Mama's Weekend At The Beach May 2012

The long awaited girls' weekend finally came on the weekend of May 18.  I was so excited to reunite with the same girlfriends that I had taken a trip with to New Orleans ten years ago!!  We had the best time on that trip, so we thought it would be fun to get together again!  This time we decided to go down to the beach condo for a weekend!  I was so excited but then the dread and anxiety set in!  I was going to leave my little girl! I started thinking all kinds of thoughts.  Will she cry for me?  Will her Daddy watch her as well as I do?  Will she get sick and need me?  Then I started to tell myself that she could live without me for two nights.  Surely I could get through this weekend with my girlfriends!  Well I did and we had the best time!  We had jello shots, breakfast with Bloody Mary's and Mimosa's. We enjoyed shopping, eating and sitting out on the beach!

Selina, Cathy, LeAnne and Virginia - Emerald Isle

Can you guess?

One of the girls, Wendy, could not go with us so we created our own "Flat Wendy" and took her everywhere!  She even got to meet Paula and Blaine.  Blaine was quite smitten as you can see in the picture! 

Jello Shots (Selina Made Them)

Wendy getting a shrimp burger at the famous Big Oak Drive In

Wendy getting ready for cocktail hour!

Celebrating Mother's Day At The Beach 2012

This year we celebrated Mother's Day down at the beach with our good friends Paula and Blaine Young! We usually only see each other once a year for several weeks!  Paula and Blaine vacation in the condo beside ours each year during the month of May.  We started off our weekend by cooking and eating Texas-style New York Strip Steaks!  They were huge! On Sunday, Mother's Day, I cooked brunch for everyone but especially for Paula!  As usual, Don helped with the cooking quite a bit!  We enjoyed Paula Dean's French Toast, Garlic Cheese Grits, Sausage, Fresh Fruit, Bloody Marys and Mimosas.   Do I need to say more?  We also had our fair share of butter but it was yummy!

Our Mother's Day Feast At The Beach

Paula & Blaine (Shown With Wendy) Another Story Coming Later! 

Paula and I got the chance to sneak away to the beach together to sit and enjoy our Mimosas while Blaine and Don watched Eden!  I think this is a new tradition like the Kentucky Derby!  We talked about being Mothers and Grandmothers and about our own dear Mothers.  This Mother's Day I am proud and thankful to be Eden's Mama at the same time I also missed my Mama!

Your mother is always with you...

She's the whisper of the leaves
as you walk down the street.

She's the smell of bleach in
your freshly laundered socks.

She's the cool hand on your
brow when you're not well.

Your mother lives inside
your laughter. She's crystallized
in every tear drop...

She's the place you came from,
your first home.. She's the map you
follow with every step that you take.

She's your first love and your first heart
break....and nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, Not space...
Not even death....
will ever separate you
from your mother....

You carry her inside of you....

Mama

My First Trophy At Age Three!

Eden Accepting Her Trophy!

Ms. Teri and Eden

Eden and her friends Cameron and Maely

Eden has been taking gymnastics for almost two years and loves it!  She has the most wonderful teacher & coach, Ms. Teri.   Ms Teri loves the little children and it is very obvious that Eden is one of her favorites!  Eden loves the trampoline and the bars the best!  She has learned how to do a tuck jump AND a straddle jump!   She goes twice a week on Monday and Wednesday nights at 6:00.  Mama and Daddy rush home from work to pick her from school and get her across town on time!  I don't know who was the most proud, her teacher Ms. Teri on the left or the owner of the gym on the right? I do know her parents are proud and can't wait to see what she does next!!

The Easter Bunny Finds Us At The Beach 2012

Eden was so excited about going to the beach for Easter this year!  We packed our car and took off on the Thursday night before Easter.  As we were driving down, Eden asked, "How will the Easter Bunny find us all the way at the beach?"  Good question for a three year old!  She also wanted to know how "she" would get into the condo.  She knew Santa came down the chimney but wasn't quite sure how a bunny rabbit would get in.  I told her that I thought "she" would hop right down the beach and up onto our porch and to not worry because the Easter Bunny was very good at finding children!

We celebrated all weekend long!  We baked cupcakes and colored eggs! We visited our friends Becky, Ron and Ian Sale.   We are having the best time watching this sweet little girl grow up!  It seems she is growing right before our eyes!  Today I looked at her as we were playing and saw a beautiful sweet little girl.  I still cannot believe that God chose us to be her parents out of everyone on this earth!  We are truly blessed and thankful! 

We Dyed Eggs!

