A Wedding Weekend in Charleston, SC

This past weekend we traveled to Charleston, SC for Kate & Allen's wedding.  I've known Kate since 2004/2005.  She went to law school w/ my BFF and after numerous trips to visit them in MA and a few trips to Charleston where she decided to settle, we've kept in touch through the years. 

One of the very first times she visited Waxhaw, my sister decided to sport a "jean" bikini.  How redneck right?  I don't think we've ever stopped talking about how ridiculous it was.  But hey, that's Waxhaw for ya!

Last Thursday, Steve, Lottie, Ashley and myself piled in the car to make the trek to Myrtle Beach to drop Lottie off for the weekend with her Aunt Amy and Uncle Anthony.  My sister has been begging me to let her keep Lottie all by herself for one weekend.  Since Charleston is only about an hour and a half from Myrtle, we decided this past weekend would be the perfect opportunity for a little Aunt / Niece bonding. 

On Friday morning, we all got up, hung out with Lottie for an hour, then headed to Charleston around 9:30 a.m.  My sister had to work a half day on Friday so Lottie hung with her Uncle Anthony for most of the day.  They went to the Garden City pier and arcade for most of the morning.  Anthony sent me the following timeline documenting their time together:

A morning workout on the elliptical machine

Followed by a golf lesson

Race car driving at the arcade

Ladies..... Start your Engine

A little snack - french fries and ketchup

Nap time!

Before checking into our hotel in Charleston, the three of us headed to Isle of Palms to enjoy a little beach time.  However, once we arrived, it was very, very cloudy!  We settled on Coconut Joes for a bite to eat to ride out the clouds and rain.  Finally, the sun broke through the clouds and we were able to get our tan on!  I even got into a beach volleyball game which made me VERY happy!

After our time on the beach, we headed to the Frances Marion to check in.  Kate and Allen had a welcome / rehearsal dinner BBQ planned at the Marina at 6:00 p.m. so we hustled to get ready for that. 

Let me just say the BBQ did not disappoint.  It was delicious!  I think I ate my weight in BBQ, mac and cheese and beans! 

Beautiful Marina

Jeanette and I

Jeanette and Steve

Adrienne, myself and Ashley

Me, the Bride to Be Kate, Jeanette and Jess

Charleston Beer Works following the BBQ

Ash & I - before we decided we needed PIZZA!

Saturday morning, I was definitely moving slower than normal!!!!!!!  I swear, after having a child, it does something to your body to where you just CAN NOT recover the following day.  We finally got the strength up to get moving so me, Steve, Reno and Ashley headed out for brunch and a day of walking around the town.

Brunch was fantastic - I had a fried green tomato topped with a crab cake and poached egg along w/ the best home fries I've ever had!  It was just what the doctor ordered.  Afterwards, we walked about a mile to the Battery.  I'm not sure what I was expecting (cool battleships maybe) but not what we got.  There was practically nothing to it.  A few cannons w/ cannon balls beside them and a few post signs with history on there.  Other than that, nothing!  Although, looking out onto the waterway, I did see a nice surprise - DOLPHINS!  They were so cute!  I tried to capture a couple of pictures, but those little rascals are fast!  :)

We also walked through the market across the street from our hotel which was really great.  At this point, I was starting to really miss Lottie.  Seeing all the kids running around the park, eating from various vendors really had me missing my baby bad!  She would have loved it there!

Wine infused candles - so neat!



After strolling through town all day, it was soon Wedding time.  The B&G got shuttle buses from the hotel to the venue for all the guests (they were real school buses!!)

Upon arrival, there was a table with fans, water and a food truck providing Vodka & Rum Slushies!  It was one of the cutest ideas I've ever seen at an outdoor wedding.  The greatest part was this was pre-ceremony drinks they were providing.  :)

The ceremony was short, sweet, perfect!  The bride wore a stunning gown, looked very vintage / antique like.  She looked like a doll!  We ate sliders, chicken pitas, crab cakes, apps, cake, etc.  It was a really great time and I'm so happy to have been a part of it. 

