Two Weeks in Tallahassee

On Memorial Day, Kyndall and I packed up and headed back to Tallahassee with my parents for two whole weeks!  I never turn down a "free ride" to TLH, since making the drive by myself has proven to become more difficult as Kyndall gets older.  That doesn't keep me from doing it pretty often, but having someone else do the driving is always helpful. 

Matthew's parents were leaving for a cruise later that week, so our first stop was Thomasville, where we spent two days with Nonie and Poppie since they would be gone during most of our stay.  Nonie asked me if Kyndall could play in the rain and shockingly, I said yes.  I'm not sure which one of them had more fun.........

We said goodbye to Nonie and Poppie on Thursday and began our stay in Tallahassee.  The first night we were there, my Dad asked if Kyndall would like to help him fill his new change jar before she went to bed.  For as long as I can remember, he's been putting his spare pennies into a glass jug that sits on their fireplace.  He recently filled it up and for his birthday, he got another one and decided to use this one for silver coins.  Kyndall is really into sorting and organizing things, so helping G-Daddy with this little project was just her style.

The old jug---Any guesses on how much money is in here?  We have no clue and probably never will!

Such concentration

"Thanks for starting my college fund, G-Daddy!"  =)

The highlight of our trip was on Friday afternoon when G-Daddy's long awaited new "toy" was delivered to my parents' house.  He had this little beauty custom built, just the way he wanted it and he couldn't wait for it to arrive so that Kyndall could enjoy it.  She didn't disappoint, as she went absolutely CRAZY over it!!!  We must have spent hours on this thing during our stay!  We even used it as bribery a few times saying "if you eat your dinner you can go ride on the Gator!"  Hey, whatever it takes!

The Gator, brand new and still wrapped in plastic!

She's crying because we stopped moving!

Kyndall always enjoys playing with Uncle Michael because he does fun things with her like spinning her in circles until she can't see straight!

Saturday we spent the entire day lounging in my parents' pool and it was so relaxing and enjoyable!  Kyndall loves being in the water and I don't think it will be long before she's swimming!  She puts her face in the water and blows bubbles, lays on her back/stomach and kicks her feet and generally just has no fear of the water at all.  The only thing she doesn't like is when a piece of trash (a leaf, grass, whatever) gets near her.  We'd had some pretty rainy days so there was lots of debris in the pool that day.  We quickly learned that Prissy didn't want any of it near her!!!

Playing with Aunt Kelly

She loves it when I say "onnnnne......twwwwwo......thrrrrreeeee....." and throw her up in the air

Having fun with Grammy

It's no secret that my Dad as well as my husband share a love for golf.  Since before Kyndall could even walk, they've both been talking about the day when she could pick up a golf club and go play a round with the two of them.  So, when I was walking through Wal-Mart and saw these, I couldn't resist buying them.  She doesn't quite have the hang of it yet, but she sure is cute trying!  Now, does anyone know where I can find private golf lessons for a 20 month old?!  =)

Love those blue eyes!!

As I said, we spent LOTS of time on the Gator throughout our stay.......

Prissy thought she was big stuff when G-Daddy let her drive!

Eyes on the road, please!!

See how my Dad's hand is covering the ignition?  Umm, yeah that's because Miss Priss figured out how to crank it and decided she wanted to shut the whole thing off while we were driving at about 30 mph.  TWICE.  She's too smart for her own good!

At some point during our trip, we made a visit to the mall where I let Kyndall use a gift card to Build-A-Bear that she's had since Christmas.  It was a first for all of us!

I didn't have my camera, so my Mom snapped a few pictures on her phone......



 

 

When it came time to choose an outfit, there was no question about which one to buy.  Since Kyndall is completely O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D with motorcycles these days, this was a perfect choice!

Meet "Harley Hughes", the newest member of the family

My friend Jenna brought her daughter Maddy over to have dinner and a play date one evening.  Maddy is about a year younger than Kyndall, but they got along great and I enjoyed watching Kyndall interact with a younger play-mate, since most of hers are usually older.

She was very interested in helping Jenna feed Maddy her bottle

So sweeet!!!!

.........And not so sweet!!!

What a pair!  I promise we didn't coordinate their outfits either---we just have good taste in baby girl clothes! =)

Cutie pie!!!!

Kyndall loves playing with my Dad's reading glasses.  So much so that she's already broken one of the arms off, as you can probably see.  But, he continues to let her play with them anyway!  She has some sort of magical powers over him that I can't explain!

We also had a play date at our friend Ali's house.  Ali's Mommy Jenny invited me and Kyndall over for lunch and play time on Thursday and we had a great visit!  I enjoyed Jenny's "simple" lunch (aka fancy ham and cheese croissants, a gorgeous garden salad topped with fresh fruits and sparkling pink juice complete with floating frozen raspberries and pink straws!)  Obviously, her idea of simple and my idea of simple are very different!  It was such a treat!  She even made sure that my super picky girl had all of her favorites as well, like cheese and mandarin oranges.  So thoughtful!

Ali has a super cool play room full of all sorts of fun toys and games.  Kyndall was especially interested in these sensory bottles that Jenny made for Ali

The girls played together so well, and Jenny and I enjoyed catching up

I adore this picture!!! 

It seems like just yesterday that we were standing on the stage at Morningside, on our first Mother's Day, having our girls dedicated to the Lord.  Kyndall was 8 months old, and Ali was just a newborn!  I know that if we lived closer, we would definitely spend a lot of time with this sweet family!

I topped off my stay with a real treat!!  My best friend Amber and I FINALLY crossed paths!!!  Amber is my BFF and it's been a year and a half since we've been able to see each other!!!  That is just too long for best friends to go without seeing one another.  She lives in the Atlanta area, but like me, her family is still in Tallahassee.  It seems like we're always there at different times, until now!  I enjoyed having dinner with her family and meeting her newest addition, Brody.  I just wish our time could have been longer, or that we could do it more often. 

With 3 active kiddos, you can't be picky about group shots!  This was as good as it got!  I'll take it! 

We didn't want to say goodbye, so we hung out in the parking lot for almost an hour, just letting our kids play while we chatted and enjoyed each other's company

Kyndall showed off her new walking skills

As always, it was a busy but fun time and this blog post doesn't even cover half of the things we did.  In addition to all that you see above, we also enjoyed story time at the church two weeks in a row, several lunch/dinner dates with friends, a visit to Grammy's office, I had a girls night with my friends Betsy, Jen and Rebecca, and Matthew and I even had a date night once he got into town!  Life is just more fun when you're surrounded by your family and close friends.  My prayer continues to be that someday, we will get to do all of the above anytime we want, rather than just during trips home.  But for now, I'm trying very hard to be content and just be thankful that my lifestyle enables me to make frequent trips home, and I have a generous husband who allows me to do so.