Lavenue-Roberts Family

play time on the wii

2012-02-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

anne-london is now old enough to play on the wii (gosh, i can't believe she is that big now!). she likes to fly airplanes on our wii play resort. she and chad play pretty much every night now. it is really cute (especially when she beats chad!).

lazy day

2012-02-07T07:07:00.000-08:00

i know i put a lot of pictures of anne-london and her daddy chilling on the couch, but i just think it is so cute! they are two peas in a pod...

last of children's museum

2012-02-06T07:59:00.000-08:00

the last of the pictures from the children's museum. anne-london obviously had a good time.

more children's museum

2012-02-03T06:12:00.000-08:00

these are more pictures from our visit to the children's museum. it was fun, but i think we both like the zoo better (pictures from that trip coming soon!).

visit to children's museum

2012-02-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

one a cold, rainy day, anne-london and i decided to go to the children's museum of memphis. it is a good place to play when the weather outside is bad. anne-london had a good time playing with the "river" and shopping at kroger. she also enjoyed singing on the stage and seeing her music video. but, one of her favorite things was the fact that the movie "curious george" was playing. she wanted to sit down and watch it. i told her that we should go play as we could easily watch george at home. she eventually left george and continued playing- you just never know what is going to get her attention!

zonked!

2012-02-01T06:54:00.000-08:00

it might be nice to take a nap like this...

a monkey christmas

2012-01-31T06:55:00.000-08:00

over the holidays, anne-london was really, really into the curious george "a very monkey christmas" movie. she wanted to watch it multiple times. in fact, she started to learn the songs and would sing along with them (and dance). i tried to get video of her singing along with george but i guess she would get performance anxiety. this video is the closest i was able to get of her singing along with the movie. maybe one day she will be a little performer.

it goes by fast...

2012-01-27T05:58:00.000-08:00

i was just feeling a little nostalgic this morning and started looking at some of the pictures from when anne-london was first born. my, how fast she is growing up!

build those muscles!

2012-01-26T06:08:00.000-08:00

anne-london decided that she needed a workout on the pull up bar. so, with a little spotting from her daddy, she worked on building up her strength. a growing girl has to be sure and get her workout in!

interesting breakfast spot

2012-01-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

i was changing the sheets on the bed when i looked down and noticed that anne-london had found a cozy spot to eat her breakfast. but, i think it was still a little too early for her to take her picture...she wasn't too happy to pose for the camera!

random hiding place

2012-01-23T06:27:00.000-08:00

anne-london can find interesting hiding places. i found her the other day in her closet surrounded by many of her new toys from christmas. i guess she knows where to go to be cozy on a lazy morning.

tricycle riding

2012-01-20T07:15:00.000-08:00

i guess it is okay to ride your tricycle wearing just a diaper in the middle of winter as long as you are inside, right? anne-london seems to think so...

dog and child play time

2012-01-19T05:52:00.000-08:00

anne-london is old enough now to really play with pippin. sometimes we feel sorry for pippin because of that and other times it seems that pippin is really having a good time with anne-london. these pictures are from one of those times when pippin was really into playing. anne-london always loves it when pippin is a good sport and will chase her around the house and play with the ball with her.

princess castle

2012-01-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

one of anne-london's really cool christmas gifts was a castle tent from aunt judy and uncle owen. the very next day after the lavenue christmas, chad put the castle together in the living room (it is still up- anne-london might just freak out if we ever were to take it down!). to say that aunt judy and uncle owen did a good job with the christmas gift this year is an understatement- anne-london loves her princess castle! whenever we are downstairs she pretty much just wants to hang out in her castle. she will even watch tv through the castle windows. thanks to aunt judy and uncle owen for the awesome gift!

