Ben, Emery and I made our annual pilgrimage to Grand Haven, MI, (Ben's hometown) for the yearly Coast Guard Festival and a nice break from the heat. In addition to all of the CG Festival activities, Emery was baptized! We actually did a family baptism during which Emery and several of her Slagel and Stansberry cousins were dedicated to Christ together. Austin, Alexa and Savannah...thank you for including your cousin Emery!
This trip marked the first time Emery had flown since turning two, which means we had to buy her a seat. Although spending all that extra money kind of hurt, not having a toddler climbing all over me for two flights was heaven! Emery was a perfect angel on the way to MI. The trip home was disastrous (wild child, bad weather, missed connection, driving home from Atlanta, lost luggage....pretty craptacular travel day), but I didn't have the energy to document any of that. You'll just have to take my word for it.
We made it to Grand Haven on Saturday, July 31st, in time for a quick boat ride to the country club for dinner. However, along the way Emery and Austin decided to go for an impromptu swim. Our luggage was still in the car at the marina so Emery had to swim naked. Ben borrowed a swimsuit from his brother, thank goodness.
I bet Emery was shocked by how much colder this water is than Lake Hartwell! I didn't stick a toe in the MI waters. I like my water warm.
Water baby
This picture was taken right after the baptism. Emery just couldn't resist running into the lake when I finally turned her loose.
My parents flew up for the weekend, which made the day extra special for Emery. She's such a fortunate little girl to have four doting grandparents! Above: Austin, Jerry, Ben, Mom, Dad, Linda, me and Emery.
Alexa and Emery wore matching dresses I found on Etsy. Precious!
Pool party at Grandma and Grandpa's afterwards!
Naked swimming again...with a ring pop. Emery was a happy little girl!
Austin and Emery waved to all the CG boats during the parade of ships. They were so cute that their picture made it into The Grand Rapids Press
and The Muskegon Chronicle.
Alexa was there, too, but she was more interested in people watching than boat watching.
Another evening on Ben's parents' boat, My Three Sons. Emery is just like her father....she wants to be either in the water or on the water 24/7.
Emery likes to "drive" the boat while it's docked
Parade day! The weather wasn't very cooperative, but we made the most of it. This is our attempt at a family picture before walking down the street to watch the floats. Pretty much impossible to get a decent picture with three little ones involved.
Soggy day
This was Emery's first parade and she loved every second of it. No fear of any of the clowns, horns, giant animals/characters, etc. She enjoyed waving, dancing and trying to catch candy.
Very determined to open that piece of candy!
Emery confiscated a water gun from the O'Neal children and was an alarmingly good shot.
For some reason, Scott (Ben's younger brother) brought a huge box full of costumes down to the boat for the fireworks show. Ben, Scott and a bunch of Scott's buddies donned Sumo wrestler, fat ballerina, and Spider-Man outifts. Ben is Spidey.
Emery and her new friend, Ella, waiting patiently for the fireworks to begin. I was a little worried that Emery would be scared of the fireworks (we are REALLY close to them when we are on the boat), but she was a real trooper and thought they were great! She's still talking about them.
We brought headphones, but they were unnecessary. Emery ditched them after a few minutes.
Wearing a pair of Scotty's glasses to shield her eyes from the ashes falling from the sky. Abby O'Neal was such a big help with Emery while we were in Grand Haven. I love this picture. Emery has asked about Abby every day since we've been home. I should frame it and put it in her room.
Thank you for such a wonderful week, Linda and Jerry! I tried to get pictures of all the fun stuff we did, but I am clearly lacking some: the carnival, Imagination Station, swinging at the beach, Pronto Pups, BLT run, etc. In addition to spoiling Emery rotten, thanks for babysitting and enabling Ben and me to have some adult time with his friends! We miss you already!
Emery chasing Harper
"Reunited and it feels so good!"
Best buds
Emery makes me laugh so much! She likes to walk around the perimeter of the park with one foot on the curb and one foot in the mulch. She really concentrates as she does this. For some reason, it's really funny to me.
Beautiful BabyLand General!
Happy birthday, Harper! Thanks for including us in your special day.
Andy Warhol prints of Cabbage Patch Kids are all over the museum and nurseries. Very cool.
