Grandma Rogers Comes to Town!

This past weekend, Grandma Rogers got an e-saver and flew to Charlotte on Saturday morning. Caroline and her Daddy greeted her at the airport and I heard that Caroline gave Grandma a warm welcome with a big hug!

I missed most of Margaret's visit because I was away for a little girl time. Some of my friends and I had what we called a "24 hours away" on Friday night and stayed overnight at Alexia's in-laws house in Columbia, SC since they were out of town. We had so much fun going out to dinner and chatting until 1 am. We slept in on Saturday morning, had a leisurely breakfast and then went to the movies before returning home. We all enjoyed our little retreat and each us of said we needed another night- just when we were starting to get relaxed, it was time to go home! Thanks Daddy for taking good care of Caroline while I was gone. Thank, also, to Grandma Rogers for providing entertainment as well! :)

On Sunday morning, Ben and Grandma took Caroline to Davie Park while I went to teach Sunday School. From the pictures it looks like they had lots of fun! Caroline wanted to try the monkey bars, so Grandma helped her accomplish that task.

Caroline was sad to see Grandma go, and started crying after her when we said our goodbyes at the security check point. It was a short visit, but we are glad you got to come, Grandma! Caroline was really concerned about you leaving your jacket in our car. The whole way home, she kept saying in a fretful voice, "She left her jacket!"
Here are some other pictures from this weekend. Thanks for checking in!

Little monkey!

Caroline's sassy look

A Girl Needs Her Accessories!

Lately, Caroline has been very in to wearing headbands. Ever since her hair has become bow worthy, I have been putting one in her hair. But, we've moved on the headbands for change, and this new look makes her seem so grown up! I promised her Grandy that I would take some pictures of her wearing a headband, so as promised, here they are. She is also in to wearing bracelets and necklaces and has collected several. Thank you, Ali, for letting us borrow your bracelet! It's Caroline's favorite lately.

I love my new look!

Accessories are so much fun!

Caroline has her own ideas about how to wear headbands. She thinks it's stylish to wear more than one. I managed to capture a picture of her wearing two at one time, but she has been putting on three or four!

Caroline's unique style

I am making a fashion statement!

Clowning Around

Last weekend, we went to a birthday party for Caroline's friend, Lindsey, who is also our neighbor. Caroline had a great time, and had her first encounter with a clown at the party. Personally, I have always thought clowns were creepy and was always scared of them as a child. But this clown was not the least bit scary, and she was lots of fun. When she walked in the yard, I thought that Caroline would be scared and start crying, but she was totally enamored by her! This surprised me since she is usually scared by anyone in a costume.

Doing a few tricks...

Caroline watching with Kaitlyn, Lindsey's sister

I like Corky!

Corky the clown and Lindsey, the birthday girl

I'm afraid Caroline has inherited my sensitive ears. Lately, any sort of loud noise bothers her. The only part of the show she didn't enjoy was when Corky blew a whistle a few times. Caroline kept her hands over her ears until I told her that the whistling was over. Those of you who know me well, know that I am the same way with noise. Maybe not about something as small a whistle blowing, but I could never handle loud fireworks on the 4th and always had to stay inside.

That's too loud!

Caroline loved petting the bird

Happy Birthday Eva!

Today is Eva's 2nd birthday! Happy Birthday Eva! Wish we could have been at your birthday party! Caroline sends her happy birthday wishes to you too. We love you!

Happy Birthday, Ben (and Daddy)!

Happy Birthday, Ben and Daddy! Caroline could not wait to blow out the candle and have a cupcake with Daddy tonight. We got her a vegan cupcake from Earthfare so she could celebrate with him. I told her that she had to eat her dinner first and that we had to wait until Daddy got home to eat it. She insisted on sitting in her high chair until he got home! I guess she thought I might change my mind about letting her have the cupcake (really, I'm not that mean!) She sat there for 45 minutes before Ben got home! We did the singing and cupcake as soon as he walked in the door.

We also celebrated with friends this past Saturday night. Some friends of ours, Jason and Elizabeth, joined us, as Jason also has a September birthday. Elizabeth and I decided to have a joint party for the guys, though I'm not so sure they really wanted to call attention to themselves or their birthdays!

We had a small group of friends and enjoyed just hanging out with uninterrupted conversation. :) I didn't do a good job of taking pictures at the party, and only got a couple before our guests got there. It was a fun evening. Happy Belated Birthday to Jason!

Jason and Ben

Me and Elizabeth

Hope you enjoyed your day, Ben! The big 3-3!

Labor Day Weekend in Tennessee

We went to Polk County, Tennessee for Labor Day weekend, and I'm just now getting around to blogging about the trip. Ben's family has an annual family reunion every Labor Day weekend on the Ocoee River. We meet at a place called Welcome Valley Village. It is such a beautiful place, with cabins right on the river and a pavilion where everyone gets together. We go every year and look forward to it. On the day we arrived in Polk County, Caroline got to pick some blueberries with Papa Sam. Yes, she is still a big fan of them!

These are ripe for the pickin', and I can't wait to eat them!

Caroline's Uncle David also took some wonderful pictures and captured some great close up shots. Thanks, David for taking all of the pictures! He does an amazing job.

Caroline swinging

Can you hear the ocean?

Caroline giving her serious look

Caroline doesn't have a serious look on her face too often!

Caroline and Daddy- I am not sure what he is telling her?

Down by the Ocoee River... the first night of the reunion (me, Caroline and Eva, Aunt Wendy)

There are lots of people here!

Caroline and Eva entertained themselves by jumping off the steps (with assistance, of course!) Here they are with Wendy and David

Caroline and Eva had a blast together.. here is Eva making faces at Caroline!

We're cousins, but also friends! One of their many moments of laughter together.

This is fun!

Caroline took over Eva's boots- goes nicely with her outfit, huh? :)

Eva picking blueberries- what a sweet face!

We have fun no matter what we are doing!

A serious blueberry picker!

On Saturday morning, a group of the family goes rafting down the river. I have only been once, and that will probably be my last time for awhile! As much as I would like to say that I am adventurous and fearless, that is just not the case. Rafting was a little too nerve wracking for me. So, I stick to tubing instead and find it very relaxing. We went tubing on Sunday afternoon as we always do. However, we got a little unwelcome surprise along the way- rain! When we started out, there were sunny skies. We still had about 45 minutes left on the river when it started pouring. A cold rain it was! We were freezing and miserable- and completely stuck! Ben's dad took a picture of us as we were about to get out.

I loved seeing the look on Caroline's face as she watched us get out of the water. I had been telling her to stay away from the river the whole time and she looked at me like I was not supposed to be in the water. After getting into some dry clothes, we ate another good meal and socialized a bit more. I had to go back to the house early on both nights because Caroline was pooped by 7:00. She had so much excitement and fun playing with Eva, she wore herself out!

We made it down the river.. through the rain and all! Me with Ben and Abigail (Ben's second cousin)

Happiness is a day with Grandma!