relaxing at the NACC

Jay was hard at work this week at the North American Christian Convention in Orlando Florida.  As for me and Charlotte we did anything but work hard!  My mom met us down there and we got to spend some fun girl time together.  Of course we got to chit-chat, work on some sewing projects, spend some time at the pool  and go to Downtown Disney (thanks for the advice Vera!) while Jay was hard at work in the convention hall.  We had a great time! Pooling it up with Grammy!

Chillin' in the hotel with her monkey (thanks Foshey's) and her water.  What more could a girl ask for?

Running the streets at Downtown Disney in her first ever Disney printed clothing. I always said I would never let her wear things like that, but she was just so cute in it!

Taking a stroll with Tiki.

We had a great week, the NACC takes place in Louisville next year, it is going to be very different than Orlando! Thanks for coming down and spending time with us Mom, love you!

-melissa

Dear Beach...

You look a lot different than where I am from in Virginia.

I haven't seen you in a year, so at first I was a little leery.

My Tiki told me all about how fun you are.

The water was nice, but the sand was much more fun.  You know how I love to dig.

One of mommy's friends told her to bring a pool.  Nothing better than playing in the shade, in a pool on the beach.

Mommy had a great time at the beach.  She loves it there.

I never really understood how the water goes away, but then comes right back.  Maybe next year.

This blanket was made for the beach and so of course we had to get our yearly picture on it!

Daddy and Grandpa enjoyed the shade more than catching rays like mommy and Tiki.

But, we did so much more than play at the beach!  I got plenty of wagon rides.

Played in the pool!

And tried out all the major summer fashions.

One day we even got to see tons of different fish at the aquarium!

We saw weird ones.

And ones with pointy noses.

I even got to pretend I was one!

At the end mommy shoved this hat on my head.  She thought it was funnier than I did.

It was really fun!

I played so hard that a couple times I tried to put myself down for a nap on the back porch.

Thanks beach for letting me come over, hope to see you again soon!

Love Always, Charlotte Gray

on the fly

I have long been a fan of TLC. While I actually used to learn things on that channel (novel idea since it's called The Learning Channel) it has now become the main spot for many of my favorite reality shows over the past decade or so. I loved Little People Big World and was sad to see it end. Who doesn't love 19 Kids and Counting and our favorite cake maker, Buddy Valastro on Cake Boss? Even our long lost friends Jon and Kate got their beginnings on TLC.

I happened to be on www.southwest.com this morning checking my point balance and found out that a new show begins tonight called On the Fly, which focuses on the industry and mainly, Southwest Airlines. I love Southwest. I love to travel and I love airplanes so I'm excited to watch tonight. So if you are fellow aviation/travel enthusiast, tune in with me this evening at 9/8c. If it's a horrible show, I apologize, but I'm excited to see how it goes. That is all.

-jay

spring break

We had a great spring break and if you still get a spring break we hope yours went well too! We took a few day-trips and got to see some of our favorite people in some of our favorite places. First off...the zoo with the Pakizers.

Charlotte wanted to match some of the animals so we set her up with a giraffe print onesie and she fit right in.

Here she is taking a look at some monkeys. We often make comments about how Charlotte resembles a monkey, so once again she fit right in.

Obligatory family shot.

Great silhouette of Charlotte peeking at some bengal tigers.

Besties enjoying the beautiful weather we had for our zoo trip.

Next stop, down to the outer banks for a few days with 3/4's of the Smith family. The kids as usual, having a great time together.

Kaleb and Kathryn's aunt Amy picked up some of those colored bubbles and fun ensued.

It appears that Charlotte is bleeding, but nope, just some purple colored bubbles!

The next door neighbors had a great little dog named Ally, that Charlotte absolutely adored. I like this action shot because it looks like both of them are running

The three of us went for a long walk on the beach (which Charlotte can now add to her eHarmony profile of things she enjoys).

Because the Smiths are midwesterners like us, we decided to make some Cincinnati style chili and Charlotte was not shy around it whatsoever.

If you're still with us, we rounded out our spring break week with a trip to Northern Virginia and Washington DC to visit Akim, Meg and Baylor. The kids are only 6 months apart, so they loved every minute spent playing together even though Baylor is much older and more mature than Charlotte :)

Great shot of Meg and Baylor playing in the tot lot in their neighborhood.

The kids romping around the equipment.

And finally, we stopped by the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. It was the centennial celebration complete with all of the parade elements you would expect.

The kids didn't take morning naps, so by the time we got to our spot on Constitution Avenue they were zoned out. After about 45 minutes they got interested and started to check things out.

Charlotte deep in thought...

Like mother like daughter. We wonder where she gets her hairstyle from?

President and First Lady 2055.

After the parade a quick diaper change that ended up being a few minutes of pant-less fun.

And thats our spring break. It went by quickly, but we had a great time. Big thanks to both families for letting us crash with them and spend a few days together.