide is low and looks for sharks teeth. Here is KFC and Papa looking for teeth.

Pictures of KFC in her dress

KFC drawing in the sand

Hubby got back down there that Friday night. Saturday we spent the day on the beach. That afternoon after showers and such, Hubby took KFC canoeing down the canal. Our neighbor down there was letting us use his canoes.

Sunday we were back at the beach till about 1pm before heading back to the house to shower, get packed, and head back home.

The tide was coming in and it was making a lake kinda area. It was about knee deep then a sandbar before where the waves were crashing. This is mine and KFCs favorite! You can play in a decent depth of water without any waves!

KFC got a Little Mermaid doll while down there, so she brought her to the beach for a little swim too!

Over the years I am always the one taking the pictures, meaning I am never in the picture... (not very fond of pictures being taken of me!). I have started to try incorporating me into them, that way KFC knows when she gets older that I did exist, and also I can somewhat control what pictures are taken of me!

Hubby was seriously trying to catch the little fish swimming in the shallow water! ....he didn't catch any :( The funniest picture is the bottom left where hubby is holding KFC back so she doesn't scare his fish!

Hubby flipping KFC over his head and also twirling her around

My Loves <3

Summer Beach Trip - Part One

This past Friday we headed off to the beach for a 10 day stay! Hubby has no more vacation days left so unfortunately he had to go back home for the work week. He will be joining KFC and I again this Friday night. There has been lots going on so far down here! First 3 days were spent on the beach during the day. Weather was good - sunny with occasional clouds, and very windy, which has been good as it makes it feel not as hot out. The fire burning inland has occasionally brought some smokiness but nothing too bad.

First night here, we hung out under the house. A few of our neighbors joined us down there - Very interesting conversations! Hubby and another guy decided it would be fun to take the kayaks out for a stroll in the canal. Yes, the pictures are very dark... because they decided this at 2AM!!!

J & J came down to the beach for the long weekend. Uncle KK called hubby to say that they him and another friend we driving down for the day on Saturday. We set up the tent early on the beach to claim our beach space, and we all spent the day on the beach. There is a lot of family that already comes to the beach regularly, but this weekend there is also more family that's in from out of town. Lots of people here!

There was this crazy sandbar going on Saturday. After walking a few feet, the ocean dropped off, then out of no where you were only ankle deep! But it made for some great calm water that KFC could play in! The picture on the top right shows the boys and KFC in the deep end while the rest of the family a few feet away only ankle deep!

Have you ever seen a Horse-Cow-Dog on the beach before? Well, we found it and it stayed directly in front of our tent. This dog was huge and very lovable! It went up to all of the people in their group and would love all over them. KFC was terrified of him!

Saturday night by uncle was having a cook out at his house. We left the beach about 3:30pm, took showers, prepared food, and headed 3 streets over for the cook out.

KFC has attached herself to a cousin(???) that's 16. She gives KFC a lot of attention and she LOVES her! There was a DJ at the cook out and Breezy had KFC dancing a few times! KFC also had some other kids her age to play with down at the dock. They caught little fish in a net and ran around everywhere.

The sunset that night had the sun glowing redish/orange

Sunday there was a parade happening down the Canal St. There was a lemonade stand set up for the parade goers and KFC insisted she needed some lemonade. She also asked when we got back to the house if she could sell Gatorade! Ummm NO

Street legal golf carts have been growing in popularity down here over the past few years. Everyone is using them now. Their perfect for driving around, it uses no gas and can be driven anywhere where the speed limit is 35mph or less. They are perfect for lugging beach supplies over to the beach and when you go to leave you never get sand into your smoking hot car! We were getting ready to leave for the beach Sunday when we saw the parade start. A ton of people had decorated their golf cart, but what I found super cute was the tiny powerwheels car made into a miniature golf cart! It was so cute that I just had to take a picture!

Sunday on the beach, KFC allowed J to bury her in the sand and make a mermaid body for her! KFC soon realized being buried in sand allowed for lots of sand to get into unwanted places... She was NOT happy!

There was two good findings in the ocean that day. Uncle Ugg found a gigantic shark's tooth and another cousin found a sand dollar!

Not much picture taking Monday at the beach. We didn't stay too long. It was extremely windy that day. I think our skin was crying for relief after 3 full days of sun and wind. We came back to the house and hung out.

More family came in Sunday from Boston and they have a little boy a year older than KFC. They play so well together! Tuesday they were playing under the house and pretended they were packing up the golf cart to take on a beach trip. They really packed this cart all by themselves, then pretended to be driving it! KFC's baby is also seatbelted in on the back seat.

Wednesday, the girls took a trip into Wilmington to shop at the bead store at the cotton gin down on the waterfront. On the way there was passed the local farmers market and had to stop. I hate I forgot my camera because there was some cool booths there. At the very end we found a little station where you could make some spin art for $1, can't beat that! KFC picked out the black paper, then picked out which colors she wanted. She chose yellow, orange, and pink and a drop or two of glitter paint added at the end. She liked it, but I thought it was really cool. Her picture is now hanging up on the fridge!

After the bead room, we all decided Chick-fil-A would be a great place for lunch on the way home. Everyone else had ordered their food ahead of me. When I got up to register, I ordered my salad and went to hand the money to the lady when she started ringing a cowbell!!! Very confused I asked the lady what she had just done that for and she said that I was the 100th customer and my meal was FREE! SCORE!!! You can't beat a fun day out with only spending $1 on homemade art and a free lunch!

Wednesday evening KFC wanted to wear her dress that I made her. We went over to the beach around 7pm to let her play and for me to take pictures of her. Those pictures will be a part of 'part two' for I am exhausted! KFC has been sleeping horribly the past few nights, I think she is getting over tired and its bringing out her sleep walking and nightmares. In turn, I am getting no sleep. Papa is back down here so hopefully I can catch up on some rest tomorrow!