Beach Trip 2011

Tucker and Macy's FIRST BEACH TRIP! They both love the water. Love is an understatement for Tucker. You literally could barely pull him out of the water. It all started the first day - we had just arrived, and I thought it would be a good idea to take Tucker down to the beach and get him acquainted. What I did not realize is that he wouldn't be scared. Not in the LEAST. He squealed, and giggled, and played in the sand, and tried to dive into the waves, and couldn't wait to get completely wet, and wanted the waves to totally overtake him. The bigger the wave, the better. Guess he doesn't quite get the concept of undertow just yet!

The thing I will remember most about this first experience is him yelling (regardless of wave size) "Here comes a BIG ONE!" He is so stinking funny.

So let's move on to Macy moo moo. She adores the beach as well, albeit in a much more fabulous way. See below:

See? Superfab. She also spent a little time in the water, and when she got tired, she napped in a private tent under the big tent. She was definitely in her element.

Tucker also particularly enjoyed lounging, like Daddy, in the beach chair. He helped himself to apples from the cooler, and relaxed with a tall cold glass of apple juice. I think he got more relaxation out of this trip than anyone else.

Lee and I got lucky because we have two kids that travel really well. Aside from me having to crawl into the backseat to feed Macy, or changing Tucker's DVD on demand, they both traveled 4 1/2 hours each way without incident. We even all went shopping at Foley on the second day for several hours, and both kids really enjoyed themselves! Tucker got a new hat, Macy ate and took a nap...it was lots of fun. Great family time for just me, Lee and the kids.

But we can't forget about DeeDee , GeeGee, Hunter, Hannah, Aunt Bebop and David! We all went to The Hangout the first night - Tucker loved loved loved the chips and cheese, and Macy was mesmerized by the DJ playing all kinds of music, including YMCA.

We ended the trip with the quintessential pictures in white shirts on the beach. I love the way they turned out. Every family needs a set of these pictures. Enjoy:

DeeDee and GeeGee, we had a GREAT time! Can't wait for next year!! Thank you!

I can't wait for the beach!

I mean just LOOK AT THIS. She and I are going to have so much fun.

Here we go...

So I've been meaning...and meaning...and meaning to scrapbook. Been REALLY meaning to write in both kids' baby books. And it just hasn't happened. But what I have done is update statuses (stati?) on Twitter and Facebook, and then it dawned on me: you need a blog! So here we go.

Those two to the left are my kids, Tucker and Macy. I love that picture. It's from their first doctor's appointment together - Tucker's 2 year checkup and Macy's 6 month checkup. Tucker is being his usual dramatic self, while Macy is just hanging out, like she tends to do. Nobody likes this picture as much as I do, because the babies look sad to be at the doctor. But to me it represents who they are. Tucker's little face is going to bring all the memories of toddlerhood back to me when I look at this blog five years from now...when he's in second grade, and doesn't want me to walk him into school...or when he's sixteen, and asking to borrow the keys...I can look back on this first post and remember when he just wanted me to pay him some attention and "fix it." "Me me help!" That's how he asks for help right now -it's what he hears when we say, "Do you need help?" Mama fix it.

Let's talk about Macy for a second. She is a HEALTHY baby. Because Tucker rides in the grocery cart, I always "wear" Macy in the carrier. She is approaching one quarter of my own weight at 8 months old, and her little (well, I SAY little) legs hang out of the bottom of the carrier. I can't go anywhere (ANYWHERE do you hear me?) without SOMEONE saying "Oh my word, look at those thighs!" Well I love her chunky little thighs. She is the happiest baby since Tucker himself and I love the fact that she is so sweet and cuddly. Those cheeks have more sugar in them than a Krispie Kreme store, and I LOVE THEM!

And she's so funny! She just learned to splash night before last. It is so stinking funny...at first she was pretty timid with the whole splashing thing, and then Tucker decided it was hilarious. So now she splashes as hard as she can, and giggles the whole time, looking at Tucker to see if he's going to laugh too. Tonight, while Tucker was eating dinner at the bar, I was bathing Macy in the sink and we all three just laughed and giggled about Macy's splashing. Very fun night for mama!

Now about Tucker. He may or may not be a genius. As of the date of this post, he is just shy of 2 years 6 months old, and he can do the following:

Says his ABCs

Name what each letter stands for (M is for Monkey, etc.)

Counts to 50

Knows more shapes than me; here are a few:

Square

Triangle

Rectangle

Circle

Oval

Diamond

Crescent

Hexagon

Heart

Knows all colors

Can read the following words:

Tucker

Macy

Wave

Reach

Twinkle

Star

Hi

Pink

Arms

Eyes

Ear

Jump

Tiger

Elephant

Cat

Dog

Knows his full name (Tucker David Gladden)

Knows Macy's full name (Macy Maloy Gladden)

Can tell you his age (Two!)

Can tell you who is calling on the phone

Can select a specific person to call, call them, and put it on speaker

Can dial by request (as in "Tucker, call GeeGee" and he'll find her name on the list, and call as described above)

Drives his own mini golf cart

Can *almost* reach the pedals really well on his tricycle. He has to point his toes and it gets frustrating.

Ok, his brilliance makes me tired. I'll have to use the next entry to discuss how much he loves his daddy. And we love him!

So basically, I think this type of thing will be what you'll see on this blog. So if you want to know, subscribe! If not, that's cool too. It's going to be my online baby book. ;)