Adrienne, Ash, myself and Melissa

The husband and I

One More!

Reno, Jeanette and Me

Jeanette and I

Me and the Bride

The bus ride back from the reception - on to the bar!

Jim Finn - Coolest Yank I know!  He also went to law school w/ Jeanette and Kate

The D.C. Boys, David and Andy

After party

Yep, we ended the night at the Kabob shop!

We had such a great time in Charleston over the weekend.  However, going two whole days without my child almost killed me!  Not kidding - was having stomach pains on Saturday thinking about her and how much I wished she was with us!  This was only our second weekend away from her since she was born.  And by golly it is still tough to leave her! 

Although, to ask Lottie if she missed us might be a different story.  She had a ball with her Aunt Amy and Uncle Anthony.  Lottie and Amy went to the Waccatee Zoo on Saturday.  My sister said Lottie had a ball - she walked the whole time and would not let my sister hold the animal food.  She was insistent on carrying the food and making sure all the animals got fed.  Lottie adores animals!

Lottie feeding the cows

Blowing bubbles with unkempt hair!

A snack of bubbles - sounds yummy!

Well, that's all folks!  A great weekend had by all! 

Coming soon............. 18 Month Check Up!

Bath Time Belly Laughs

Last night as I was busying myself in the kitchen, I heard some of the best belly laughs coming from the bathroom!  Looks like instead of taking a bath, Lottie and her dad were playing ball!  Go figure!  :) 

It Happened.........

My little bugger successfully escaped from her crib last night!!!!!!!!  I wish I were joking!

She went down with ease around 8:15 p.m. - no problem.  Around 11:30 p.m., she started crying, so we let her cry for a good five minutes before going in to see if she had dropped her dummy (pacifier).  Steve gave her the dummy she had dropped and walked back into our bedroom.  Not five minutes later, we heard a soft "BOOM" like noise - not anything dramatic or loud, just a soft "BOOM".  Steve got back up and opened our bedroom door and what do you know?????  A little girl was standing at our door! 

UNREAL I tell ya!!!  18 Months Old!!  Thankfully she was okay and not injured during her latest stunt. 

On the agenda for tonight will be to remove the bumpers once again to prevent this from happening anymore. Well..........  hopefully prevent this from happening again.  We shall see........

Here's a look back at Lottie's crib on it's highest setting.  It is now on it's lowest setting and after tonight will be bumper free!  If I thought she was mature enough to convert the entire crib to a day bed, that is exactly would I would do, but I just don't think we are there yet!!!  Trust me, we are def. not there yet!!!  :)

Conversations over the Olympics...

The Olympics have pretty much taken over the Cooper household as I'm sure it has in  many of your households.  One of the great things about the Olympics at our house is we have two teams that we root for - GB (Great Britain) and USA. 

While the USA are AMAZING in almost every Olympic event (they are leading in the medal count), GB seem to have only a handful of events that they excel in such as rowing, equestrian, cycling and some track and field. 

With comments like the one above, it is fair to say there has been some serious trash talking going on in my house!  Poor Lottie, she's just been thrown in the mix of it with me teaching her to say, "GO USA" and Steve teaching her to say, "GO GB".  To hear her try and say both has been pretty amusing.

In any event, this past weekend was a pretty lazy one for the most part.  We cleaned out the garage, mowed grass and did the usual things you can't quite get to through the week.  Afterwards, we planted ourselves on the floor / couch to catch up on the Olympics. 

At one point in the day, Steve looked at me and said, "I'm seriously concerned about your stupidity!"  Wait, WHAT? 

Steve: I'm going to grab a drink.

Tonya: Okay, but you better hurry.

Steve: Why?

Tonya: Because the MARATHON is about to begin and you don't want to miss it!

Steve: Really, the MARATHON?

Tonya: Yes, hurry up!