Emery checking out the very expensive, hand stitched newborns. Diana and I were a little panicky at this point because we thought the only dolls for sale for the handmade in BabyLand dolls! Thankfully, we found another section with dolls that are made somewhere else but available for purchase only at BabyLand. We knew we didn't want to get them something that they could get at Wal-Mart, but we weren't really excited at the thought of spending over $200 on a babydoll!
All these dolls were decked out in SEC gear. SO EXCITED FOR FOOTBALL!!!
What a bizarre concept
A birth! This was hilarious for the adults in attendance....the mother cabbage was dialated to a full ten "leaves," but it was a "branch" delivery. Thankfully, a C-section ("cabbage section") was not necessary, just an "easyotomy." Obviously the kids didn't get any of these references, but Diana and I thought it was super cute.
NASCAR Kids!
Emery and Harper each chose newborn baby girls. Emery named her doll Kelsey and Harper named her new baby Ella.
Leaving the adoption room
Meltdown because I wouldn't buy her the stroller, which is exactly like the one she has a home. The joys of having a two year old.
Lunch at Arby's afterwards. The girls ate ketchup only. They were too busy playing with Ella and Kelsey and running wild. The drive was not too bad. About an hour and forty-five minutes from Greenville. Emery and Harper watched "Finding Nemo" and colored for much of the drive.
So cute when they're asleep.
This trip marked the first time Emery had flown since turning two, which means we had to buy her a seat. Although spending all that extra money kind of hurt, not having a toddler climbing all over me for two flights was heaven! Emery was a perfect angel on the way to MI. The trip home was disastrous (wild child, bad weather, missed connection, driving home from Atlanta, lost luggage....pretty craptacular travel day), but I didn't have the energy to document any of that. You'll just have to take my word for it.
We made it to Grand Haven on Saturday, July 31st, in time for a quick boat ride to the country club for dinner. However, along the way Emery and Austin decided to go for an impromptu swim. Our luggage was still in the car at the marina so Emery had to swim naked. Ben borrowed a swimsuit from his brother, thank goodness.
I bet Emery was shocked by how much colder this water is than Lake Hartwell! I didn't stick a toe in the MI waters. I like my water warm.
Water baby
This picture was taken right after the baptism. Emery just couldn't resist running into the lake when I finally turned her loose.
My parents flew up for the weekend, which made the day extra special for Emery. She's such a fortunate little girl to have four doting grandparents! Above: Austin, Jerry, Ben, Mom, Dad, Linda, me and Emery.
Alexa and Emery wore matching dresses I found on Etsy. Precious!
Pool party at Grandma and Grandpa's afterwards!
Naked swimming again...with a ring pop. Emery was a happy little girl!
Austin and Emery waved to all the CG boats during the parade of ships. They were so cute that their picture made it into The Grand Rapids Press and The Muskegon Chronicle.
Alexa was there, too, but she was more interested in people watching than boat watching.
Another evening on Ben's parents' boat, My Three Sons. Emery is just like her father....she wants to be either in the water or on the water 24/7.
Emery likes to "drive" the boat while it's docked
Parade day! The weather wasn't very cooperative, but we made the most of it. This is our attempt at a family picture before walking down the street to watch the floats. Pretty much impossible to get a decent picture with three little ones involved.
Soggy day
This was Emery's first parade and she loved every second of it. No fear of any of the clowns, horns, giant animals/characters, etc. She enjoyed waving, dancing and trying to catch candy.
Very determined to open that piece of candy!
Emery confiscated a water gun from the O'Neal children and was an alarmingly good shot.
For some reason, Scott (Ben's younger brother) brought a huge box full of costumes down to the boat for the fireworks show. Ben, Scott and a bunch of Scott's buddies donned Sumo wrestler, fat ballerina, and Spider-Man outifts. Ben is Spidey.
Emery and her new friend, Ella, waiting patiently for the fireworks to begin. I was a little worried that Emery would be scared of the fireworks (we are REALLY close to them when we are on the boat), but she was a real trooper and thought they were great! She's still talking about them.
We brought headphones, but they were unnecessary. Emery ditched them after a few minutes.
Wearing a pair of Scotty's glasses to shield her eyes from the ashes falling from the sky. Abby O'Neal was such a big help with Emery while we were in Grand Haven. I love this picture. Emery has asked about Abby every day since we've been home. I should frame it and put it in her room. 