Dolphin Fun!

I was looking through the videos I had taken this weekend at the beach and this one is the best! No comments on the terrible filming job please; it was early and we hadn't eaten breakfast, so I was pretty shaky. You can still see the beautiful dolphins though!

Isn't that exciting?! I thought so. They were everywhere that morning. I always find it exciting and interesting to watch animals in their own habitat. Just to admire their routine, and in the dolphin's case, their elegance. I have been reading some rather interesting facts on dolphins since we have been back. Did you know that as soon as the calf is born, the mother takes the calf to the surface so it can take its first breath...what a good mom! Then, the calf will nurse from 11 months to 2 years, and after it is done nursing it will still stay with the mother until it is between 3 and 8 years old.

Let me just say, no way would I let Ellie nurse for 2 years. Sure, she kept it up for about 9 months, but that was long enough to damage Mommy's once-cute body. Although, I don't see many dolphins swimming around with any sort of sagging going on...they just firm right back up! Hmmm....very interesting. They usually only have one calf and twins are extremely rare. I guess our population would shrink quite a bit too if we were only programmed to have one baby. There's some food for thought!

So anyway, there is my two cents' worth on dolphins. :) Regardless of their reproductive habits, I am still in awe of their lifestyles and playful nature. I think they are just one of those mystical animals. You know, the ones that little girls fall in love with...like horses! Which, by the way, I love too! I am still a little girl at heart I guess.

More FB Pics

June already! I cannot believe half of 2008 has already passed. It is going to be Christmas again before we know it! I do have some fun stuff planned for the next few weeks. Josh and I are going to the Tim McGraw concert next Wednesday...supa excited about that! Then, a friend of mine is getting married June 14th and we all know how fun weddings are! The 4th of July is just around the corner which is exciting. Plus, I just got tickets for the Corey Smith concert July 19th...that's going to be a BLAST!! Then Lauren (my oldest sister) has her birthday on July 30th! So, that is the fun stuff we have planned; the rest of my time will consist mostly of classwork and real work. I guess all of that work makes the playtime more fun! I often times find myself wishing I had more time to play with Ellie though. Delayed gratification, remember? That is what I keep telling myself. I do take time for her, but I think every parent wishes they could have a little more time with their kids...at least while they are little, cute, and mute. ;)

So, Josh took some adorable pictures of Ellie on our Folly Beach vacation and I thought I would share them! These are too cute!

Lauren, the green outfit is for you and Judson...I thought you would appreciate that.















These pictures were taken during breakfast on Saturday morning. This was shortly after she spit up all of the orange juice she guzzled down. If you look closely at her shirt you can still see what's left. One of the many pleasures of having a toddler...lots of messy clothes!


Look at those eyes! Makes me melt. Don't ask me how I got such a beautiful little girl. What can I say? God loves me! :)


Can you say bored?! I have to say this series of photographs that Josh took are by far my favorite. I am hoping to get these framed together at some point (whenever I have some free time). I just love them! Thanks Josh!

Hmmm...how do I explain this one? Well, if you blow air out of your mouth with your lips closed; making the sound of a big truck...that is what she is doing. Her noise doesn't sound much like a truck, but I am hoping that gave you some sort of an idea. I am actually making the sound right now as I type in an attempt to better explain it. Not so great with those descriptive details yet. Sorry.

Well, that is it for now. I have more to post, but no time! Maybe this afternoon!

Ellie with her Papa D

I thought I would add these in separate from the rest. I know I mentioned before that Ellie has her Papa D wrapped around her finger, but she has everyone that way. Who can help it? This picture is just one of the priceless memories that will last a lifetime.

I have this short clip of Ellie at the beach. I know it isn't much, but it is still cute.

Believe it or not, there are still tons of pictures I have not shared. I will try to keep posting the cute pics over the next few days. I know I am not writing much, but there isn't much I can say about the photos that they don't already say for themselves. No worries, you will get to hear me ramble about myself again soon! :)

Random Cuteness

Yes, I am still adding fun stuff from our trip to the beach! There are too many cute things to just leave out. So where should I start? Ellie, where else? This first picture was taken Sunday afternoon. She was so precious! I know I have said that a thousand times, but there just isn't any other way to describe it. The first day we were there, there was a little boy playing beside us. He was about the same age as Ellie and he was digging head-first in the sand. She kept looking at him with amazement that he was covered in sand from head to toe. He was definitely a beach baby!

It's me! Josh took this on our EARLY Saturday morning walk. This was about the time we saw all the dolphins. I will be posting about them soon....I even have video! :) So yeah, this is me and a whole bunch of water.


This is my Ellie again, ready for breakfast! She left that hat on about...ummm...two seconds before deciding she did not want to wear it. Gotta love that outfit...sportin' the potbelly. She is so cute, I could just eat her up!



Have you ever seen a kiss so sweet? There are few things greater in this world than a daughter's love. I am really not much of the affectionate type, but when it comes to Ellie I just cannot help myself. She brings it out in everyone I think. They see her and just want to give her love. What a wonderful gift she is!

Surfing Adventure

So we did it...well, we tried to do it anyway. Let me just say that 5:30am does not come early enough when you are excited about doing something new. Josh and I woke up Sunday morning at Folly Beach, put on our swimsuits and headed out to the beach for our first adventures of surfing.