lavenue christmas

2012-01-17T06:14:00.000-08:00

we had the lavenue christmas on christmas night at aunt harriette's house in germantown. it was a nice, casual christmas dinner with the family and opening of the presents by the kids afterward. anne-london was the only kid there to really open presents (levi, of course, was too small and brilee and her family ended up getting sick and could not make it). anne-london was still into opening the gifts and was perfectly fine with opening her gifts (and helping others open theirs). in fact, she had all of the adults there helping out with opening all of her toys. it was a good way to end the holiday festivities.

lazy christmas morning

2012-01-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

these are the last of the pictures from christmas morning. we had a wonderful time just sitting around playing with toys, enjoying the fire, watching a christmas story on tv and eating a huge homemade breakfast (which was really eaten around lunch time as we were so lazy in the morning). it was a great christmas morning at home.

more christmas morning

2012-01-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

anne-london's big present from santa was a volkswagon beetle convertible. we thought that she would just go nuts over this present from santa but she was more interested in the purple purse that was sitting in the car! goes to show you just never know with a two year old. she did eventually get in the car and take it for a spin around the house. she is now getting the idea of how to drive it and you can occasionally see her "driving" on the sidewalk around our neighborhood.

christmas morning!

2012-01-12T08:09:00.000-08:00

anne-london woke up christmas morning to see what all santa had brought her. needless to say, she must have been a good girl in 2011 because she got some good toys from santa! at first, she did not know what to think of all of the toys in the living room by the fireplace but she quickly started playing. anne-london was especially impressed with the fact that the milk and cookies left for santa were gone. she keeps talking about it even now (all of a sudden she will just look at us and say "santa's cookies, milk?"- it's pretty funny). these are the first of the pictures from our christmas morning at home.

gimme that present!

2012-01-11T06:59:00.000-08:00

these are more pictures from christmas of anne-london opening her (many, many) gifts and playing with one of her absolutely favorite toys- a pooh airplane! to say she enjoyed the gifts is an understatement...

more rogers christmas

2012-01-10T06:34:00.000-08:00

these are the last of the rogers christmas party. we know how to have a good time!

rogers christmas 2011

2012-01-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

the christmas festivities continued with the traditional christmas eve rogers get together. it was quite sad this year as it was our first christmas without pappy and mammy was not able to leave the nursing home to attend. jenny made sure we felt that they were included though by hanging their stockings in the middle of the living room and giving everyone pictures and video of pappy. needless to say, it was quite emotional! we did have a great rogers christmas and anne-london had a great time playing with her cousins wes and madison. these are the first of the rogers christmas party.

christmas with friends

2012-01-06T07:54:00.000-08:00

this christmas we got to spend time with close, close friends (family really) the barkers and the mathers. ken and mike came down from chicago and we all got together at papa and susue's house just before christmas for dinner and catching up time. i absolutely love my time with all of these wonderful people (especially ken- i miss seeing him so much!). and anne-london really got into it this year as well. katelyn, lauren and gage quickly became her new best friends! i always look forward to "the gathering" (as ms. judy barker has named it) and wish it would occur more often. but, it just made christmas all the more special this year.

crossnoe christmas 2011

2012-01-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

on december 23rd, we celebrated christmas with the crossnoe family at nan's house. as always, there were a ton of presents and lots of food. anne-london and carlee had an especially good time (carlee is now one of anne-london's absolutely favorite people!). let the christmas festivities begin!

snow video

2012-01-04T06:22:00.000-08:00

i forgot to post this video of anne-london, chad and pippin in the snow back when i was posting the snow pictures. as you can see from the video, we have one crazy dog...

fairy princess

2012-01-03T06:04:00.000-08:00

anne-london is really into looking like a princess (she even has a castle-more on that later). it is funny how almost every day she insists on wearing one of her tutus. she is a silly girly girl!

visit with grandpa

2012-01-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

anne-london's grandpa (chad's dad) came to tennessee before christmas and got to spend some time with anne-london. even though the reason for the visit was sad (chad's aunt elaine passed away), it was nice to see grandpa and anne-london loved getting to hang out and play with him.