Fishing In The Tub With My Fishing Pole

We Made These Cupcakes!

Fishing With Daddy

The Easter Bunny Found Me!

Our Atlantis Vacation In The Beautiful Bahamas!

Our bags are packed and we are headed to the beautiful resort Atlantis in the sunny Bahamas for five days! My Daddy earned this trip by working so hard this year! Thank you Daddy!  This trip is even more special because Ms. Johnnie is traveling with us!  This is her first trip to the Bahamas and we are thrilled to take her with us! 


We arrived on Sunday and headed straight to the pool right after looking at all of the wonderful fish swimming right there in the lobby!   Oh my goodness, the Atlantis is so grand and big!  Probably the biggest place that I have ever seen!  There are so many pools to choose from!  We explored so many  aquariums and natural sea life areas while we were there.  I got a chance to feed the sea turtles, stingrays and starfish!  I was chosen with four other toddlers to participate in the AquaTots toddlers program.  We also headed down to the beach to play in the sand.  It was beautiful!  The water was as blue as the sky!  I even got my hair braided by a nice lady! I am so excited about my braids and I cannot wait to show them to my classmates when I go back to school!  I never sit still for my Mama to brush my hair but I sure did sit still for those braids!  Amazing!


Ms. Johnnie took me to the movies, including Puss and Boots, right there in the resort while my Mama and Daddy went to several dinners. One of their special dinners was at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill restaurant. They said it was wonderful! I don't think it was as good as my movie and pizza down by the marina with Ms. Johnnie, though!  We saw all the beautiful yachts. We even ate one night at Johnnie Rocket's!  We also went to a pool party where I got to go on stage with two other little friends named Katy and Riley.  They are both Chinese like me!  We sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for everyone!  My Mama and Daddy were so proud.  I think they took a hundred pictures! I even got a chance to build a dolphin at the build-a-bear store.  It was a baby dolphin and I named it "Baby". 


Oh I forgot to mention that we had the best suite ever!  It had three balconies with views of the entire Atlantis resort!  It was so beautiful that I didn't even want to live the room when we first got there!   I thought the room was the vacation! 


I hope you enjoy all of the wonderful pictures! 




Eden, Mama, Daddy and Ms. Johnnie!

Taken From Our Room At Atlantis

"The Leap Of Faith Slide" - Taken From Our Room"

Eden On The Slide At The Children's Pool

Ms. Johnnie In The Giant Chair - Picture Taken By Eden

Eden Loves To Take Pictures With Our Camera.  She Has Been Taking Pictures Since She Was Two!

Beautiful Art Work In The Casino - Blown Glass

Eden Smiling A Little To Much! 

Ms. Johnnie & Eden playing with our new IPad

Eden looking At The Big Fish!

The Famous "Michael Jackson Bridge Suite"

Sea Turtles

Eden Holding A Starfish!

Eden Feeding Starfish!

Running On The Beautiful Beach - See My Braids!

Having Fun On The Beach! 

Giant Sting Ray!

Fish & Sting Ray

The Royal Towers Lobby

Our Beautiful Bedroom In Our Suite

Singing Karaoke With My New Friends Katy and Riley

We sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Eden's First Father & Daughter Dance!

Eden and her Daddy got all dressed up this Saturday evening to attend a Father & Daughter Dance at Marbles!  They both looked stunning!  Eden was so beautiful in her formal white and pink gown!  Her daddy was so handsome in his black suit with his pink shirt that matched Eden's dress!  Mama couldn't wait until they got home so that I could hear all about their special evening together.  They ate wonderful food and danced to music!  They also got to play at Marbles!  We go to marbles a lot to play!  This time it was all little girls's playing in their formal dresses as their proud Daddy's stood close by!   How cute is Eden playing hockey in her white gown! 

Eden what a special night to remember!  Your Daddy loves you so!

Happy Chinese New Year! (Year Of The Dragon)

We had a wonderful time celebrating the Chinese New Year!  This is the Year of the Dragon!  The Chinese celebrate the New Year by cleaning their house, preparing lots of food and visiting with family and friends. Children are handed red envelops filled with coins! We took Eden to an all day celebration at the fairgrounds.  We saw beautiful dances performed by both girls and boys!  We ate all kinds of yummy Chinese food including some beautiful deserts.  Eden got her face painted like a tiger!  She was adorable.  We were able to obtain information about area Preschools that focus on teaching Chinese.  We want Eden to learn and be able to speak Chinese! 

What a fun festive day!  Happy New Year Eden Olivia!