Our 2010 Summer Trip to Asheville

As I mentioned in my last blog, we recently took a trip to Asheville to visit family. As you can see in the pictures we celebrated Great Poppy’s 88th birthday and had a wonderful time with our family….and took lots of pictures. Ty loves picture time – no matter how unhappy he is, he always smiles for pictures.


When we got home from North Carolina I played with Grammy, who visited us for the whole week. I had a blast with Grammy and I was sad to see her go.

Mommy, Ty, Me, Grammy and Aunt Barb

Family shot:  Jessica, Great Grammy, Great Poppy, Me, Ty and Mommy, Aunt Lori
(Back row) Lisa and Mason, Great Aunt Janet, Great Uncle Mike, Great Aunt Barb, Great Uncle Talmadge, Grammy, Drew, Great Uncle Don and Great Aunt Fran!

Grammy and Aunt Barb!  Nice sister pic.

Great Uncle Don and Great Aunt Fran with Ty.

Ty with Great Aunt Janet and Stweart.

My Grammy, Ty and Great Grammy.

Me helping Poppy open presents at his 88th b-day party!

Grammy and her grandkids.

Great Poppy and Ty

Great Grammy and Ty

Great Uncle Mike and Ty

Great Grammy, Great Poppy, Ty and Me!

The Dog Whisperer

Monty is still my best buddy in the entire world.  He is the best big dog that ever lived.  I love you Big Monty!

Holly with Aunt Janet's dog, Stewart.

Holly with the lost dog, Joe.

A couple of weeks ago we had a terrible thunderstorm. As Mommy and I drove home, we came across a little dog wandering in the middle of the street through the pouring rain. Mommy stopped the car, opened the door, and the little dog jumped in. Unfortunately, the little dog did not have an identification collar so we could not immediately return him to his owner. He was obviously lost and scared so we drove him back to our house.

The little dog immediately made himself right at home at our house and Mommy began to email the neighborhood in search of his Mommy and Daddy. Mommy explained to Daddy that she could not just leave that little dog all alone in the rain – what was she supposed to do, drive by him? I think Daddy felt that there was more than one answer to this question but you should know after 200 posts on this blog that we don’t care what he thinks.

If Monty had any doubts whatsoever about how easily he could be replaced, he no longer has those doubts. I held that dog in my arms and on my lap for as long as Mommy and Daddy would let me. Poor Monty was so jealous.

We eventually found the owners of the dog and I was sad to see him go when his Daddy came to pick him. Mommy and Daddy showed me where the little dog’s house is and every time we drive by I look for my new friend, Joe.

Shortly thereafter we went to North Carolina with Grammy for our annual pilgrimage to Asheville to see the Watts side of the family. We had lots of fun and I got to play with my favorite little dogs in the world – Baby Ruth and Snickers. I also played with Stewart, my Aunt Janet’s dog. The nice part about little dogs is I get to hold them and walk them. Monty is too big for that.

Holly giving Baby Ruth a treat at Aunt Barb's house in NC.

Ty is 8 months old!

Happy Birthday Ty!! You are now 8 months old. My brother weighs approximately 25-26 pounds and is starting to get his teeth in. He has five teeth now making him look like 72 year old man from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He is starting to eat solids – he likes apple sauce, rice cereal, peas, and pretty much anything that tastes a little sweet. He also loves ice cream. He can roll over now but like I did at his age he still has trouble sitting up because he is a little on the husky side. He loves the water, whether at bath time or in the pool. He is very, very ticklish. Mommy, Daddy, and I always tickle him to make him laugh.

He can only say one word: “Dada, Dada, Dada, Dada…..” Mommy is quick to point out that he is just saying that because it is easy for him to make that sound and that he really doesn’t associate the word with Daddy at all. With all due respect to Mommy’s early childhood education background, I wonder if she would say the same thing if he was muttering “Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama”.

As you can see from the pictures, Ty has no trouble hamming it up for the camera.