christmas zoo lights

2011-12-31T07:59:00.000-08:00

each year we like to take anne-london to the christmas lights at the zoo. anne-london loves the zoo and when we arrived to see the lights, she started yelling from her car seat "zoo! zoo!". so, she was super excited to be there. in fact, she basically ran through the whole zoo stopping just to pause for a second to look at the light displays. it made it very hard to get pictures!

nap time

2011-12-30T06:04:00.000-08:00

anne-london's (relatively) new place to sleep is the couch in the den. she does so much better at taking her naps while she is in there- i think it's because it is so dark and she knows i am close by. i got these pictures the other day of her waking up. i don't think she was too happy i was taking her picture!

a style all her own...

2011-12-28T05:47:00.000-08:00

anne-london definitely has her own fashion sense. who else could get away with wearing a snow white outfit with a red and black christmas hat and dog scarf? but, somehow, she pulls it off...

more on the snow

2011-12-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

after a break for the holidays (which i will post plenty of pictures from the many celebrations) i am finally back to the pictures from our surprise snow day. as you can see, anne-london loved playing in the snow with her daddy and pippin. it was very different from last year when she did not want to have anything to do with the white stuff!

happy holidays!

2011-12-22T06:28:00.001-08:00

snowy day

2011-12-21T06:49:00.000-08:00

anne-london really loved playing in the snow. she, chad and pippin had a great time throwing snowballs and running around. pippin especially loved it- she went absolutely nuts!

what?! snow this early?

2011-12-20T05:46:00.000-08:00

a couple of weeks ago, we woke up to an unusual snowstorm. it started snowing in the early morning hours and ended up snowing a lot! of course, i got a ton of pictures of the family with the snow. anne-london actually liked the snow (as opposed to last year). we had great fun playing in the snow with pippin and then warming up by the fire afterward. these are pictures of anne-london first waking up and seeing the snow outside. more snow day pictures to come!

more of aunt bren's pics

2011-12-19T05:08:00.000-08:00

finally the end of the older pictures- more recent pictures to come tomorrow!

more random older pictures

2011-12-15T05:50:00.001-08:00

i am almost through the older pictures of anne-london when she was younger. just a couple more posts to go!

little baby, big exercise ball

2011-12-14T05:41:00.000-08:00

the older pictures of anne-london continue with pictures from one day when we were hanging out at aunt bren and uncle frank's. oh, the trouble and chaos anne-london could get into now with that big yellow exercise ball... luckily, at the time, she was still a little too small to cause too much ruckus!

more old pictures

2011-12-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

these are older pictures of cousins anne-london and carlee playing when anne-london was younger and could not walk yet. they are cute cousins!

little bitty baby continued

2011-12-12T06:07:00.000-08:00

the older pictures of anne-london when she was so little continue...

little bitty baby

2011-12-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

when i was going through aunt bren's pictures, it was like having a sweet flashback to when anne-london was so little. in these pictures, she couldn't even walk yet! it seems like yesterday- the time is flying by and she is growing up so fast. it is nice to look back at older pictures and think about when she was just a sweet, little baby (of course, to me, she still is a sweet little baby!).

last of family pics

2011-12-08T05:15:00.001-08:00

these are the last of the pictures from chad's family's visit. as you can see, anne-london really loved hanging out with carlee and was her shadow for the day. we are looking forward to their next visit!

more family pics

2011-12-07T05:43:00.000-08:00

here are more pictures from the family visit. i absolutely love the picture of nan, carlee and anne-london all with their mouths wide open. on this cold, snowy morning it is nice to look back at pictures from the summer!

family visit

2011-12-06T05:38:00.000-08:00

i was going through my pictures on the computer the other day and remembered that i had copied off aunt bren's pictures back when they visited in the summer. i had completely forgotten about them! aunt bren, uncle frank, nan and carlee all came for a saturday visit back in july. aunt bren got lots of good pictures (especially of anne-london and carlee) and she had a lot of old pictures from when anne-london was just a little baby. so, i copied all of them onto our computer. i am going to start a series of blog posts now on aunt bren's pictures beginning with the july visit then i will move on to the pictures of anne-london when she was really little (it will be like a flashback!). when the family came to visit we went to lunch at one of anne-london's favorite places, soul fish cafe, and then came back to the house to hang outside. anne-london and carlee had a great time playing together and spending some quality cousin time together!

