Hampton's Got A Girl Friend!

Hampton recently got together with his little friend Braelynn. She is a few months older than he is, but he is just as big! It was so cute to watch her crawling and taking a few tentative steps to her mom, but the cutest thing was how she kept trying to get Hampton's attention!

Swim Buddies

Last week, Hampton had a play date at the pool with his new buddy Conner. Kelly, Conner's mom, and Tanner were friends at Meyer, and it was the first time that they have been able to get together since Conner was born. He's just 6 weeks younger than Hampton, and he's a laid-back cutie! It was so hot outside that we decided to hit the pool. We had a blast floating the lazy river and catching up, and the boys had fun floating. Hampton loved being out of his float, too...he tried so hard to swim. We're definitely looking forward to playing with Conner again soon!

Hampton in the blue and Conner in the white just floating the day away!

Weekend Update

This weekend we.....

went swimming
had fun at the church cookout
helped put up Granddaddy's fence
worked at The Monogrammed Monkey factory
watched our friends' son get baptized
shopped at the outlets
took an ice cream break
went to the beach to see the oil (it's there and it stinks!)

Vacation Bible School

This week has been a super-busy one! This week was VBS at church, and Tanner taught 6-year-olds while Hampton played in the nursery. The theme was Under Construction, and the whole curriculum was learning about Habitat for Humanity. The kids made birdhouses and bookends to give to the local Habitat home recipients, as well as learned Bible verses about helping others. It was a great theme and kids seemed to really enjoy it. We had a great time, too, but we were also super-exhausted....Hampton wore himself out playing with the other babies, and Tanner wore herself out chasing after hyper 6-year-olds!

some of the kids singing praise songs on stage

Hampton having fun in the nursery

Who's Chicken?

Recently, we headed to Chick-Fil-A to preview their new Spicy Chicken sandwich. It was an invitation-only event to try the new sandwich free, and the place was packed with chicken lovers. It's the first sandwich they've put out in years, and we think they've got a winner! Of course ,that's just what we need.....another excuse to head to Chick-Fil-A!

the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, in all it's glory

Hamp, wondering when he gets to try a delicious chicken nugget!

Fairhope Park Pic

Tuesday Travels

Ocho Rios, Jamaica---January 2005

We visited Ocho Rios on a cruise, and it was such a beautiful place! While we were there, we took a tour through Fern Gulley, Jamaica's rainforest. Bo climbed Dunn's River Falls, the famous waterfall, and we tried a delicious Jamaican treat, the meat pie. The prettiest place we saw was the botanical gardens shown above, where we had a great view of the city below, as well as the cruise ships. Of all the places we've been, Jamaica is definitely one of the most beautiful!

Weekend Update--Father's Day Edition

Bo's first Father's Day was a great one! We headed to Mobile to try The River Shack restaurant on the bay. The food was AWESOME, with the best shrimp po-boys we've ever had. The views were just as great, and Hampton loved watching the boats go by. We could have stayed all day enjoying the wonderful breeze, but we needed to go to Babies R Us (nothing says a holiday like a baby superstore!), so we left. We visited the Fairhope bayfront park on our way back from The Port City, then headed to see Granddaddy who had just gotten home from a trip to TN. We finished up our great day with yummy cake bites and a movie. We hope all future Father's Days are just as great as this one!

Happy Father's Day

We hope everyone has a wonderful day today.
To all our fathers and grandfathers.....we love you!

Friday Photo & Week In Review

This week we.....

• watched the Presidential motorcade go by in downtown Gulf Shores
• attended a VBS training meeting
• worked on orders for The Monogrammed Monkey
• got some great deals at Publix (including Eggo waffles for 34 cents!)
  
• discovered the joys of Dora The Explorer
  
• lowered Hampton's crib after he pulled himself to standing
  
• were on one car until today while Bo's was being fixed
  
• used our new bread machine to make whole wheat bread for the first time
  
• have been thrilled at Hampton's newest trick........saying "DaDa"!

Whew! With all that going on, we're exhausted!

Mad about Plaid

What's cuter than patchwork madras plaid? A baby wrapped in it, of course!

And I Shall Call Him "Mini Me"

When we got this outfit for Hampton, Tanner knew it looked familiar. So, when she saw Bo wearing his matching outfit last week, she knew it was picture-taking time! If Hampton is anything like his daddy, his wardrobe will be filled with embroidered shorts, colored khakis, and polo shirts of every color. For now, though, Tanner is putting him in cute little boy clothes, since he can't wear those forever!

Weekend Update

This past weekend Grandma & Grandpa got here on Thursday, so we had extra time to hang out with them. We spent some time working on a project with them (more on that later) and we took lots of time to play and have fun. Friday night, Grandi & Granddaddy came over, so Hampton had lots of grandparents to entertain! Saturday morning was our HOA board meeting, so we hung out by the pool while taking care of neighborhood business. Paul & Jan left early Sunday morning, and we spent the day resting up in our pjs!

2 granddads to play with....yea!

