He misses them...

James had a blast with his two little girlfriends this week.  Claire and Ava play hard, non-stop, and James was loving every minute!  He played tea party, dress up, blocks, dance party, ran races, took rides in the dump truck, got his hair done...you name it, he was just happy to have some friends!  It really was awesome.  He smiled and giggled more with these girls than I've ever seen him before.  He misses them! 

 Claire blow-drying and putting barrettes in James hair. 

 James going for a ride in his truck.  Every time I see the picture below I crack up!  Claire was trying to get him out and this seemed like the best place to pull.  Hahaa!  Don't worry, grandmas and grandpas, we didn't let it go too far! 

Below, the girls were cracking James up at the dinner table with their funny faces.  He was laughing so hard...I wish I would've had video, it was hilarious! 

July 20th!

Happy Birthday, Dad! 

We are sorry we can't be with you today in Washington to celebrate, but we're sending love and hugs your way!  We hope your day is full of visitors and "Happy Birthday" songs!

Love you much, 
Steven, Jenae and Steven James

Beach Babes

We spent our first full day together at Hilton Head Island.  We all packed into Holly's SUV, three car seats, four adults, 105 degree heat, lunch, towels, and toys and headed to the beach.  We stopped first at a condo complex where Lisa's parents have a rental property, parked, and ate lunch at the pool.  We cooled off there for a bit before taking the very short walk down to the beach.  We found a beautiful spot on the beach and had a blast.  The kids played and played, buried holly in the sand, jumped in the waves, built sand castles...or sand holes :)  and soaked up some sun.

Afterward, we cleaned up a bit and headed to Lisa's parent's house.  They have a beautiful home in Hilton Head and were gracious enough to host us all for dinner!  I'm sure it was a little rowdier than they're used to with three kiddos running around, but it was good practice!  They're going to be grandparents in just a few months, yippie!  Thank you so much Sandra and Al for such a delicious meal and fun evening.  Hope we get to see you often!

 Al grilling up some amazing chicken!

 Claire looking for the alligators in the back yard. 

Girl's Night Out...

Oh how I miss my girlfriends.  I made some truly amazing friends in Clarksville, the kind of relationships that will last forever, and boy, have I missed them these last three months!  Thankfully, Holly, Erin and Lisa were able to make a trip to Savannah last week to have a fun filled girl's week!  Erin and Holly both have three year old girls, and Lisa and Erin are both pregnant...so it was actually more of a girls and kids week!  It was awesome.  We had such a great time together, visiting, eating, beaching, catching up, shopping, laughing...and talking...into the wee hours of the morning.   Well, actually probably til about 12:00 or 1:00am...but to moms with kids that get up at 6:30, those are the wee hours!  :)   I got my friend reserve filled back up and can hopefully make it until we get together again!  I'm also praying for some new friends here in Georgia...I know...patience...the friends will come...I'm just anxious. 

Anyway, on Wednesday night, Steven volunteered to watch the kids so we could go have dinner and explore a little of Savannah.  We went downtown to City Market (a cute square that has a fountain, restaurants, and shops) and ate at Belfords.  It was amazing!  Afterwards, we walked to Wright Square where we met for our Haunted "Ghost" Tour.  Our guide was very good and we learned lots about the history of Savannah and the spirits that are said to still haunt it.  In addition to the scary stuff, I found out about many more old homes that are now museums that I'll need to explore.  Looking forward to really getting to know our new city. 

 Holly, Erin, Jenae, Lisa

 Pretty flowers in City Market Square

 Dining at Belfords

 Erin and Holly

 Me and Lisa

 Our Ghost Tour began with a full moon........ooooooohhhhh  spooky!

 Spanish moss grows on all of the Live Oaks down here, except this one pictured below.  All of the trees around it have moss, but this tree grows over the place where the gallows were originally located.  The tale is that a pregnant woman was sentenced to death for killing a man, and as soon as the baby was born she was hanged.  14 days later the baby died too, and the mother still lives in these trees, searching for her baby.  yes, be scared.  I'm a skeptic when it comes to ghosts, but it is extremely strange that there is no moss on this tree...I could possibly be convinced.  we'll see...

Below is the remodeled, but original structure for a children's hospital from back in the day (not sure what days...I need to do some more research), but it's said to be one of the most haunted buildings in Savannah.

Do you see any Orbs?  Ghosts?

 Below is a beautiful mansion made completely of cast iron.  Savannah burned down twice in the past, and to ensure against that, some built their homes completely out of iron.  crazy.  extremely beautiful.  haunted. 

 Cemetery downtown.  haunted, too. 

Loving the fresh seafood

We explored a few local restaurants with Pete and Deena and had some amazing fresh seafood.  The first stop was our favorite little place down at the marina in Richmond Hill (a little town between Savannah and Ft. Stewart) called Fish Tales.  They have a beachy outdoor atmosphere and yummy food! 

The Crab Shack is a huge restaurant, and may even be a chain, but it was super fun.  It was all outdoor, open air, under the live oaks, right on the water just outside Tybee Island.  We stopped there after our last day at the beach.  They not only had good food, but an awesome "feed the alligators" viewing area.  James had fun watching the alligators swim around and checking out the teeth on the life sized (or bigger) gator statues.  Pretty touristy but fun times.  Definitely a fun place to take kiddos!