lollipop girls.

we had some birthday beach pics taken of the girls in july.  i'm still sorting through them but i love these tutu/lollipop pics.  sk the actress in full effect….  

celebrating 5 and 2 with lollipops and tutus and the beach and sweet summer time. 

 lucky little charleston girls!

sarah kate goes to kindergarten.

sarah kate has completed her first week of kindergarten!! 

we woke her up at 6:30 so that we could leave the house by 7:20.  she is normally a late sleeper but she very happily hopped right out of bed.  this was the case ALL week!  she was excited each morning….oh how i wish that excitement would stay forever!!  i used a chalk paint pen to make her sign.  she has wanted to be a doctor for a long time now so i knew she'd say that.  she has a fabulous teacher and assistant teacher - we are blessed and thankful.

what a cutie pie!  there were no tears (from her).  she took it all in quietly and i wanted to just die when it was time for us to leave her.  but she got in the car monday afternoon all smiles and full of energy!  my mom was in the car with me and asked what her favorite part was and she said, "i loved everything!"

i have a few more pics from my cell phone that i'll add later (maybe….let's face it, i'm not a good blogger anymore!)

we are so proud of sarah kate!  for being so brave and positive and happy and for just enjoying herself! such a blessing.  hayes and i do miss her during the day, but the time goes by fast.  we are enjoying some one on one time…sk and i had 3 years of that so now it's h's turn i suppose!  it has been HOT here so hayes and i have either gone to the pool or beach everyday since tuesday!

i know the newness of kindergarten will wear off and we'll probably go through tired days, grumpy days, and off days, but for now i'm just going to enjoy every second of my extremely HAPPY kindergartener!!  we are loving her stories from school.  more to come (hopefully)!

st. john

trey and i went to st. john for 4 nights.  it was heaven.

we took the girls to folkston on july 24th and flew out of jacksonville the next morning.  it was our anniversary trip and i'm so glad we decided to go to caneel bay.  what an awesome resort!  

it was a trip full of relaxation!!  aside from snorkeling each day and hiking in the mornings, we really just relaxed on the beautiful beaches, read books, talked, floated in the beautiful crystal clear waters, sipped on pina coladas, enjoyed massages in open-air beach cabanas, enjoyed a sunset cruise, ate scrumptious dinners and of course enjoyed all the beauty & sunshine that was all around us!  

trey getting his float on ;)

our resort is a national park as well so there were friendly donkeys, deer, iguanas and mongooses all around.  

these iguanas were lounging by the bar.  i also spotted some on a basketball court when we went off the resort to walk around the town of st. cruz.  they are big!

hiking

sunset cruise (in the cabin because we went through some rain - only rain we had the whole time thank goodness!!!!)

selfie on the first night

then we wised up and decided to put the camera on auto - big dorks, but how else do you get "couple" pics to document that yes, you went on a kid-free vacation and no, it was not a dream??

our underwater snorkeling pics are on another computer, but i'll add them when i can.  we saw so many sea turtles! it was so fun!

we had the best time and i'm so thankful that we got to go!!  we are REALLY thankful to my parents for keeping the girls.  we know it was a lot to ask and that they can be a handful.  they had a great time!  they swam and swam, went to build a bear, played at home and outside, and went shopping for new cowgirl boots!  going to jax twice meant going to moe's twice so sk was in heaven.  we are very grateful for the time we were able to spend together in such a beautiful place while our girls were with their beloved mimi & papa.

now back to reality. back to getting sk prepared for kindergarten….another post for another day.