so chill

2011-12-05T05:12:00.001-08:00

this is how i found anne-london and chad one night just before her bedtime. she sure does know how to relax (when she finally calms down for the day, that is!).

random silliness

2011-12-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

i was trying to get a few pictures of me and anne-london the other day and she all of a sudden became camera shy- like she is a celebrity or something! i guess she does have enough pictures taken of her to think that she is famous!

rest and play

2011-12-01T06:06:00.001-08:00

these are a few pictures of a day in the life of anne-london. it can be complete craziness at times and then really chill at others. you never know what you are going to get with this kid!

it's elmo!

2011-11-30T05:05:00.000-08:00

anne-london loves her elmo pajamas. she picks out her pajamas each night now and elmo is always in heavy rotation. she does look cute in them so she obviously has a good sense of style!

"whee!"

2011-11-29T05:12:00.001-08:00

one of anne-london's new favorite phrases is "wheeee!". it is really cute. this video is a good example of how anne-london knows how to enjoy a good "whee!" moment.

sleepy head

2011-11-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

anne-london loves hanging out in her pajamas in the morning and just being lazy for a little while. it is always hard to get her out of her pjs and into her clothes for the day!

code heads

2011-11-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

chad was working from home one day and anne-london decided to help him with his research project. so, she took out our copy of the internal revenue code and started studying. luckily for chad she was able to find the answer! : )

finally enough hair

2011-11-22T06:11:00.000-08:00

anne-london was a very bald baby for a long time. but, now she has enough hair that we can actually put it in a ponytail! i think it is so cute and she will tolerate it for a little while before she yanks it out (long enough for me to get these pictures at least).

snow white

2011-11-21T06:39:00.000-08:00

for anne-london's birthday, aunt judy and uncle owen got her a snow white outfit. i had put it in her closet waiting for her to discover it- it did not take her long! she quickly brought it out and said "put on". so, now we will have to randomly dress up as snow white and, if we have to go somewhere, it takes me forever to talk her into wearing her "regular" clothes. she can be such a princess...

random pics

2011-11-18T05:02:00.001-08:00

these are just random pictures that i took of anne-london last month.

i'm swinging!

2011-11-17T05:51:00.001-08:00

while we were picking out pumpkins, there was a tire swing for the kids. anne-london had never been on a tire swing before (i am hoping we can get her one soon- i love tire swings!) and she absolutely loved it. in fact, she had a meltdown when we had to leave and she could no longer swing. she kept on saying over and over again "wheee! i'm swinging!". it was very cute.

pumpkins!

2011-11-16T05:52:00.000-08:00

we took anne-london to a local pumpkin grower to pick out pumpkins for fall decorations around the house. she loved running from pumpkin to pumpkin and eventually picked out a few. and, as you can see from the pictures, this was a time we were not able to get her out of her tutu before leaving the house....she definitely has her own sense of style!

milkshake!

2011-11-15T05:09:00.000-08:00

this girl is a lover of all things ice cream. anne-london seems to especially love milkshakes so, of course, we had to get her a milkshake from the old-fashioned ice cream parlor at casey jones village-even though it was 10:00 in the morning!. she and chad were perfectly content to have a milkshake in the morning (personally, i just stuck to coffee!).

birthday trip to casey jones village

2011-11-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

the monday after anne-london's birthday we stuck around crockett county since chad and i were going to see tony blair that night. so, during the day on monday, we decided to extend anne-london's birthday celebration and take her to the casey jones village in jackson (since she has an obsession with all things trains). she loved it (especially all of the thomas toys in the gift shop!) but had a minor melt down at the actual train. the meltdown was nothing that a milkshake couldn't calm down, though. more pictures of that to come...

