Beach Trip

Our beach trip this year was early, way back in the beginning of May.  Winn and Meredith have been out of school since April 30th!  We didn't do any swimming this trip, because the water was still chilly, but that didn't stop us from wading around in the ocean and catching crabs, hermit crabs and some fish. Winn got stung by several jelly fish and even stepped on an electric ray, but that did not deter him from getting out in the water to flyfish with Daddy.  LaLa and Aunt Annie came for a couple of days, so we got in a good visit with them.  We went to the zoo one morning with LaLa, but mostly just played on the beach.  Winn loved going out at night with the flashlight and looking for ghost crabs.  This was really the most fun I've had with the children down in Gulf Shores.  We can't wait to go back!

Wedding Weekend in NOLA

We all took a road trip to New Orleans for my Aunt Beth's weddding.  Luckily one of our old babysitters lives in New Orleans, so Roberts and I were able to have some grown-up time in the evenings.  Friday night was the rehearsal dinner at Arnaud's - an old French restaurant that Granddaddy used to love.  We got to mingle with the Wickstroms and see what a wonderful man Charles is and how much they love each other.  We got home late partly due to a Uber malfunction.  Saturday morning we hung out with the Fosters. We loved meeting our second cousins, Mimi (just turned 3) and Carly (almost 1) and one that will be here in July.  Meredith and Mimi are a month apart and we just happened to put them in matching Lily dresses! Winn had a great time stalking the lizards in Aunt Barry's yard.  We had a low key Saturday morning riding the streetcar to a park uptown.  The wedding was at 4 pm at the Presbysterian Church on St. Charles and the reception was at the Women's Opera Guild House in the Garden District right down the street from Aunt Barry's house where we convened late night after the reception.  They had a great band from Tulsa and the food was amazing, especially the grits and grillades served late night at Aunt Barry's. It was great seeing Ann Elise, Eustace and Claire, and all the cousins, Ben and his wife Leslie, Betsy and Jude, Josie and Chris, and then all the aunts and uncles from the Winn side and the Lawler side, like a big family reunion, though we were missing Mertie.  It was a lovely weekend and I am so happy for my Aunt Beth, Uncle Charles and their daughter Maggie. 

Turning 3!

Meredith turned 3 this week!  It was a low-key family celebration day.  We made apple cinnamon muffins for Meredith to take to mother's morning out.  Meredith's teacher sent me a video of her class singing happy birthday to her.  In the video, Meredith looks less than enthusiastic about turning 3, but she was in a good mood all day which is unusual since giving up her afternoon nap.  She received lots of cute new outfits from her grandmothers.  I think she changed outfits at least 5 times!  Daddy surprised her with flowers and an Ole Miss cheerleader outfit.  Winn gave her a fun dentist play dough kit.  She had fun playing with new musical instruments, until she got smacked in the nose by Winn the next day with one of them!  Meredith helped me make mac and cheese for lunch and we had breakfast for supper, a favorite around here.  Her cake was pancakes and she insisted on 4 candles, so she had one to grow on.  3 is an easy birthday- no expectations and balloons are so magical and exciting.  I wish we could all turn 3 again.

January

Short days, but long afternoons, now that Meredith is skipping naps. Today she is taking one so I am able to sneak in a blog post.  We survived Christmas and now are back into a good routine which was rudely interrupted by the stomach virus last week, but now we are back on track.  Roberts and I head to Nashville tomorrow for a night of music and good food to see Steve Earl at the City Winery.  LaLa and Deda will keep children at the condo.  So excited for a much needed getaway!  These pictures were from last weekend, Sunday afternoon romp around Faulkner's.  It was 70 degrees if you can believe it!  Meredith is modeling her new haircut which was to cover the big chunk of hair she cut out during the Christmas holiday.  Her 3rd birthday is coming up!  She is getting so big and independent trying to keep up with big brother - they are great playmates these days.  They love to hunt for worms, make nests out of pine straw and cut onion grass in the backyard. It's a magical time in childhood.