life through the iPhone.

i am usually pretty good about downloading my iPhone pics onto my computer.  but i hadn't done it in so long until yesterday morning.  there were over 900 pics/videos on there!  

so, i'm putting some on here to document some things from the past month or so (post st. john trip).  

randomness!

so this is august 3rd on the way to church.  the night before was hayes's first night without a paci!  she gave it  them to the paci fairy and the paci fairy left her a dollar and a fruit pouch.  and that was it!  no more pacifiers in the lucy house.  it was a little hairy at first, but must not have been too bad because i can't even remember all that much about it.  she wasn't happy going to bed for a few nights but now she's just fine.  everyone survived.  

sk started school august 18th so until then we continued with our summer fun….

aquarium (shark week)

swimming in the tidal pool on sullivan's.  we did this countless times throughout the summer.  kissy kissy sissy sissy!

we also went to the pool some.  not a lot of lounging goes on when we're at the pool but sk wanted to "lay out" some on this day.

we stayed up too late a lot of nights.  here we are at tcby at 9pm.  oh well!  so much for practicing the "go to bed early" routine before school started.  but you know what….she adjusted beautifully!  she is a happy happy girl in the mornings!  i thank God for this daily….it could be so different.  and it could change so i'm enjoying this happy time so much.

my bday was august 7th!  trey made reservations at a restaurant on IOP and we boated over to it.  these girls have spent countless afternoons on the boat this summer as well.  some days we'd go from the beach or pool to the house to regroup and then go meet trey on the boat.  no regrets from this summer!  i only let sk choose one camp & we all 3 went to vbs, but aside from that i just enjoyed these girls SO much!  and JUST when they were starting to become unenjoyable, trey and i went to st. john for 4 nights which was perfect timing.  we came back and continued our summer fun.

we are not above the redneck backyard type of fun either.  

sk met her fantastic teachers on august 13th.  her lead teacher is on the left…mrs. traywick and her assistant teacher is on the right…mrs. taylor.  wonderful ladies taking great care of my girl during her school days.  sk is extremely happy!

i have a million pics of the girls in this spot from this summer.   this particular pic was the friday before sk started kindergarten the following monday.  sharing secrets=)

and then off to school she went!  i've already documented it but here are some pics from the iPhone.

mimi was here and took a family pic (minus sleeping hayes) 

cutest little school girl

no tears from sk but dropping her off was hard for me AND her daddy!   he loves her so much=)

and in the room she went!  the very next day she assured us she could get to her room all by herself so that was it….trey has just dropped her off in the car line ever since.  and she has done great.  so thankful!  so thankful for big cousins, too, because i know that ava & bryce are part of the reason she has transitioned so well.  she is finally at big school just like them which is just the way she likes things!

the day sk started kindergarten hayes and i started a mommy & me ballet class.  hilarious.  she loves it!

hayes didn't start school until after labor day so we missed sissy a lot but still went on with our normal summer routine.  like visiting the beach & pool...

lunching poolside…she loves anything that has to do with the outdoors .

sk, hayes and i went out for ice-cream with some of her school friends to celebrate a successful first week on the friday after her first full week of school.  trey and i asked her what she wanted to do that afternoon and she said she wanted to take the boat to an island and swim.  so we did just that.

my fish

and really, aren't baby books (blogs) supposed to be full of things that embarrass the little people when they get big?  so here is one for sk and hayes who both think the word "hiney" is so funny right now anyway.  

when i find another minute to spare i'll document labor day weekend in folkston, labor day on the boat and then hayes's first day of school.

so there you have it, the end of our summer through the eyes of my phone.  i.love.summer.so.much.  

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.

FIVE!

i'm way behind but my big girl is due a birthday post!

she woke up a happy little five year old on july 6th.  she opened her presents from her mommy & daddy….

finally….an elsa dress!

new rod and reel from daddy (which she has already caught a shark on…maybe more on that in another post)

sk (with her wet nails from her new beauty kit) proud of her mulan dress, frozen night gown and sleeping beauty night gown.

ready for church

birthday lunch of choice: welcome to moe's

and later that afternoon we converted our living room to a movie theatre where sk and her friends (& ava & bryce!!) watched frozen, ate pizza & cupcakes & cookies & popcorn & princess gummies, played pin the carrot nose on olaf, and dance & played. 

mimi & papa came to celebrate….papa doesn't like to miss a good princess movie

i would make a horrible photographer…i didn't realize ava and sophia really couldn't be seen.  anyway, the birthday crew.  seems elsa is a strong favorite!  

movie time!  that is a coffee stain on our rug.  and it drives me completely insane.  trey says we'll replace it when our kids are older and quit making messes.  well really??? guess who spilled his coffee there!?!?

dancing during 'let it go' of course

see, there's papa…enthralled.  i wasn't joking, he really loves princess movies.  

sk had the best day from beginning to end…she loved her 5th birthday so much!  the day after her birthday, the girls and i drove down to our family beach house in fernandina for a week and we had so much fun!!  i'll have to do a post on that as well as other summer happenings.  both girls had their milestone appointments and all is well - will document soon.  for now i am busy packing for a little trip that i'm so so so excited about. ;)

sarah katherine lucy - you are FIVE!!  can't believe it.  can't believe in just a few weeks you are heading off to kindergarten….you are excited!! you are a sweet, creative, giving, caring, sensitive, quirky, sometimes moody, smart, and cautious.  but along the cautious lines you have really reached some milestones this spring/summer and made great gains in physical areas:  you are a very good swimmer!  lots of practice this summer has given you confidence and you can now swim all around the pool.  you can swing all by yourself - no help needed at all.  you ride your bike all around the neighborhood & to the pool - with training wheels but still….it was a big deal for you since you were terrified to ride when you first received your big bike for your 4th bday.  

more to come!  we love you SO much, sarah kate!