"Savannah would be better for you...

..You'll just get in trouble in Atlanta."
Gone with the Wind (Mammy to Scarlett O'Hara)

With this advice in mind, we headed to Savannah, Georgia for a Spring break get away.  We'd never been to Savannah but have longed to visit.

We did a lot of advanced reading on the area and, while we had a few specific "not to miss" things on the itinerary, we planned to spend most of our time simply wandering around the historic district.

And wander we did.  Have a look:

We had dinner at the world famous Pirates' House.

We walked along Bay Street and River Street, with views of the Talmadge Bridge

 and the famous Waving Girl statue.

We stopped for pizza and soda breaks at the City Market

and walked to and through nearly every square in the Historic District.

 We played in beautiful Forsyth Park

 

and walked past Paula Deen's Lady and Sons restaurant.

 

We soaked in the low country views

and admired all the various and beautiful architectural styles and details.

 

 

And every now and then we stopped to rest against an ivy covered-wall.

We took an ice cream break at the famous Leopold's. 

Well, Scott and Eliza Grace had ice cream. Since they make all their ice cream in the same machines, including the Pistachio flavored kind, Will had to abstain and I joined him in solidarity.

We toured the Roundhouse Railroad Museum.

 
and the Ships of the Sea Maritime Museum.

And the Davenport House - the restoration project that started Savannah's era of historic preservation.

On the last day of our trip we visited the Oat Island Wildlife Center, where we walked along wooded trails and visited the various animal habitats.

Eliza Grace was particularly keen on the Wolf habitat.

Not to mention the Bobcats.

And the Red Foxes.

Oooo, what are these creatures?
And the Bald Eagles
And the Tatankas! (Buffaloes for you non-"Dances With Wolves" folks)

After we left the wildlife reserve, we headed over to Tybee Island and stopped by the Tybee Island Lighthouse.

We had lunch at the slightly offbeat Crab Shack...

...where the kids enjoyed the sites and channeled their inner Croc Hunters.

We finished off the day with a dolphin sight seeing tour.  

The afternoon was chilly and gray but the dolphins, who live near the reef where the Savannah River and the Atlantic Ocean meet, still gave us a little show.

Along the way we got some great shots of the Cockspur Island lighthouse, which is completely surrounded by water.

Wow, as I recapped all we did and saw I cannot believe we did so in only four days!

We definitely enjoyed our time in the "hostess city," Savannah, Georgia!

1/2 inch of snow + 2 hour school delay = time to play!

This winter has been blessedly mild.

Although I personally LOVE mild, spring-like winters, it does not bode well for kids who like to play in the snow every once in a while.

Thankfully, for the kids' sake, Mother Nature dropped a whole half inch of wet snow Sunday night.  This of course resulted in school being delayed two hours on Monday.  

Sad, I know.

The kids had approximately 90 minutes before school to play in the "snow." 

 They made the most of it!

I think I might have to take Eliza Grace snow boarding or surfing because she was doing a fine bit of both across the mostly grass-with-a-little-bit-of-snow back yard.

 And she took it like a champ when she wiped out.

An Evening With His Blue-Eyed Girl

I had to leave early so Will was the official family
photographer this evening.  He did a great job!

Our American Heritage Girls Troop NC1230 held a Daddy-Daughter dinner and dance last Saturday night.  

We even had a photographer who took great pictures when the fathers and daughters arrived.

(photo credit: Debra Richardson)

Seeing fathers and daughters in this kind of setting always stirs the deepest of warm fuzzies in me.   The troop leaders helped the girls create homemade rose-shaped boutonnieres for their dads!

I was helping out with the set up, food prep, serving, etc. so I was able to spy on Scott and Eliza Grace on and off during the evening and I managed to get a few iPhone pictures.

This is not all that different from what it
looks like when Scott and I dance together :) 

From what I could tell, they had a wonderful time. Eliza Grace later confirmed my assessment when she said it was even more fun than the super fancy Father-Daughter dance they attended last year with their Y Princesses tribe!

Love them so much.  I really do.

The Way To Mommy & Daddy's Hearts

Apparently our children know quite well the way to their parents' hearts.

Scott and I received homemade Valentines this evening from both our little cherubs. They both landed on similar themes.

Eliza Grace included a list of "gift certificates" for Scott which included what is shown above:

• 1 free one hour nap
• 1 free two hour nap
• 1 yell-free day (meaning the kids would not yell/scream/fight for a day)
• 1 free car wash for his new truck

Will also gave me a card with little chits for what is nearest and dearest to my heart:

He cut to the chase and just made three "fre nap" certificates that never expire.

Are we complete old farts who just talk about how much we just want to take a nap every weekend?  Why yes, yes we are!

You can bet I plan to whip out one of my "fre naps" chits this coming Saturday afternoon.  Here's hoping!

Bye Bye Baby Tooth # 2

Baby tooth # 2 came out with very little fanfare but still plenty of excitement for the tooth fairy's visit.

Will is especially lucky because his big sister has decided she needs to supplement what the Tooth Fairy leaves behind, so he had a pretty decent payday!

Flashback Friday: Her Little Girl Voice

When you're in the midst of parenting, it's so easy to forget some of the fabulous little things that are happening during the daily hustle and bustle.

Let's face it, when you are busy wiping bottoms, cleaning up spit up/barf, tripping over toys, working full time, trying to make decently healthy meals and attempting to get just two precious minutes to go to the bathroom without an audience, you have to really make yourself stop and savor the good stuff.  And I mean more than just the easy stuff to enjoy like snuggles and sighs and chubby little thighs.

It's for this reason that I try to take a lot of pictures and videos.  Because we forget.  At least I forget.  And until I watched this video the other day, I'd forgotten how absolutely adorable Eliza Grace sounded when she was little.

Well, littler than she is now.

Her little three year old girl voice was so sweet, so articulate and so filled with a tone of wonder. I completely forgot how much I loved her little girl voice.

Here's a sample of this sweet little voice when she first met her little brother, at her first dance recital and her 3rd Christmas morning.

Couldn't you just eat her up with a spoon?!