The sun was rising, the waves were crazy, the water was warm, and there we stood on the beach with a surfboard looking at each other like we may be nuts after all. After a little nervous laughter and several questions of who was going first, Josh headed out to sea! I stood on the beach, camera in hand, and watched as he made his way out on the surfboard. He actually made it look pretty simple, paddling his way through each wave. Then, after several attempts, he stood up on the board and rode the wave the best he could. It was so exciting! This first surfing picture is of Josh standing up for the first time.

Then it was my turn. A few simple instructions from Josh and I was ready to try it. So I grabbed the board and started wading through the surf. After climbing onto the surfboard, I started to paddle. Let me just say that the rental boards they give you to use are huge! My arms barely reached either side, so it looked like I was paddling with my fingertips. Then the first wave hit me and I thought I just got sprayed in face with water from a pressure washer. I am sure it was an interesting sight; me paddling just as fast as my arms would allow, hair all across my face, saltwater in my mouth and nose, me gasping for air and frantically blinking my eyes in hopes I would regain some sort of vision before the next wave hit me. I remember briefly thinking, "I remember Josh making this look a lot easier." Somehow I did it though, I actually made it to a spot suitable for catching a good wave. So, I turn around and see a wave coming and I start paddling again. At this point my arm muscles, which rarely get exercised, are burning with pain. Then I notice I am not even moving. You know when a big wave comes and it pulls you backwards? That was me, paddling just as fast as I could and not even moving. So the wave catches me... I'm in it! I'm going! Then I think, "Ok, time to stand up!" I put my arms on the board to assist with the standing up process and they collapse like Jell-O. Not kidding at all, they were so tired I barely got to my knees before the wave was over. So what did I do? I got up and headed back out for another try! That is me in the picture making it to my knees before flopping into the water.

This process continued for a few tries before I finally got one. Yep, I stood up....and that was about the extent of it, me standing on a huge piece of foam. It was so much fun! It was one of those things that once you got that feel of how it was supposed to work, you crave to keep trying it. I was pleasantly surprised at all the excitement that came along with it. Something I would definitely do again...LOTS!! :)

A bit of advice for those new surfers out there...the ankle strap can be tricky. Once I regained my balance in the water after falling off, my legs were swiped out from under me as the surfboard was taken with the next wave. It comes as a quick surprise if you aren't prepared for it.

This last picture is great! Really captures the intensity of the whole adventure. Definitely a reminder that you are all alone out there...paddling for your life. ;) I really wish Josh and I would have rented surfboards when we first arrived at the beach, it was well worth having the whole weekend. We will know next time though. SO MUCH FUN!

Folly Beach, SC

What an amazing weekend! I have a feeling I will be blogging about this vacation for a while. We all had such a good time. The drive from home to Folly Beach really only took about five hours. We left Friday morning and after stopping for breakfast, gas, the restrooms to change Ellie, and lunch, we finally arrived about 3:00pm. Trips are always longer with a little one, but it really wasn't a bad drive at all.

So when we arrived, we checked in to our condo and unpacked the car. Packing for Ellie is like moving the whole nursery, so unpacking the car took some time. Then we headed to the beach! Ellie was so precious. She was in awe of the beach and the ocean. She loved every minute of it. Josh and I were going crazy snapping pictures and taking video of her. I am sure the locals were probably thinking we had never seen the ocean before. Needless to say, I will be posting pictures from this trip for a while too!

Then we headed for the water. She was a bit frightened by the waves at first, but it did not take her long before she was giggling with excitement. Josh and I took turns holding her and jumping through the waves while the other took pictures. She was such a sight. She did not mess with the sand at first. When it got on her hands she would hold them out towards you like, "Here, get it off!" She would waddle her way down to the water with me to wash her hands. The longer we were out there the curlier her hair would get. I will post more pictures of her at the beach a little later. This post is just an overview of what the weekend agenda consisted of. ;)

So after an afternoon of playing on the beach, we headed inside to shower and prepare for dinner. We went to the Folly Beach Crab Shack the first night. We ate more than enough and then headed out to the pier for a nice evening walk. We were already wishing we could stay longer and it was only the first night.

On Saturday, we got up early to watch the sunrise and chitchat on the balcony. It was a beautiful sunrise...as usual at the beach. Then, Josh and I went for a walk on the beach before Ellie got up. Those early morning walks are always wonderful, but to add to the beauty there were several occasions we stood along the shore and watched the dolphins play just beyond the surf. It was perfect!

Once we finished our walk, Ellie was up and ready for breakfast. We headed to one of the restaurants in town to eat. That was another thing I found so enjoyable about Folly Beach, everything was within walking distance. The town was small enough that it took no time at all to walk from one side to the other. It was just a great vacation spot (or spot to live if the opportunity was there). So anyway, after breakfast we walked around town for a few minutes before heading back to get all of our beach gear ready for the day.

After the day out by the ocean, Josh and I managed to decide we were going to rent a surfboard. Surfing has always been something we both have wanted to try, so I guess once we saw that we could rent a board for $25 (for 24 hours) there wasn't anything stopping us. We rented the board late that evening with plans to try it early Sunday morning. Why early Sunday morning you ask? Well you see, less people=less audience for our first attempts. You will hear all about that later...that is a post all by itself!

To conclude our Saturday evening, we all got ready and headed for dinner at the Locklear's Pier restaurant. Dinner was delicious and the dessert was even better! A perfect end to another perfect day!
Sunday morning Josh and I got up early and tested our surfing skills or should I say the lack of skills. We had a blast! Then we spent the remainder of the day by the beach and in the water with Ellie. We ended up leaving Folly Beach about 5:00pm...tan and tired. It was a wonderful trip and weekend.