anne-london & tristan- part 3

2011-11-11T05:07:00.000-08:00

these are the last of the pictures of anne-london and tristan. i got a little camera happy for the few days he stayed with us. i couldn't help it- they were just so darn cute!

anne-london & tristan- part 2

2011-11-10T05:39:00.001-08:00

as you can see from the pictures, there was an abundance of toys for the kiddos.... and an abundance to pick up at the end of the day! : )

anne-london & tristan- part 1

2011-11-09T05:05:00.000-08:00

at the end of september, we had a sweet visitor stay with us for a few days. my best friend sara's son, tristan, stayed with us and hung out with anne-london while sara and tony took a vacation just the two of them. we were more than happy to keep tristan because 1) he is a sweetheart and 2) i know how important it is to take time to get away just the two of you without a baby in tow! so, sara and tony got to have what essentially was a second honeymoon and we got to spend time with tristan. anne-london and tristan got along really well (except that anne-london had to learn the meaning of sharing- when tristan would play with one of her toys that she wanted she would look at him and say "bye, bye. see ya." it was funny at first but has really gotten old now). tristan had a good time playing with all of the toys and riding in the wagon. he adjusted so amazingly well- he definitely is one good kid. i like to talk about anne-london and tristan marrying one day (it would be so cute!), but i cannot talk about it with chad around- he gets all nervous anytime there is any mention of anne-london growing up and getting married!

the town square

2011-11-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

we like to hang out at the town square in collierville. anne-london especially loves looking at the choo-choos and if we are lucky, we get to see a "real" train go through. anne-london loves it!

little tutu girl

2011-11-07T05:08:00.000-08:00

anne-london has now discovered her tutus. her aunt jenny had gotten her a tutu quite a while back and anne-london had never seemed to be that impressed with it. however, one random day, she opened up her closet door and grabbed it off the floor and brought it to me to put on her. i happily obliged as i thought she would be super cute in her tutu. i was right! so now, anne-london loves her tutu and has even gotten more tutus to choose from on her birthday. we now often have to go out to target, the grocery store, even out to eat with her wearing her tutu. what a girly girl!

we're pooped!

2011-11-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

after the memphis air show (the day after our vacation), anne-london and chad were exhausted. i caught them snoozing upstairs on the couch and had to get their picture. i know i have taken lots of pictures of them napping together on the couch, but i can't help myself- it's just so darn cute!

memphis air show

2011-11-03T05:06:00.000-07:00

the day after we got back from vacation back in september (i am still behind on these posts!) we took anne-london to the memphis air show. we thought she would really be into it as she loved the air show last year and has just been obsessed with airplanes lately. however, she was not that impressed. i don't know why- it could have been she was tired from driving so much the previous day. but, she did enjoy a few of the planes and i thought the fighter jets were especially impressive, even though they were extremely loud and we had to leave so anne-london would not have permanent damage to her ears! maybe next year she will be more in the mood to go to the air show and will yell constantly "airplane, airplane!"

please just work with me!

2011-11-02T05:34:00.000-07:00

i tried to get video of anne-london saying "moo" while dressed as a cow for halloween. she was just not willing to work with me! she now knows that she can see pictures on the camera so she constantly just wants to look at the pics on the back which makes it a little hard to get pictures of her or video. but, i was able to at least get this video of anne-london and pippin dressed up for halloween.....until she got too hot in her outfit and we had to go ahead and rush her outside to start trick-or-treating.

happy halloween!

2011-11-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

for halloween last night, chad and anne-london decided to go with a "farm" theme. anne-london dressed as one of her favorite animals, a cow! she knows how to say "moo" but, of course, she refused to say it while dressed as a cow. chad got into the spirit as well and dressed as the farmer. they were both super cute and had a great time going around the neighborhood trick-or-treating. this was anne-london's first time to trick-or-treat and it took her a little while to get the hang of it. even though they visited our neighbors who are friends, she was not an overly friendly cow. she just took the candy (her favorite being kit kats) and left. i guess for next year we are going to work on getting her to say trick-or-treat and at least smile! oh, and pippin got in on the act and dressed up as her usual, a pumpkin dog! anne-london thought she was hilarious!

tony blair!

