Daddy / Daughter Date Weekend

Momma went to the beach for a long weekend with her girlfriends and they decided that they would all leave babies at home with their daddies. Anna Ruth has never been away from Frances this long but today's technology makes it a lot easier with video conferencing software, texts and picture texts. Anna Ruth has seen some of the pictures below BUT not all of them. When she gets home tonight, Daddy may be sleeping on the couch with Bella. So what did Daddy and Frances do since last Thursday night? Here is a pictorial diary:

Thursday July 12, 2012

Picked up Frances from school

Ate a quick supper

Played until bedtime

Friday July 13, 2012

Unbeknownst to me, Frances was taking a milk bath. I forgot to install the stopper on her cup. She was late for school and I was late for work.

Dropped off at school.

Picked up at school. *Not wearing the same outfit as this morning. Uh-oh!

Bath time!

Played "Where's Frances?"

Saturday July 14, 2012

Lounged in bed.

Went to Walmart. JIFF has a peanut butter chocolate concoction...

Frances Approves.

We went to Princeton Towers to visit Hannah. As you may remember, she was my parent's housekeeper beginning a month before I was born. I can't describe what it feels like to take Frances to visit the woman who took care of me so my parents could continue working when I was an infant. By the way, Hannah will be 95 years old on the 19th of this month.

Checked the mail.

Frances found the mirror in her toy box.

Had beef lo mein for dinner.

"Cletus! Put on your good overalls! This is suppose to be a fancy dinner!"

Sunday July 15, 2012

Bella decided to help Frances wake up.

I then decided it was time for a special breakfast with Daddy:

Entertainment!

What is this?

Yummy!

So sad its all gone!

We missed Momma but are really excited for her to get back this afternoon!

Little Liberty

We had a great 4th of July that started out with Will and I doing the traditional Peavine Falls Run at Oak Mtn....and yes, Mrs. McCalley still holds the Peavine title.  Frances got to spend 2 nights with Meme and Grump this week and she is slowly but surely showing us each and every danger in their house just like she has been doing at home!  So Grump (who now goes by Bubba Grump or BG) and Will cooked for our meatfest and we had quite a spread of boston butt, ribs, and chicken.  We had a special guest this year too- Aunt Amy!  We just had a fun day of swimming, cooking, and eating. 

So fun! Frances loves her baby pool!

Bella- close enough to the action but far away from any splashing.

Take a look back at this picture from last year's 4th when Frances was 5 months old- so tiny!

Frances loves putting a show for everyone and claps for herself very proudly:

We tried really hard to get a nice picture of the family....see for yourself how that worked!

PS- This mama gets to go to the beach this week with my girlfriends...No babies allowed and I'm so excited!  You might get lucky enough to have a guest blog post by Will.

Busy Bee

Frances is all over the place these days, and she is fast!  She is not yet crawling on her hands and knees- still commando crawling, but it works just fine for her.  I opened the gates and followed her around this morning just to see what kind of fun she could find.....

Getting stuck under the pack-n-play

Going to find trouble in the bathroom

Helping with the laundry

Babies at the Beach

After being harassed by numerous people the past few days, I figured it was time to post pictures from the beach.  We had a BLAST!  A few of Frances' favorite things about the beach....eating sand, playing in her baby pool, sucking salt water out of the water toys, eating more sand, getting crushed by waves, eating from everyone's plate at dinner, and eating a little more sand.  Enjoy!

Loved playing in the ocean with Daddy!

Lyndy showing Frances how to "surf"

I dont know why no one sat at the tables near us?

Putting on a show seconds before a major meltdown

It takes a team to do lunch on the beach

You think she likes being the center of attention?

"1, 2, 3, Go!"

Lyndy, Frances, Will, and Kat

Waiting for another wave to take her down!

All the cousins- don't be fooled, it was next to impossible to get these pictures!

So big!

FYI, Frances says dry sand isn't nearly as tasty as wet sand.

All the girls taking a break from the sun.

Frances teaching Irene how to get all the water out of the ball

Baby pool- The best $5 ever spent at Wal-mart.

The triplets got to take over the pool when Fran went in for a nap

Sage with Irene, Anna, & Brooks

She would have done this ALL day long!

Now isn't that the cutest booty you have ever seen!?!

And We're Off!

This morning we are heading out for a fun week at the beach with the entire family- that's a lot of people!  We have so been looking forward to this and I can't wait to get down there and play.  Thank goodness for Aunt Amy, who will stay at the house with Bella while we are gone. I'll leave you with a few videos....

Warning- the first one is a little gross, but it was just too funny not to post. Frances has just started signing "more" for food and toys (well she does it when she wants to!).  I was feeding her breakfast the other day and I was so proud- she was signing "more" for every bite, so I had to get it on video.....well, watch the video and see what happens!  Watch the second video and she actually does it.

Frances has learned to clap this past week, and she is so proud of herself.  Clapping also ends up looking like her signs for "more" and "all done," so we just go with it!  Enjoy, and we will see you in a week!

Too much fun?

Someone forgot to tell Frances to pace herself with summer activities.  Over the last week, we have done a lot of this:

A Frances-sized pool!

Fun swimming with Daddy!

a little of this:

Boat ride- not a fan of the life jacket

and this too:

We love Roger Day!

Someone also forgot to mention to Frances that getting sick during the summer is frowned upon.    Poor gal has had a nasty fever-  actually she and her cousins have all been sick, but they better get rid of it all because we are going to the beach soon!