The Cliffs

Our last big event was a trip to South Carolina to The Cliffs. We met Gran and Poppy and David, Candice, Anna Kathryn, Isabelle and Carrigan. We stayed in a great house that was set up perfectly for our family. There was plenty of room for the kiddos to play inside, outside or in the garage if it was rainig.

The first day was absolutely beautiful. Poppy, David and Ben played golf while the rest of us enjoyed the weather. We made a trip the the "equestrian center" to see the horses. Hampton loved seeing the horses, throwing rocks and running free with his cousins. He is absolutely crazy about his cousins. Hampton went to pet one of the horses who thought he was going to feed him. The horse caught Hampton's hand in his lips. It scared us both! Now whenever we talk about horses, which is often, he says horse, mouf (mouth). The scare didn't slow him down...2 days later all he wanted to do was feed the horses hay from the barn (we talk about that daily too).

Anna Kathryn and Isabelle petting the donkey who tried to eat AK's crocs.

Carrigan

David, Candice, Ben and I spent the 2nd day visiting the Biltmore Estate. We enjoyed some adult time and were very thankful that Gran and Poppy were willing to watch all 4 kids. We took the Roof Top Tour which was fantastic. The weather was less than desireable, but we still enjoyed stepping out on some of the risky balconies to see spectacular views of the house and property. Unfortunately, the yucky weather meant that Gran, Poppy and the kids were stuck inside all day. Thankfully, they all took great naps and were ready to play when we got home.

On our third day, Gran and I went to a yoga class and then we all went back to the barn for the kids to ride a pony. The skies were clear, but it was cold. Most of our ride time was spent walking up and down the alley inside the barn. H convinced them to take him outside though...the boy loves to be outside no matter the weather. All of the girls enjoyed the pony ride as well. Such a big boy!!!
Anna Kathryn riding SugarIsabelle

H was not a big fan of the helmet and kept saying, "Hat, off, mease."
Feeding the horse hayFeeding Sugar treats

Someone told us about some waterfalls not far from us that were a very light hike from the road. After our pony rides, Gran, Poppy, Candice and I set out to find them. With very little direction from our informant, it was amazing that we found them. The four of us decided to check them out before we drug everyone. It was an easy walk up to these beautiful "Twin Falls." We never made it back with the whole crew, but the four of us enjoyed it.

As usual, when you travel with Johnny and Rosie, you dine far more than sufficiently. This getaway was no exception. We enjoyed some fantastic meals at the Clubhouse and , if I do say so myself, a pretty great one at home too.Dinner at the clubhouse

Love from Gran and Poppy


The whole crew (those of us in SC)

Our flight back to Dallas was in the evening on Sunday, so we had some time to kill. We walked around downtown Greenville and had lunch, but still had plenty of time at the airport. We passed the time by running on the grassy lawn, throwing sticks in the fountain and of course, riding the escelator over and over and over.

Thanks for the great trip Gran and Poppy!!!

I am daily amazed at what a little sponge Hampton is. He says words that I haven't taught him, asks for things I didn't even know he could understand and has started to carry on 21 month old style conversations. For example, today H went to childcare a 24 hour fitness...a place he has never been, but gladly entered. I must admit, it did look fun with the new and exciting toys, big tv and great play equipment like a Chick-fil-a or McDonald's. The workers had to come get me about an hour into our workout because he "kept crying." When we went in he was crying at he base of the big play "thing" (I'm not sure what to call it). On the way to lunch we had the following conversation:

H - Cry...cry-een

Me - Cry? Did you cry at the play place?

H -uh huh! (shaking his head yes)

Me - Why did you cry at the gym?

H - Up, mease.

Me - Up?

H - Help... Mommy... mease

Me - Oh, did you need Mommy to help you climb up high in the play place?

H - Shakes his head with raised eye brows and kicks his feet with excitement.

What a bummer that the childcare people couldn't figure out that he was crying because he was frustrated that he couldn't climb up into the play "thing."

Man, I love that kid!!!

Here are some pics...just for fun!

Playing Hide-n-Seek

Wearing the cool shades Daddy brought him from one of his work trips!!!

TOO FAST

My precious baby is getting too big, too fast!!! He has learned how to climb up the play area at Chick-fil-a all by himself!!! Now I don't have to crawl inside that tiny tube to help him.

My First PB and J

While we were in Tennessee for Christmas Hampton got to enjoy his first peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He really enjoyed it!

We also got to enjoy an evening of fine dining Yarbrough style to celebrate Grand Connie's birthday. Hampton got to see his cousin Charles, who absolutely loves Hampton. Charles even bought Hampton a Christmas present with his own money...sweet boy. Hampton loves his tractor and trailer...especailly with the animals. Thanks Charles.

He is C-R-A-Z-Y about his Uncle Bob!!!

Christmas in Tennessee

Due to my desire to make my blog spectacular, I have put off blogging because I am SO far behind. Not only have many events occured, but Hampton is learning and growing faster than ever. This post may not be as detailed as I would have liked, but at this point it is necessary to sacrifice detail to simply catch up. I ran into a sweet friend at Biblestudy this week who asked if everything was okay. She was worried about me because I hadn't updated in so long. Here goes...

We spent 2 weeks in Tennessee for Christmas this year. Everyone was there for a super fun filled holiday. Everyone means 10 adults and 10 kiddos under 8...all in one house. It may sound extremely overwhelming, but somehow it really works. Gran and Poppy recently finished out the basement which added sleeping for the big kids, a fresh and clean play area, a great bathroom (with a tub that all 5 big girls could bathe in at once), and a media room. Needless to say, the kids spent most of their time down there. The weather was uncharacteristically warm which allowed us to play outdoors more than usual in December. Hampton did really well and would play downstrairs just like the big kids. Several of the big kids didn't pay much attention to him and the others thought he was a human doll. They were GREAT with him. He and Carrigan (2.5 months older) butted heads once or twice, but after that Carrigan would freak if Hampton got near her. I can't blame her since he did tend to hit her and even bit her once.

Christmas morning was crazy and Hampton was more interested in Campbell's race track than his own gifts from Santa. But now that we are home he loves all of his new toys.

We made a few trips to the barn to see the puppies. Hampton enjoyed petting the puppies for about 2 seconds, and then he was off to see the tractors...still one of his favorites!

Madison showing H the puppy

Emerson letting H pet the puppy.

On the tractor with Campbell

Sweet cousins Campbell~Carrigan~Hampton

After one of our trips to the barn all the cousins went to visit Ma and Papa and play in Ma's playroom.

In the past few months I have witnesses something amazing...Grandkids absolutely love their grandparents even if they don't get to see them on a regular basis. I guess they can just feel how much they are loved!

Gran reading to Carrigan and H

The whole crew

During our time in TN, Hampton discovered another love...Choo Choo Trains. If he was upstairs, all he wanted to do was play with the choo choo...either the real model train around the bottow of the Christmas tree or the Thomas the Train set in the toy chest. He wasn't supposed the touch the model and needed help with the track for Thomas. He has a fantastic Aunt Kelly who spent precious time with just Hampton. I am so thankful for such intentional Aunts and Uncles!!!

We also had a wild and crazy New Year's Eve dance party at about 8:30. I wish we had gotten H dancing on tape...too funny. He loved the music and the party poppers!