2011-10-31T06:35:00.000-07:00

at the beginning of october, chad and i got to go as mr. jack and ms. zan's guests to the union scholarship banquet. they so graciously invited us because of the keynote speaker that night- my best friend, tony blair! ; ) i got to meet him (again) afterward and reminded him that we had met before. it was very rush, rush so i fit a million words into just a few seconds. but, he was very polite (as any true british gentleman is) and said it was very nice to meet me again. a photographer from the jackson sun got this photo of us together and i think it shows perfectly how we are "old friends."

our favorite girl

2011-10-29T08:08:00.000-07:00

i know i have said it before, but anne-london loves pippin. around here, we all think pippin is pretty great. she is the center of attention for anne-london (even though she doesn't want to be sometimes!).

special birthday guests

2011-10-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

anne-london was a very lucky birthday girl and had lots of family and friends come to her party. she loved having all of the guests at her party and we were especially happy to have one special guest in attendance- levi taylor lavenue. levi is anne-london's new baby cousin. he is the son of my cousin, taylor, and his wife mary. when taylor and i were growing up, we used to play together all the time and since i was older, i would beat him up (those days are long gone!). i think anne-london and levi are going to be emily and taylor, part two! anne-london and levi are going to be good cousins and great friends!

big new toy

2011-10-27T06:14:00.000-07:00

anne-london's big birthday gift from mommy and daddy was a red rider pink tricycle. she was not too excited about it at first (i don't think she really knew what it was) but quickly got the hang of it and wanted to ride around the house. we are still working on how to "drive" the tricycle, but she does now know how to steer the tricycle where she wants to go. now, if we could just get her to use the pedals....

let her eat cake!

2011-10-26T06:45:00.000-07:00

anne-london takes after her daddy in her love of cake. so, she was excited to have her very own cake at her birthday party that she did not have to share with anyone. she dug right into her cake and ate a good deal of it (it was finished off with mommy and daddy's help).

so many presents!

2011-10-25T05:27:00.001-07:00

anne-london once again had a ton of presents at her birthday party (she is not spoiled at all!). this year she was definitely more into opening the gifts and playing with her toys! a few of her favorites were a dora the explorer guitar, a rock and roll elmo and trains from thomas. she was one lucky birthday girl!

2 years old!!!

2011-10-24T06:38:00.000-07:00

on saturday, october 1st, anne-london turned two years old! i can't believe how fast two years has gone by. she has definitely changed a lot since october 1st 2009! we had a big party for the birthday girl at papa and susue's house with lots of food, balloons, presents and cake. anne-london had a great time and, of course, loved being the center of attention! here are a few pictures of the birthday girl and party.

last of vacation...finally!

2011-10-21T05:56:00.000-07:00

these are finally the last pictures from our vacation. obviously, we took a ton of pictures while we were at gulf shores. anne-london just had too good of a time not to take a million pictures of her! these pics are of anne-london and chad playing in the sand one last time before leaving (it was very early morning) and the view from our top deck. it was an incredible vacation and i am already wishing that we were back!

loves the beach

2011-10-20T07:36:00.001-07:00

anne-london absolutely loved playing on the beach. we could hardly get her inside each day. i think that she could easily be a beach girl if we lived close to the coast!

making sand castles

2011-10-19T14:48:00.001-07:00

on our last full day of vacation when the weather was perfect and the water clear, anne-london and susue made a drip sand castle. well, susue made it and anne-london would destroy it. such is her nature...

fun in the sun

2011-10-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

these are some pictures from one of the particularly beautiful days while we were at gulf shores. the water was perfectly clear and calm so anne-london could really go wading. she loved it! (we all loved it!).

time with papa and susue

2011-10-17T05:14:00.000-07:00

anne-london got to spend lots and lots of time with papa and susue while we were on vacation. she got quite used to having them around and after vacation, was constantly asking about papa and susue. (i think papa and susue got used to being around anne-london a lot too-they are just a little smitten with her!).

what sunsets!

