End of Summer...

So sad! I know Labor Day is only the unofficial end of summer, but just the same there is a certain sadness when Labor Day rolls around and you look back at the summer, that almost always has just flown by. And mine has, I literally feel like we were just celebrating Audrey's 1st birthday, and that was month ago, right??

We have been low key so far this weekend, which was much needed for all of us after last week. We did make it to the beach today, which I was really hoping to do, as it is more then likely our last beach day of the season. And it was perfect weather for it! 85 degrees and sunny, I think I may have actually gotten some color to last me a little bit... Audrey is fully enjoying the beach now, which is so good to see. She ran at the water and enjoyed standing there while the waves came in and out. She loves the beach chairs, which is great, but I can't get her to sit in the darn thing to save my life. She really is lucky she is so darn cute...

I got a couple of pictures of her yesterday in her new dress from Aunt Jaime that match her new shoes from Grammy just perfectly. We were just out running errands all day, but she should look cute while we are doing that, right? I figure since I certainly don't most of the time, and it really helps for the times like yesterday when she accidentally spilled an entire thing of blueberries on the floor of the grocery store and some poor guy has to clean them up. Classic... The picture at the top is her just chillin' her Adirondack chair from Grandma Lutz.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! I'm so excited that we still have one day left, shouldn't all weekends be 3 day weekends???

Magic Kingdom...

We braved Magic Kingdom last Wednesday during Fay and lived to tell about it... We had planned for awhile to go with both Grandma's and Audrey & I to Magic Kingdom, and we woke up Wednesday morning and decided to keep our game plan (since Fay wasn't going away and we mine as well try right?). So we got ponchos and headed off to Magic Kingdom. Needless to say it rained the entire time, but we did manage to have a good time just the same. Audrey did not seem phased by the rain, with her stroller soaking wet, and us making her wear this poncho. I actually think she wasn't quite sure what to think about the whole thing, but she never complained.

We only managed to do 2 rides, It's a Small World (Barbara's favorite) and the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (my favorite). Audrey was pretty scared when we started It's A Small World, but by the end she was pretty into it and may have been able to go again if we had let her.

The beginning of the ride...

The end of the ride....

I had made reservations at the Crystal Palace to have a character lunch with Winnie the Pooh and Friends because I thought Audrey would get a kick out of it. We had to cancel our initial reservations, but we managed to get in for dinner. All I can say is Audrey was less than thrilled with the characters.

Here was her favorite part of Magic Kingdom, eating ice cream...

Here is her least favorite part... I wish you could see the fear in her eyes, she HATED these guys!

All in all is was a great day. We had to get the shot of Audrey in front of the castle to prove we were actually there. She was so tired by that point that we just wheeled her stroller over and took the pictures...

Here is Audrey with Grandma Lutz trying to watch the parade. We waited and waited in the rain for the parade to start and finally gave up and left. Grandma Lutz would have stayed...

Here are the Grandma's with Audrey.
Me and Audrey in front of the Pooh display...

And then of course the pre-requisite Audrey passed out after a long day picture. We barely started walking down Main Street to the exit and she was passed out....

Karen & Vinnie's Big Day...

Charlie's sister Karen was married to a wonderful man on Saturday, Vinnie, and is now a Mrs. Karen Paolozi! The wedding was beautiful and so them as everyone said. They are both golfers and met and got engaged at the resort/golf course that the reception was at and where all the guests stayed, the Omni at ChampionsGate. The day for the girls started with getting our hair done (and some of us make-up). The salon was where Vinnie's sister has gone forever and everyone's hair turned out great. The girls met for lunch and then we made our way to the church to get ready and have pictures taken. We took a party bus, that was a bit late but arrived none the same which was fun. Here is Karen on the ride over to the church, calm and collected as always.

It did start raining right when we were going to the church, but we made it in under umbrellas with no issues. The photographer even snuck some pictures in outside. It rained as the guests arrived as well, but it didn't put a damper on anything. The church was full and the ceremony went off without a hitch. Audrey even made it walking down the aisle 1/2 way before I had to pick her up and walk the rest of the way. Not bad. Here is the wedding party on the party bus on the way to the reception...

