Summer is definitely here

SO, the weekend forecast here in Charleston calls for some record heat.  It was ONLY 91 here today, so I'm thinking we should appreciate the cool day based on what is coming our way! The girls and I had a big day...lots of playing outside (in the screened in porch) with the water table, with some crayons and coloring books and finally...our first popsicles ever! THEY LOVED THEM! The video shows the beginning...not the fact that I put them to bed tonight and their hands and faces are still stained red.  Maybe I should have started with orange?
The girls have been so good this week...our last week in our house! The movers come on Monday and so Sunday night will be our last night here.  My parents have graciously allowed us to crash at their place in Kiawah next week and they'll be coming over after the 4th so the girls can play with them and show them all of their new tricks! We'll head down to Florida next Sunday and move into our new house on July 9th! We are so excited. I'm really excited for our new house, but I'm mostly just excited to be together as a family again and stop this crazy commuting back and forth and having poor Matt living out of a suitcase! It will be so nice to have some normalcy again. I haven't really thought about how much I'm going to miss Charleston...I really am. But, we're so lucky that my parents are here a lot of the time and we always have a place to come and visit! I think we'll be visiting A LOT! We'll be back in August for Riley's big checkup appointment at MUSC.

So...Matt gets back tomorrow night and I can't wait. We'll be pretty busy getting organized this weekend, but I think we may try and take the girls to the aquarium. I took them last week by myself and they loved it, but they would have loved it even more if they could have gotten out of the stroller. (NO WAY was I going to attempt that one by myself in a crowd...I would have come home minus a kid for sure!). I'll make sure and post some pictures. Whatever we do this weekend I'm guessing it will be in the air conditioning! Stay cool everyone!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! We had a great day today and the weather here in Charleston couldn't be any more perfect.  We took Matt out to lunch and then spent the day around the house just having fun. (well...he did have to work in the yard, but the girls and I kept him company on the porch while he worked!). He is the most amazing dad in the world and Reagan and Riley are so lucky to have him for a daddy!!

Kiawah with Cooper

Laurie and Nathan have been in California all week for work, so Nana and BopBop brought Cooper over to Kiawah. He has been in heaven. Now, I know that Cooper loves his Mommy and Daddy more than anything in the world...but my parents are a very, very, close second. They have been having a BLAST with him and he's been having so much fun that he hasn't been sad at all! He was so excited to have the babies come and play at the beach with him, so yesterday I took the girls out and we went to the baby pool and then to the beach. He was so great with them and the girls did so well. They LOVED the water and the beach and didn't even eat any sand! Phew! Reagan could have stayed on the beach with her purple shovel all day long.   Cooper took such good care of the girls and loved helping his favorite Aunt Stacey too! I miss him already. Here are some super cute videos from the day. Ignore my commentary...I was videoing to send to Matt and Laurie (and it sounds like I'm in a wind tunnel on the beach...it really wasn't that bad but I took the video on my phone! You'll get the idea though!) Come back soon, Cooper!!!

Hanging out in Florida

SO much has happened in the past couple of weeks! Not only did we sell our place in Charleston, but we found our house in Jacksonville! Matt met with our realtor a bunch of times after work, while the girls and I were still in Charleston. We had a ton of houses on a list for him to see and he was able to narrow things down for us for when the girls and I arrived.  We looked at quite a few and nothing really seemed "just right" for us.  Until one came on the market the night before we went looking again, and it was perfect! We're so excited, made an offer (and after a few times back and forth...) it was accepted and we move in on July 10th! WOW! So much to do and so little time....it's all happening so fast! The house will have a playroom for the girlies and even comes with a swingset out back! The sellers mentioned to us through their realtor that 2 one year olds and an 18 month old live across the street, so that made me so excited! I see play-dates in our future!

Nana Susan came to visit us in the condo too!!! Anthony had business in Orlando so she tagged along and drove over and spent a few days with us. It was such a big help and we had a great time! We played at the condo, went to St. Augustine and met Matt for lunch at TPC Sawgrass. The girls and I had so much fun with her...I know Matt wishes he could have played with us too! I swear, it has rained more in Florida since we have been there than I think it has in 20 years. Everyone there keeps telling me it's not normal. I hope they're right!!!  BUT...one day after a storm, Matt spotted this beautiful rainbow and we took this picture off our back deck. It went all the way across the sky! So gorgeous!!!! Can't wait to get settled in Jacksonville and explore all around the city and meet new friends!

Enjoying Charleston

Since we don't have too much longer here in Charleston on a full time basis, we're trying to enjoy every minute that we have! We went downtown today (it was an absolutely gorgeous day!) and went to the Farmer's Market in Marion Square. It's enormous and we had a blast. I'm regretting that we didn't do it more often, but I think that the girls are at a perfect age right now. There were so many things for the girls to look at, including lots of other kids in strollers.  We brought a picnic and had lunch and bought some fresh corn and flowers and then headed home. We grilled out tonight and then took a walk around the block. The girls are getting really good at walking...here's a little video from the very end of our walk (they were getting pretty tired by that point!). The weekends just go by way too fast!

A very fun day

The girls and I took a trip to Hilton Head today to visit with my Grandma and Grandpa (the girl's Great Grandparents!) and it was such a fun day!  We visited at their house for a bit and then went out to lunch. Without having even told her, Grandma bought the girls an Elmo book (he's by far our new favorite) and they are in love with it. They call him "Melmo" and it's just about the cutest thing ever.  They had fun exploring their house for the first time since they're walking everywhere...and Grandma emptied out a basket for them to play with and Riley loved it. She carried it all over the place.  Here are a couple of sweet videos from the day since I forgot my camera! Can't wait to see them again.
In other news...we've sold the house!! YAY! Our inspection was on Wednesday and all went well. We close on July 5th (it's going to be here so soon!!!). Matt has been meeting with a realtor after work and has a few great houses for me to see in Jacksonville when I go back next week. He gets home tonight after the girls go to bed...can't wait to see how excited they'll be in the morning when Dada gets them up! Have a great weekend everyone!