A Weekend visit to the Low Country

Last weekend we had a wonderful trip to Charleston. It was HOT!
Mom, Elise & I drove down Friday afternoon...and Elise got to use her new suitcase for the trip. This girl is going to be a traveler...she loves to pack & tote her little bag. We made a run to Wal-Mart & there were large air force planes flying overhead. Elise looked at it and said, "I take my jump-rope and pull it down." First, she doesn't even have a jump-rope & second, why does she want to pull the airplane down? So funny!

Jodi flew into Charleston late Friday night. Elise was quite thrilled that she got to sleep in 'mommy's bed'. Of course, now after our trip...she still wants to sleep with mommy.
Aunt Jodi loaded Elise up with gifts! Foam stickers...this will keep her entertained for hours and hours! She loves to pull off the paper backing and stick away...again our challenge is to keep the stickers strictly to the foam paper. One morning as we were walking out of the hotel, my mom looked down and had about 5 stickers stuck to the bottom of her sandal.
The guys drove down Saturday morning, and we took a walking tour. It started at 9:30am, and was supposed to last a couple of hours...but our guide must have either enjoyed the group, or was simply slowed down by the excessive heat - we finished after a little more than 3 hours. We were sweaty, hungry & ready for air conditioning.
My cousin Robbe was with us, and I asked him if he thought it was hot - his reply was, "I think 70 degrees in Colorado is hot." Poor guy was ready to jump into the harbor. It was probably near 90 & the humidity in Charleston is always a bit grueling.

Elise just loves!! aunt Jodi. She pretty much only wanted Jodi to carry her, or hold her hand the whole weekend. They had fun together.
I had to snap a picture of our stroller during the walking tour. I didn't know if we'd have easy access to a bathroom, so we strapped on the little potty & went on our way. Thankfully, we didn't have to use it - but we had it along, just in case.
Saturday evening we drove out to the beach to see if there were any swells from hurricane Bob out in the Atlantic - and it was just a picture perfect evening. We intended just to walk along the beach and bit, and continue on our way out to dinner, but we were all savoring the warm water - and Elise was full of squeals of delight. The water was at an extremely low tide, so the beach was huge & stretch far out into the water.

Mouth open = squealing!

Brandenburg family - summer 2009
We decided to get rid of the dress, or she would be soaked all evening as we went to dinner. She loved running in and out of the waves. The last time we were at the beach with her was last summer, and I think she was really able to enjoy it more this year.
The girls on the beach.
Dad & the girls.
We had a wet, sandy little girl by the time we were ready to leave. We had to make a stop at Target to buy some new undies so she could go to dinner. Thankfully I had a dry dress & towels in the car.
Saturday evening, we had to check in on Curt. (If I haven't mentioned it here on the blog, he is an intern with Joe Gibbs racing here in Charlotte). He went with Kyle Busch's pit crew to Bristol to help out with the tire pressure. When we got back to the hotel, we turned on the race to see that Kyle was leading the race, and watched as he won! We were able to see Curt on ESPN with the pit crew as the all celebrated a victory. We weren't able to check in with him until the next day, and poor guy got his new cell phone soaked in champagne...I guess that's a casualty of winner's circle. He said it was pretty awesome, regardless.
Sunday - we enjoyed a yummy IHOP breakfast, and then it was back to the beach. I guess everyone had the same idea - it was pretty full! August is extremely hot, but the ocean water is just like bath water - unbelievably warm. We boogie boarded & dug in the sand, and tried to stay cool. The guys all drove back to Charlotte after dusting off the sand, and we girls went back to the hotel to clean up and head to dinner.
We savored some yummy low-country cruisine at Magnolias - one of my favorite restaurants. After dinner, we headed over to the harbor to swing on the boardwalk. It was a lovely way to end our weekend downtown.
Monday morning, we got up, packed the car & dropped Jodi off at the airport to fly back to D.C. Thanks for making the trip! It was such a great last weekend of summer.

First Haircut

I love going to the salon & getting my haircut. There's just something about having someone work with your hair - it's very relaxing to me....but how do you convey this to a 2 year old? Elise went to Sweet and Sassy to get her first cut & it didn't go especially smooth.
Walking into the salon...
We tried having Elise sit on my lap in the chair - but she wasn't very certain about this new experience. Notice: thumb in mouth.
Poor thing...we just wanted to trim the ends a bit to even out her hair. The stylist commented on how she had such beautiful hair for only being two - it's really grown long. Before we went to get it cut, I assured John that we were just trimming it. He likes his girls with long hair.
Finally, Grandma June had the magic trick...she held Elise & had her cut while standing up and hearing a story about the stuffed animals in the shop....Thanks, Mom. That would have been a bit harrowing without you there.
All done! A few tears later & it was all over. She got a lollipop for her first cut...but we may need to come up with something more compelling the next time so that it holds her attention during the cut.

