Exploring Chamblee

Sorry for the lack of updates lately! We've been spending lots of time outside and at the pool! One weekend we went to The Frosty Caboose in Chamblee for dessert. It's an ice cream stand built into an old red caboose and Shelby loves it! We got some ice cream and took a little walk around downtown Chamblee. I love lazy summer nights like these! And Shelby loves super messy Superman ice cream cones... except she calls it "Super GIRL" ice cream.

Pie Time

Blueberries were on sale at the grocery store this week so I bought a bunch and then had no idea what to do with them. So into a pie they went! One of my favorite memories growing up was baking with my Grandma so it's been fun to bake up some fun with Shelby. Her favorite thing to bake are brownies because she gets to stir and lick the spoon!

Little Firecracker

We bought some fireworks when we went to the beach and had some leftover so we've had some after dinner sparklers a couple nights this summer. Shelby loves them! She's pretty safe and careful with them... her favorite part is dunking the stick in a cup of water when they burn out.

Conquering the Diving Board!

It took a few weeks, but Shelby finally worked up the courage to go off of the diving board at the pool! I am so proud of her! Once she overcame her fear and found out how much fun it was, she wanted to jump for the rest of the afternoon! She is getting very confident at swimming without a floaty in shallower waters but I still want her to wear it in the deep end. We have a fish! 

Summer Adventures

Just a few snapshots of our summer so far... 

On Memorial Day we made a patriotic flag cake! It's super easy: just a yellow cake mix, Cool Whip and sliced berries.

Pretend tea party fun!

LOTS of swimming! Shelby is getting so confident in the water. 

There are lots of dragonflies buzzing around the pool and if you sit still they will land on you! I got a picture of this guy the other day. I think he's smiling! 

Ice cream at the Frosty Caboose in Chamblee. We love this place! 

Rosemary Beach 2014

Look at those freckles!

Fun evening on Lake Powell with friends.

Sunset snacks!

Shelby and Scott in the pool. She LOVED the pool.

Digging holes... our main beach activity.

We had another GREAT week at the gulf! This was the second time we stayed in our favorite rental and the fourth time in our favorite little neighborhood. We got to enjoy some fun things that are quickly becoming our own little traditions:

• Bike rides to Charlie's Donut Truck and Fonville Press for donuts and iced coffee for breakfast and splash pad and playground time for Shelby. 
• Tons of beach and pool time. The weather was absolutely perfect the week we were there. Not a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the 80s with low humidity and enjoyable evenings.
• Thanks to the good weather, the water was perfect - crystal clear and so green! 
• Shelby was a little more comfortable at the pool than the beach, but we spent at least a couple hours at the beach every morning digging holes and building castles.
• One evening we went into Seaside for dinner and a children's performance of Cinderella in the amphitheater. It was great and Shelby loved seeing the play.
• There was live music nearly every evening in the little pavilion of shops near us. Shelby had lots of fun running around and goofing off way past her bedtime! 
• I rented a paddle board one day and had some fun paddling around in the gulf. The water was pretty calm and very clear so I got to see some stingrays swim by. Allegedly a small black tip shark swam by but I didn't see it.
• Some friends our ours live down there and they have a 1-year-old so we spent some time when them and the guys got to have fun with their new toys... remote control helicopters with GoPro cameras attached. Scott got some cool aerial footage that I'll post soon. 
• We hit up all of our favorite restaurants and ate way too much good food. 

We can't wait to go back. Our little vacations are something special that we look forward to every year. See more pictures in our gallery.

Ballet Recital Photos

Pretty ballerina girl! You can see ballet recital photos in our new gallery right here.

Ballet Recital

Sorry for the lack of updates lately! We went to the beach for a week and I am just now catching up on posting. The day before we left, Shelby had her ballet recital at preschool. It was so cute!! Enjoy the video.