Beach 2010

We had our annual family beach vacation last week to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. It was an amazing week filled with lots of great quality family time. The six hour drive was actually very enjoyable. Baba and Papa stayed several days with us and were a huge help with the girls.
Hannah was a free spirit on the beach - completely crawling anywhere she wanted - including into the waves.
We had fabulous day celebrating Mark's 34th birthday! We woke up took the girls for a 5 mile run, enjoyed a few hours on the beach and the pool, had french toast for lunch, and then indulged ourselves in pizza for dinner! To celebrate even more we took Sarah out to play putt-putt. We all had a wonderful time. Sarah made 2 hole-in-ones! Go Sarah!

Sarah turned to her daddy during the game, put her arms around him, and said, "Daddy, I love you! Thank you for bringing me to play putt-putt." So sweet and such a perfect birthday present! Sarah and I decorated a key lime pie for Mark's birthday cake, which is his favorite pie and super easy to buy while at the beach! ;)
We took the girls to see the performer "Shannon Tanner" at Shelter Cove one night. Sarah was not feeling up to participating with the other kids, so she sat with us. Maybe she'll be more excited about it next time.
Mark and his girls enjoying the pool at the condo. The pool was by far Sarah's favorite thing to do at the beach.
Mark was out playing golf, so Baba and I took the girls for a bike ride to the general store for an ice cream treat.
Sarah had a lemon icy, Baba had a Klondike bar, I had an Oreo Ice Cream Bar (delicious), and Hannah had a Baby Mum-Mum!
I was so proud of Baba and Sarah for riding their bikes - good job ladies!
Daddy and his girls coated in Baby Banana Boat 60+ Sunblock.
Hunting for shells for Sarah's "nature collections" as she calls it.
The Farley Family of Four!
Farley Family Feet!!!
Love this picture of Hannah holding on and watching her Daddy as she is taken away.

We took the girls on family bike ride around the resort, and Sarah made it a whole mile! Good job sweet-pea!
Hannah is wearing her precious little pink tu-tu!!!
Yes, Hannah has a mouth of full of sand and is covered - literally - from head to toe in sand.


Thanks for all of the sand in my lap Hannah!
We took the girls to "The Sandbox" play place on Friday night for a free family night. Sarah had a great time playing with everything inside.
A future Little Miss Pilot in the making.
I think Sarah enjoyed the kitchen area the best!
Hannah enjoyed the baby section as well.
We took our tripod so we could take some "non-professional" photos of the family. This was the best one of this pose.
Yes, those are trash cans in the upper right background - oops!!! A professional would not have let that happen.
A photo from the deck at the resort.
This is probably my favorite - me and my girls! Their Great-Aunt Nanci (Mark's aunt) made their dresses for them. They look adorable on them. Thank you Aunt Nanci! Sarah said, "I like Aunt Nanci. When are we going to see her again?" Hopefully, sooner than later!
This was the best one I could get of the girls alone. It was the last pose we were doing, so they were tuckered out.

We had a fabulous eight days in Hilton Head and are very appreciative of Papa and Baba who shared their week with us. I just love having Mark with us 24/7 on vacation, because when we return to reality we don't get to see him as much. He is a dedicated father and husband! The girls and I miss him so much when he is at work, and he works really hard to provide for his family. We are so very appreciative of everything he does for us and the time we have with him. We love you Daddy!!!

A Busy Saturday

We had a busy Saturday with a little friend's 4 year old pony birthday party and the opening of the YMCA pool.
I am amazed by Sarah's eagerness to ride horses now. She has come a long way.

Sarah is sitting with the birthday girl, Emily, on a hay ride around the petting farm.
After being at the party in the heat of the day for 3 hours and pushing Hannah around in a stroller dodging donkey dung, we ended the day at the refreshing pool.
Daddy and his girls!

Hannah taking my mini-van for spin - notice her two front teeth!
We had a great day and look forward to many more days spent at the pool this summer!

Man Turned Warrior

We traveled to Clayton, Georgia Saturday for Mark to become a "Warrior"! He and a few buddies of his decided to take part in this adventure together. This was for sure the craziest event I have ever experienced. http://www.warriordash.com/ - Check out the website.