At the reception, Audrey had tons of kids to play with. Here is a great picture with the Beal kids, who are the grandchildren of family friends from Louisville...

Here is the only shot we got of the 3 of us. Audrey is thrilled taking the picture as you can see...

While the adults were eating, Audrey and her cousins Carly and Avery had a BLAST on the dance floor. They ran and crawled around for a good 1/2 hour and really enjoyed themselves. It was way too cute. Poor Avery wanted to walk SO bad, but she got around just fine crawling.

The wedding was perfect and I had a blast haning out with all of the family and friends we don't get to see very often.

Karen and Vinnie are on their way to their honeymoon as we speak in St. Lucia. Congrats guys, we are so happy for you and wish you a long and happy marriage!!

We Survived Fay...

Well we returned yesterday evening from our trip to Orlando and I am happy to say that we survived Fay! She certainly was an unwanted guest ALL week (it rained from Tues - Fri pretty much non-stop, with some good showers on Saturday) but all of the guests made it in from out of town and the wedding was a huge success!

Audrey and I's sun bathing and pool visits were pretty limited (I believe I am whiter then when I went down), but Audrey got some major bonding time with both Grandma's which was priceless... We stayed at a timeshare condo with Charlie' mom for the 1st couple of days, then my mom got in Tuesday and we stayed with her a couple of days, then Charlie and I moved over to the hotel where the wedding was and Audrey spent some time with my mom while Charlie and I participated in all the wedding activities. Audrey had a great time all week and enjoyed the wedding events more then I had thought. As long as she could run around she was fine, which is not tiring at all, ugh... She made it at the rehearsal dinner til 8:30 and the reception til at least that long, quite a trooper as many of your know this is WAY past her bedtime...

Side note on the flights with Audrey. Not so much fun. She was ok on the way down with me, but she only slept about 20 minutes total for the entire 2 1/2 hour flight and wasn't so excited to sit in my lap for the rest of the time. I sat next to some very nice and patient people though which helped. Coming home yesterday with all of us together was not fun at all. She actually slept for 1 1/2 hours, but the time she was up she was miserable. But we made it, and Charlie is really looking forward to flying by himself with her in a couple of weeks to go to Memphis... Ha...

The Dennison Family at Karen & Vinnie's Rehearsal...

Sadness & Joy...

Charlie's grandmother, lovingly called MiMommy by the family, passed away yesterday. She had a heart attack a couple of weeks ago and has been fighting in the hospital ever since. She was a proud, wonderful and loving woman and I am honored to have known her for the time that I did. We had an instant bond from the minute we met, as MiMommy was a sister of mine, a Zeta Tau Alpha. Audrey was able to meet her last October when we made a trip down to Memphis to visit, and that trip will never be forgotten. And neither will she, we love you MiMommy!


As this sadness happens, there is reason for great joy and celebration as well. Charlie's sister, Karen, is getting married next Saturday! Audrey and I are headed down to Orlando in a couple of hours for the week for the festivities. We are hopefully going to hang out by the pool, spend some quality time with both Grandma's, go to Magic Kingdom, and so much else. There will be plenty of pix and commentary when I get back, don't you all worry... Btw, in case you were wondering, I'm dreading the 3 hour flight, alone, with a 14 month old that can't sit still, ugh...

Swing Set...

We had the good fortune of inheriting a swing set a couple of weekends ago (my Aunt & Uncle's neighbor was looking to get rid of his and all we had to do was drive out there and take it down, perfect!), and it couldn't have been more perfect timing as Audrey is really into swings and slides right now. While Charlie hasn't had time to put the entire thing together, he did get the slide up yesterday and needless to say Audrey LOVES it! I was very nervous having her go down by herself as it's pretty high and she goes really fast down it, but she was fine. These pictures are priceless, and show just how much fun she was having...