Paul entertaining Hampton, or Hampton entertaining Paul....we're not sure which!

Friday Photo

Bath time is fun time!

Play Date

Yesterday, Hampton had a play date with our friend Leigh and her son Dylan. Dylan was born just over a month after Hampton and is such a cutie! We had delicious salads at Longhorn, then headed back to Leigh's house for playtime with lots of toys. The boys had such a good time...they just kept staring and smiling at each other. Of course, the moms had a lot of fun too!

Hampton, who is obsessed with faces, checking Dylan's out

"wow! what a cool toy you have!"

having some boy time

Oil

We haven't really mentioned it before, but the oil spill is really taking it's toll down here. Local businesses have already lost millions of dollars, fishermen we know are out of work, and each newscast gives us up-to-date info on the disaster, including maps of where the oil is projected to be each day. It's pretty much the only thing anyone can talk about, as we locals wait and see how we're going to be affected. Most people will admit that they wish it would just get here already, since the not knowing is the worst part. At least once it arrives, we'll know what we're dealing with and how to start the probably years-long task of cleaning it up. For an area that relies so heavily on tourism, real estate, and fishing, ours will be an economic disaster as well as an environmental one. Please keep our area and those affected in your prayers. We're going to need all the help we can get.

the signs on the public beaches

you may not be able to see it clearly, but the little black dots on the sand are tar balls

Weekend Update

This weekend was another rainy one, but we still got a lot accomplished! Friday night, we took advantage of break in weather to head to the local farmer's market. They had lots of good looking produce, salsas, and more for us to choose from. Of course, looking at all the veggies got us hungry, so afterward we headed out to dinner!

On Saturday, we headed to Pensacola to continue our search for new dining room chairs. We haven't bought them yet, but we do think we've got a few front-runners! We got our Moe's fix before heading to Sam's to pick up a few items, then headed home for a few more quick errands in between rain showers!

Sunday we spent most of the day doing stuff around the house. Bo tackled the yard work, while Tanner entertained Hampton and tried her hand at homemade baby food (which turned out great). This coming weekend is supposed to be sunny and nice, so hopefully we'll be able to relax and enjoy the company of Grandma & Grandpa, who arrive on Thursday!

Bo and Hampton taking in the sights at the Farmer's Market

Some of the booths of fresh & homemade goodies!

Lunch Date

Tanner and Hampton recently had a lunch date with our friend Lisa over delicious chicken salad at Amelia's. Tanner & Lisa met on her first day at Meyer Real Estate, and they've been friends ever since. They have the exact same sense of humor, so most of their time is spent laughing! It had been awhile since they'd gotten together, so it was great catching up with her. The last time, Hampton slept straight through lunch, so Lisa was excited to actually get to play with Hamp this time!

7 Month Birthday

Another month has flown by, and that means Hampton is another month old! This 7-month-old is really starting to turn into a little boy. He's dying to talk and to crawl, and he's working hard on both! Here's what we're into this month....

Current Likes:

growling in a deep voice
drooling everywhere
playing with his pacifier and chewing on every last inch of it
his toy phone
his new car seat


Current Dislikes:

being wiped down after dinner because he's so messy
juice
not being able to crawl yet
waiting to be fed
nap time

Weekend Update--Memorial Day Edition

Even though it rained all weekend, our Memorial Day wasn't a complete washout! We used our standing Friday night dinner out to try a new restaurant in town, and they had the best Philly Cheese Steak that we'd ever had. On Saturday, Grandma & Grandpa arrived, and we're not sure who was more excited to see who....Hampton or the grandparents! Our BBQ timing was great, because the storms rolled in right after we grilled out. Sunday we headed up to Fairhope and the Eastern Shore, and managed to buy a few fun toys for Hampton (we'd hate for him to be bored!) and got soaked in the rain. Monday was just us, since Paul & Jan had to head back home, so we made use of a break in the weather to go to the park. Hampton absolutely loved swinging on the swing set, and seemed to enjoy checking out the creek, too. Plus, we did something this weekend that gives us something to look forward to......we booked our summer vacation!

fun with Grandpa

loving the swing set

Pool Boy

Well, having the neighborhood pool right across the street from our house is going to be awesome! Hampton had a wonderful time on his first pool outing, and he looks like he's going to be a natural swimmer. He floated in his turtle float both forward (for relaxing) and backward (for the major kicking), and enjoyed being bounced up and down and swirled around in the water. By the end, he was absolutely exhausted, but he didn't want to quit! Instead of calling him our beach baby, maybe we should call him our pool boy!

going to it, just kicking and smacking the water!

spinning and floating in his turtle float

Tuesday Travels

Lake Tahoe, Nevada---February 2004

Lake Tahoe is one of our favorite places. We got to visit the area several times on business, and we would always take time to go up in the mountains. We've seen it covered in snow and also sunny and crystal clear. We love the little resort areas surrounding the lake, and watching all the people with their dogs. It's a great American treasure, and we hope to travel back there sometime with no work and all pleasure!