The above photo is Sarah on her first bus ride. She was loving it. At the end of the day, she said her favorite part was - the bus ride!

We boarded a shuttle outside Chick-fil-A in Clayton along with our stroller and diaper bags. Believe me, there were very few strollers at this event, and now I know why. We stepped off of the shuttle and started up a long hill to what once was just an open field in the middle of a mountain valley. This weekend it had become an insane mud-filled stomping ground for some of the most unusual obstacles as well as costume wearers.
Yes, I have a Warrior helmet on my head thanks to my husband. This was after we coated ourselves with 60+ sunblock before Mark became a "Warrior"!
Pre-Warriors - just men!!
This was just one of the numerous obstacles in the course. There were many obstacles that I did not get to, because I was pushing a stroller, such as the following: a total of 2.8 mile course, trudging through a lake, jumping over junk cars, running over tires, climbing a wall, climbing through a tunnel, trudging through a mud-pit with barbed wire, rolling over logs in the lake, and finally jumping over fire, and that's not even all of them!
This was Mark finishing up the race at the final obstacle - a fire wall.
Now they are officially - "Warriors"!!! I am so proud of my "Warrior Husband"!
The girls were having a blast - as you can tell! I am being sarcastic of course! Sarah was quite unsure about all of the strange costumes people were wearing and painted faces. Let's just say, I probably won't be taking the girls to the next "Warrior Dash".
We finished up our road trip at a little Mexican restaurant in Gainesville on our way home. The mariachi band came to serenade us with a the song, "The Mexican Hat Dance" - there version of "If You're Happy And You Know It." All in all, we had a fabulous family day with some great friends.
Mark is so proud of his "Warrior-Girls"!!

A Weekend of Celebrating Mommy

I had a fabulous weekend celebrating Mother's Day and my 33rd Birthday. We had a wonderful time as a family. On Saturday, we met my family (Papa, Baba, Matt, Heather, Trey, & Morgan) in Madison for a Mother's Day/Birthday Lunch. We enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Restaurant 220 in Madison, then did what most women love to do - shop!! Of course, not any of us bought anything; however, the women truly enjoyed the shopping atmosphere. Heather, Baba, and I could have done a lot of damage had the kids and husbands been else where. I guess it's good they were tagging along. Then we found the Madison park where the kids played, and we indulged ourselves in a fabulously delicious strawberry cake made by my mother! It's by far my favorite cake - other than P.F. Chang's Great Wall of Chocolate Cake - now that's some goodness!! Anyway, we had a fabulous visit with the family in a beautiful little town. I hope I can get back soon without tag-a-longs!!!

Look what Trey is in for with all girl cousins and a sister!


Mark, Sarah, and Hannah made me breakfast Mother's Day morning: chocolate chip pancakes, strawberries, whip cream, and bacon - yummy!!! I stayed in bed until 7:30. I can't remember the day that I have stayed in bed that late.

After Hannah woke up from her morning nap, we headed out to the park for a family run and made it 5 miles! That was stressful with the two of them: "She's pulling my hair," "She's crying Mommy," "I want juice," "I want goldfish," and "Are we at the playground yet"!!!! It only made me run faster though.


The evening of Mother's Day we met Grammy, Grandpa, and Aunt Leslie at "Journey's End" in Loganville - love that food! The girls enjoyed rocking on the porch with Grammy during our 40 minute wait - it was totally worth the wait though!
This is where we found Hannah Mother's Day night before bath time. I know - I am in for it!

We celebrated my 33rd birthday on Monday as a family. Mark was so sweet to take half a day off from work to take "his girls" to Stone Mountain. I have been wanting to be adventurous and climb Stone Mountain with the family for a while, so we decided to take on the challenge. We were so impressed with Sarah, because she hiked the entire mountain while holding Mark's hand. Of course, they had to listen to me the whole time saying, "Do not let go of her hand!" I made it up with Hannah in the snugli. It was absolutely a wonderful family filled day! I feel truly blessed to have my husband. He honestly believes in family first.
After our hike up Stone Mountain it started to rain, so we headed for dinner at a Japanese Hibachi restaurant. I thoroughly enjoy eating birthday meals at Japanese Hibachis. We were all exhausted, but I had a wonderful 33rd birthday.