Steve: I'm seriously concerned about your stupidity!  We are talking about a MARATHON here - I could take a drive to the mountains and NEWS FLASH, they would still be running the Marathon! 

Tonya: Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, yeah okay!!  GAH!

Steve: I sure hope Lottie gets her brains from her Dad!  If not, I don't know what we are going to do!  :)



Pretty sure we've been laughing about this one for the last couple of days!  Needless to say, we have certainly had some laughs during the Olympic games!!!  It's such a shame they only come around every 4 years because I just love it!!!

Little Chompers!

I guess we can now say that we've experienced what it is like when your child gets bit!  OUCH!  While I can sympathize with the little chomper, I still hate that Lottie was in pain.  The incident report read that Lottie was waiting in line for a toy when the little chomper took a bite out of her right arm.  They applied ice and gave her lots of TLC. 

Of course, it happened right before I got there so as I walked in, she was doing one of those hyperventilating cries that makes everything sound so much worse.  It made me want to cry as well.  Instead, I made sure that Lottie got extra cuddles and loving Monday night! 

At the end of the day, the kids in the Toddler I class are all getting their first molars so I certainly understand why they are trying out their teeth on each other.  I knew it was just a matter of time before Lottie got bit.  Hopefully now that she has been on both sides of the fence, she will take note that it does NOT feel good when you get bit. 

Thankfully, there has been no further incidents where Lottie has attempted to bite!  I'm hoping all the little chompers in her classroom have gotten it out of their system. 

On a positive note, I think the CRIB BREAK was a one time thing!  We haven't had any trouble this week with her trying to "break" out.  I put the bumpers back in her crib last night.

One last thing..............yesterday as I picked up Lottie and collected her things from school, I caught her and her buddy Ella giving each other a hug before she left!  Not kidding, it was seriously the cutest thing EVER!  It was a full on, intentional embrace!  I can't reiterate how CUTE it was!  Wish I could have gotten a picture of that!  :)



My Little Escapee!!

I don't know what it is about the weekends, but it is a struggle sometimes to get Lottie in her own bed at night.  I don't know if it has to do with the fact that she is with us 24/7 on the weekends and loves it so much that she doesn't want to be on her own at night or she is just getting to "that" age where she's starting to test us to see how far she can push us. 

Last night, as Steve and I were laying in bed - we thought the cries would never end!  I mean I dread Mondays as well, but dang you would have thought we told her we were dropping her off at daycare and leaving her there for a week!  She was that UPSET!  Finally after about 10 minutes of never ending cries, Steve went into her room to check out the situation. 

And lo and behold, the girl was pulling a full on crib break!  Using leverage from the bumpers in her crib, she managed to push herself high enough to hoist one leg over the crib.  As Steve walked into her room, she was rocking back and forth about to throw herself over the crib!  Can you imagine it???????  Heart Attack Central!!!

Of course, we had already moved the crib to it's lowest setting!  Being as we were all pretty wiped out, we ended up taking the bumpers out of the crib so she could no longer use them as a tool to stage a second crib break. 

FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, there was peace once more in the Cooper house!  I think after her attempted crib break and all the energy used for those cries, she finally gave in - there was no peep from her room the rest of the night.  Ahhhhhhhhh

Seriously though - CRIB BREAK!!!!!!!!  I just can't even believe that we are at that point!  Hopefully, I will be able to further investigate the crib situation when I get home and last night was a one time thing!  :)

A Night Out

This past weekend marked my 31st birthday!  Being as I've not had a night out in a very, very long time, we got a small group together to go out downtown to celebrate both mine and Jeanette's birthday.

Now I remember why I don't do these nights out anymore!  It has literally taken me three days to recover!  On Sunday, I got head butted several times, jumped on, wrestled with and made to read what seemed like 100 books.  Pure punishment I tell you!  Needless to say, I think my nights out on the town are OVER!  I hurt too bad the next day (old age and having kids will do it to ya everytime I tell ya!)

Thanks to those who came out and celebrated with Jeanette and I - we had a blast (I think!)  :)