2011-10-15T06:03:00.000-07:00

the weather was positively gorgeous while we were at the gulf. we could not have asked for it to be any better. the sunrises and sunsets were so beautiful...i saw more of the sunsets than sunrises (i left the early morning beauty for chad to see!). these are pictures of the beautiful sunsets, the house we stayed in and daddy trying to capture crabs just using a stick!

beach girl continued

2011-10-14T05:20:00.000-07:00

we got a lot of pictures of anne-london all dressed up nice and cute while on the beach. we just couldn't get her to stay still for posed pictures! she is a busy girl with lots of things to do....

little beach girl

2011-10-13T06:38:00.000-07:00

these are pictures we took of anne-london the night we tried to get family pictures made. she ended up getting in a better mood after tossing her up in the air a couple of times and letting her run around in the water!

family pictures

2011-10-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

while we were at the beach, we had to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and take a family picture like everyone else does when they go to the gulf. we were trying to use the natural pretty light from the setting sun but anne-london was not too much in the mood since she was still a little sleepy from her nap. oh well, you have to work with what you've got! these are some of the pictures that turned out semi-okay.

naval museum video

2011-10-11T06:32:00.000-07:00

this is video of anne-london running around the naval air museum. the heightened level of excitement is how anne-london was the whole time we were there. as you can tell, she loved it. we will definitely have to go back some day (maybe when the blue angels are practicing).

more of the naval air museum

2011-10-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

anne-london could not get enough of the planes. we finally had to leave because it was getting close to her nap time. she really did not want to leave though (and neither did papa who went back the next day to look around some more!).

naval air museum

2011-10-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

on one of our days of vacation, we packed into the car and made our way to the naval air base in pensacola. anne-london is obsessed with planes and trains so we thought she would love seeing the navy planes. we were right. she loved looking at the airplanes in the museum and would run from one plane to the next shouting "airplane, airplane" to any one who would pass by her- like she was trying to convey the magnitude to them of there being a plane right there. it was hilarious to watch. we had lunch there at the air base and anne-london enjoyed a warm chocolate chip cookie (as evidenced by the chocolate face!).

just chillin'

2011-10-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

we spent lots of time just relaxing around the house while on vacation (something we never get to do while at home). it was nice to have nothing planned and just do whatever we wanted for a few days.

other outings

2011-10-06T05:39:00.000-07:00

while we were on vacation we did not just spend our entire time on the beach. we decided to check out other sites and adventures as well. daddy (papa) and i went fishing and i completely smoked him on the amount of fish caught (it just comes naturally). i also caught the largest fish of the day which was later cooked and eaten by susue and papa- i am not into eating what i caught. we all also went for a little excursion to a civil war fort which was just down the road from our vacation house. it was neat, but we did not stay long at all. we got attacked by monstrously huge mosquitoes. we had never seen so many mosquitoes in our life! these are pictures before the mosquito attack. chad had to scoop up anne-london and make a run for it out of the fort as fast as he could. she thought it was hilarious fun! but, she did not have all of the mosquito bites like we did....

family beach time

2011-10-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

i took a break from the postings on our vacation to celebrate anne-london's second birthday (more to come on that soon!). but, i am back into the swing of things now and still have more vacation pictures to post (we got a little carried away with the picture taking-everything was just so beautiful!). while we were on vacation, we got to enjoy quality family time playing in the sand, wading in the water and walking on the beach.

beautiful sunsets/moonrises

2011-09-29T07:03:00.000-07:00

while we were at gulf shores, there was a full moon. needless to say, every night was gorgeous. the sunsets were beautiful and the full moon over the gulf was amazing. we spent time out on the beach every night enjoying the nature show.

the ocean!