July 4th

I woke up on Independence Day full of energy and ready to do something to celebrate my country’s birthday. I woke up Daddy and asked him what we should do to celebrate America's birthday and he said we should buy a bunch of stuff and not pay for it. I think he was still sleeping when he said that so I asked Mommy and she said that we should go to breakfast. I am not really sure what eggs and pancakes have to do with Independence Day but to breakfast we went. After stopping at the grocery store on the way back home we rested for a while and then went to Grandma and Poppy’s house for a BBQ.

We had hot dogs and hamburgers and mac and cheese and a cake with candles – now that is the way to celebrate Independence Day!!! I spent hours in the pool swimming with Mommy and Daddy and playing with Ty. All in all it was a wonderful day and we finished things with a wonderful view of our community's annual fireworks show. Poor Monty, he was so scared that we had to give him medicine to calm him down.

Camp

The last two weeks I have attended day camp at my pre-school. The first week, which I attended with my friend Tyler, had an ocean theme. We explored and learned about the sea creatures not currently covered in oil and how those creatures live in our beautiful oceans. The next week we had a camping theme fully equipped with tents and smores. We also collected acorns outside and made arts and crafts with a camping theme.

There is no actual wildlife at the school with the exception of the lion. The lion is our pre-school mascot and he likes to goof around with all of us kids. The only problem is that I am deathly afraid of the lion….and all other characters in full costume (e.g. Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Clowns). The lion is very scary and I run the other way whenever he comes near.

At the end of each week the snow cone truck comes to the camp and I get a snow cone. The first week Uncle Travis bought me a snow cone and this week Mommy and Daddy did the same. I get to choose my own flavors and pour them into the cup - very delicious.

Weekend with Daddy

The past three days have been interesting. Mommy went to Pennsylvania for her class reunion so she could reunite with all of the cool kids she used to hang out with. Mommy had two choices for Ty and I this weekend – the orphanage or Daddy daycare. She went with Daddy in a close decision.

There was no major incident with Daddy although he did make sure Ty and I were in bed yesterday for our regularly scheduled nap time so he could watch the U.S. v Ghana soccer game. Ty woke up while the game was still going so he watched some of it with Daddy…like he had a choice. I was fortunate to miss the game. I had seen a different game earlier and told Daddy “I don’t want to watch this. This is terrible”. I am so American.

Daddy took us over to Grandma and Poppy’s house each day to go in the pool. It has been brutally hot here so the pool was a welcome relief from the summer heat. We also went out to eat a couple of times. I think Grandma and Poppy were afraid that we would be eating gruel or something while Mommy was gone.

At night Daddy played with us and after he put Ty to bed he read me stories which helped comfort me since I missed Mommy so much. Every few hours I would tell Daddy “I want my Mommy,” and Daddy would hold me, kiss me on the forehead and ask “why?”

Today Mommy came home and I gave her a big hug.

Dancing Queen

Ty is able to sit by himself and is 7 months old! I love my happy little Ty Guy.

You can see me posing for some pictures in my ballet outfit. You will see me with some of my ballet friends from class too. We did a craft each day in class. One day it was a princess crown, then silly glasses, then a princess wand and...

My friend Trinity and I at class.

The pictures where I am wearing a pink shirt is the day of the parent demo. I only let Mommy get two pictures because of my stage fright. These were taken after the other parents left.

My ballet teacher was Ms. Julie. She was nice.

At his current pace my brother will be approximately 200 lbs entering Kindergarten. On our last trip to Babies R Us a woman was looking at him at the checkout line. After studying Ty for a few minutes she finally mentioned that her son was about the same size too and asked whether Ty wears 9-12 month clothing as well. Actually, he wears 24 month old clothing crazy lady.

This week I had ballet dance camp in an effort to learn the craft of those talented individuals on the show “So You Think You Can Dance” which happens to be my favorite show. I think it is safe to say that I have never been more excited to do anything else. I love dance camp. I am going to be a fabulous dancer someday. On Friday we had our final lesson which was followed by a demonstration for our family members in attendance. I loved the lesson but in what is becoming a trend for me I had a bit of a meltdown about the performance in front of others. I have a world class case of stage fright and I would not dance at all…clinging to Mommy and Daddy while the other kids danced their hearts away.

We have now entered the hot days of summer here in Georgia. The heat index has climbed above 100 on several occasions.