Welcome Robbe!

Last weekend my cousin, Robbe arrived from Colorado Springs. He's in Charlotte for the next 2 weeks doing some job training, and staying with my parents.
We initiated his visit with a quick shopping trip to Costco & WalMart. Elise took to him right away, but kept calling him Curtis & we told her, "no, this is not Curtis, this is Robbe." So by the end of the 2nd day, she was talking to Robbe, "not Curtis"....oh, to get in the mind of a 2 yr old.
Saturday afternoon, Chad & Michelle invited us out on the boat - what a warm day...perfect to ride around the lake for a few hours.
Carolina Girls! Elise & Kaylie have so much fun playing together. They were showing us how to do saumersaults while we were stopped.
Robbe & Dad soaking up some sun.
Dad on skiis.
Robbe tubing. We should have taken some pictures of us the next day - we were all quite stiff & sore from hanging on the tube.

Cousins....Curt, Stacie & Robbe.

Hide & Seeks

Last week, we introduced Hide & Seek to Elise. She kept asking to "Hide & Seeks," and now she will play with any willing partner...check out the video for a little peek into an evening of fun:

A little here and there...

We continue to smile at Elise. She is constantly putting more and more sentences together & is a really focused 2 year old. She loves to work with "pay-dough" and the ice cream shoppe is always a hit...but she says she "petends" to eat the ice-cream when in fact, we've found wet play dough on many occasions...hmmm, and her mouth has traces of play dough, too.

She is enamoured with stickers and will play for seemingly hours taking them off and putting them back on. We have a wall upstairs across from our 2nd bathroom, and she made a sticker mural. Well, we thought it was cute, and tried to removed them the next day, only to discover that we will now have to repaint to repair the left over mural. We've tried to emphasize that stickers only go on paper...but her animals often join in the fun too.

Sewing Projects

I have been doing a few sewing projects this summer...a little here and there to keep my creative juices going.
Elise needed a summer duvet, and so I put together a very simple cover with really sweet stitching. My mom has these cams for her machine, and so we experimented and made this sweet pattern.
I also finally made the little bolster pillow I've had for her for many moons. It turned out pretty well, however, I did have to revert back to some math to figure the circumference of a circle so that my edges matched up.

We followed the pattern on her pillow case & I'm still debating on whether I should bring the cover down to Mud Pie and have her Monogram done in the middle of the square...I'll have to wait and see.
Then, I made another Amy Butler bag - it's a modified version of my other bag that is a clutch. There are many things I love about this pattern, but I chose a satin lining...just trying to make it a little more schwanky, and that seemed to be slightly more problematic than a normal cotton blend....oh, well. Now I know for next time.

Celebrating a Decade

On July 17th, John and I celebrated our 10th anniversary!
What a wonderful decade it has been - so many wonderful moments and I look forward to many more decades together.

We took a trip to Charleston - we just can't get enough of this great city!
Elise stayed with my parents and waved from the window with Grandma as we left Charlotte.
Of course, you can hardly visit the historic city without taking a carriage tour. Even though we've done this on nearly every visit, we never tire of the bits of history that make Charleston so unique.
Beautiful architecture, and such an old-world feel.
I sampled my first moon pie. This is a Southern treat & so we stopped by the old fashioned candy shop for an RC Cola & a traditional moon pie.
We enjoyed a day at the beach and then relaxed in the evening with a fabulous meal at The Oak Steakhouse.

Lots of good talking time, and meandering through the city. It was a beautifully warm weekend & it was our first trip away from Elise for more than 24 hours since she was born. We love her dearly, but we treasured every moment together to just relax and focus on each other.
We actually found a house that we had not yet toured - The Heyward Washington house. This was the summer home of a plantation owner. They would bring their families into the city - away from malaria & the heat of lowlands to reside in this home. The kitchens were built away from the house because there was always a risk of fire. The whole time we were touring the extra buildings and garden, we both were saying that it would be so hot to have lived in those times & having to work over a hot fire during the heat & humidity that overtakes the South in the summer! Thank you, Lord, for this century.
We stayed at the Harbour View Inn. It was a delightful, cozy Inn. Every morning we had breakfast delivered to our room. They had afternoon tea service, along with a wine & cheese bar; then each evening between 9-10pm they would serve warm cookies and milk. There were so many nice touches to make our stay so welcoming and pampered.