2011-09-28T06:06:00.001-07:00

this is video of anne-london's first time "swimming" in the ocean (more like wading and running back and forth!). she absolutely loved going swimming and wanted to go out each day, multiple times a day. she definitely kept us busy!

let's go swimmie!

2011-09-27T05:16:00.000-07:00

after anne-london dipped her toes in the water, she was ready to go swimming! (or "swimmie" as she likes to say). she would go swimming every day, multiple times a day. of course, her swimming is really just wading in the water, chasing the waves and playing with seaweed. she absolutely loved all of it! these are the first pics of anne-london's swimmie adventures.

first time in the ocean

2011-09-26T11:52:00.000-07:00

anne-london loved the ocean. she was constantly wanting to go "swimmie" in it. these are pictures from when she first got in the ocean. she was a little timid at first, but she very quickly warmed up to it!

first view of the beach

2011-09-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

as soon as we drove up to the house we were renting, we all got out and ran for the beach (which was not far as the house was directly on the beach facing the gulf- it was incredible!). it was anne-london's first time to ever see a beach or the ocean. she loved it! she was fascinated with the water and the HUGE sandbox to play in. she was not afraid of the water at all and automatically waded in. it was the beginning of her daily "swimmie" adventures while on vacation!

more fun at the park

2011-09-22T05:17:00.000-07:00

anne-london just could not get enough of the sprinkler park. she was soaked from head to toe by the time we were able to finally pull her away. she had to be stripped down, wrapped in a towel and dry off while she ate her picnic lunch. i think she rather enjoyed it all!

the beginning of vacation!!!

2011-09-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

last week we went on vacation to gulf shores, alabama. it was absolutely wonderful- perfect weather, clear water and a house right on the beach! ahhhh, life can't get any better. we were really excited as it was anne-london's first time to see the ocean. she loved it! but, more to come on that later.... to begin, we left really, really early in the morning and stopped at chick-fil-a for breakfast. the adventures had already begun as anne-london got to hang out with the chick-fil-a cow! she thought the cow was hilarious! then, along the way, we stopped at a very pretty park just off of highway 45 and had a picnic lunch outside. at the park, they had a sprinkler park. needless to say, anne-london loved it! here are the first pictures from our vacation adventure!

two straws in a milkshake

2011-09-20T06:31:00.001-07:00

anne-london always insists that her daddy share his milkshake with her. so, to make it easier, they just decided to each have their own straws in one shake. they really put their heads together to figure it out! : )

labor day weekend at pickwick

2011-09-19T06:09:00.001-07:00

i took a break from the blog while we were on vacation (more on that to come). but, we are back and i am now playing catch up. these are pictures from our labor day weekend at pickwick. we had a good time at pickwick just taking it easy. the weather did not cooperate with us to go out on the boat, but we had a good time hanging out at the house. pippin loved relaxing and anne-london loved having "tea" with papa and susue.

where's the water?

2011-09-09T06:22:00.000-07:00

i got anne-london a new flotation device that was on sale. as soon as she saw it, she was ready to try it out! she kept pointing to our neighbor's house and saying "swimmie, swimmie". it is hard to explaing to an almost 2 year old that it is getting too cold outside to go "swimmie" so she just had to be content with wearing her floatie over her clothes!

diaper model

2011-09-07T06:02:00.000-07:00

not everyone can pull off modeling "big girl" shoes while just wearing a diaper!

what a girl

2011-09-06T05:25:00.000-07:00

these are just some random pictures of anne-london posing and modeling. she really cracks me up now!

studying the code

2011-09-02T05:17:00.000-07:00

from this picture, you can really tell that anne-london is mine and chad's daughter. the book she is poring over intensely is the internal revenue code. chad was working from home while his truck was being repaired and anne-london thought that she should help him out with his research project. do we have a future tax attorney on our hands? possibly...but, probably not- she is a little too wild and crazy for tax law!