Sand and Water Table

I've been itching to buy Charlotte a sand and water table for the longest time. I kept trying to hold out for a coupon, but I finally found a deal online and just went for it. We put it together outside one night and the next day I told Charlotte that Mommy and Daddy had a surprise for her. I told her that a surprise is a treat that you didn't know about. We walked outside and she walked right up to it and kept saying "surprise?" "surprise?". Yes, that is your surprise. She jumped right into touching and splashing in the water part but I had to show her how to move the sand around. She LOVES this thing! It is the first thing she goes to now, and the first day we owned it I read an entire magazine while she played by herself. I love spending time with Charlotte outside, but it was so nice to sit in the sun and read while she was having fun with her new surprise!
















Hey Mom, I see you!



Charlotte's new favorite word now is "surprise". She will open a book and say "surprise". She will eat her snack and say "mmm....surprise". She even walked up to the pantry and pointed saying "surprise please". What a stinker!

Puppy love

Charlotte loves her doggies! And I think they love her too!

Yummy!

A spring time treat.....

I made chocolate covered bananas and froze them. Charlotte thought it was the best thing ever....she ate the whole thing and part of mine!

Bat & Ball

I'm not really sure what Charlotte will be in to as she gets older, but one thing is for sure- we're going to give her lots of practice with everything until she finds something she loves!

Charlotte's first cheeseburger.....yum!

Woodfire Grill

Bryce and I are both fans of the show "Top Chef". I get my reality tv kick from it, and Bryce is the chef of our house so it makes us both happy. One of the finalists in last season's Top Chef was Kevin Gillespie a chef and owner at Atlanta based Woodfire Grill. Bryce really wanted to go to this restaurant for his birthday back in February, but the earliest reservation we could get was three months out! We set up a date night for our Spring Break and Bryce's parents came to our house to watch Charlotte so we could stay out late and enjoy the evening away.

This was a restaurant unlike any I have ever eaten at. Just looking over the menu gave me some heart palpitations because I am a pretty picky eater. I agreed with Bryce that he was a well known chef that could probably make just about anything taste good so I would try to go outside of my comfort zone. Out of my comfort zone indeed! Bryce signed us both up for the 5 course chef's tasting. Which basically means five courses come to your table and you don't know what they are ahead of time. It is whatever the chef wants to make for your table. We decided to do the wine pairings for each course as well and sat back to wait and see what would come out. It is true, everything did taste really good but I certainly tried things I have never eaten before and will probably never eat again! Our first course was shrimp in a puff pastry that they called a tart. It was delicious and possibly one of my favorites, even though I never order shrimp. The second course was scallops and mushrooms, again two things I NEVER eat but if I had a blindfold on could have fallen in love with! Third course was a potato and leek soup paired with my favorite wine of the evening. It was a Riesling that tasted like pear juice. YUM! Fourth course was Pork Belly (I know, I know-another blind fold needed) and pork loin with Grits. Oh my, even for a southern girl those were the best grits I have ever tasted. The pork was Bryce's favorite. Fifth course was lamb with fingerling potatoes. We also had dessert which was a pistachio cake (who knew?!) with vanilla mouse and apricots drizzled in chocolate. I am a chocolate lover, so this one left me wanting more but it was a beautiful part of the experience. We had such a good time together!

We came home and Bryce's parents said Charlotte was perfect. Ate all her dinner, took a good bath, and fell right to sleep. It was so nice to come home and not have to worry about anything! Our job was done!

Big Helper

A walk in the park

We took Charlotte to feed the ducks after dinner. She has really worked on getting her "quack" down! It is the cutest thing!







"Quack!"







We finished off with an ice cream....I sure do love Spring Break!

Yellow River Game Ranch

We went to the Yellow River Game Ranch with Dennise (my friend from work) and her children. I have passed by the sign for Yellow River several times but I had no idea what kind of animals were lurking behind that sign. It was the perfect day for spying on some animals not too hot but nice and sunny. Charlotte has been obsessed with animals lately so I knew she would love this place and she did!


From the moment we stepped in she was zeroing in on all the animals she saw and trying to imitate their noises.


At one and a half, Charlotte has pet her very first deer.


You can bring your own fresh produce and the animals eat right out of your hand. Notice Charlotte's mouth is open as she shows the goat what to do!


Charlotte was not scared AT ALL. I was a little nervous until I realized they are so used to people all day every day that they are really gentle.


Charlotte looking like a big girl with Grace (5) and Max (3)


She's meowing to a bob cat!


Charlotte with her shades on checking out a deer. He liked lettuce.


This one got a little too close for me, and I ended up scaring Charlotte!


Quack Quack!


The Cutie Pies


Getting down and dirty to check out the rabbits.


We ended our day with a picnic and one of Charlotte's favorites.....a big slide!

Charlotte's second Easter

This Easter was so much different from the last. It was wonderful to feel like we were a family when we celebrated Easter last year with Charlotte but this year really took on a lot more meaning for me. We made Easter sugar cookies, bought an Easter basket and plastic eggs, and even watched "The Easter Beagle" with Snoopy and Charlie Brown. The most important change though was sharing with Charlotte the reason for the day and how blessed we are. I thank the Lord every day for all I have been given.