Thank you gift (Miami Style)

I had a plan. A plan to care for my son and nephew while my sister went back to work from maternity leave. One point of my plan was to keep my sister from paying that dreadful monthly check to daycare. That happened but she insisted on some sort of "thank you" once my time had come to an end. 

My "thank you" was a girls weekend trip to Miami Beach! 

Can Sam come back & stay with me:-)?!?! 

It's always nice knowing people in the right places. Cindy Hill Costa is not just "people", she is a friend that I grew up with in middle & high school & now lives in Coral Gables. 

One of my favorite things about a friendship is no matter the distance or time apart once your together it's like you never missed a beat.

My book of fun with girlfriends is sitting around watching old videos of one another and laughing so hard about silly things we did back in the day. We did that & MUCH MORE!

I must admit that once we landed all I could think about is what celebrity I might see....since LeBron James just announced he's playing for Miami Heat! 

Once we landed, Cindy had a weekend of fun planned out perfectly for us.

We started off Friday morning with brunch on the green of the historic Biltmore Hotel

After we finished up brunch, we quickly changed into our swimsuits, loaded up the cooler & hit the beach! 

Cindy has been in Miami now for 2 years so she knows the hot spots to hit. One of them being the hot spot for Lemonade! AC can make the perfect consistency of a lemonade. It was a refreshing drink after a hot afternoon on the beach.

We lucked up & ran into him! 

After beach time & lemonades we quickly changed into our night attire for salsa dancing lessons!

The next morning Cindy surprised us all with a private boat ride around South Beach!

Madonna's Miami Home...

J Lo & Mark Anthony's Miami pad....

P Diddy's land.....

A quick island stop to cool off....

A nice dinner...

Blue Bar

                                                    Sunset Lounge at Mondrian Miami Beach 

Regions Park

The family loaded up on Saturday night to celebrate Mom's promotion @ work & to kick off Independence Day with a 9 inning game win played by The Birmingham Barons. After popcorn, coke, waving to the camera man & cheering the boys on, we ended the night with fireworks!  

I'll be honest & say I didn't think our little Jake could make it that long since he's a regular 7:30 bed timer. 

We made the best of it.

That's what life's about, right? 

                                        

Summer BBQ

Nothing screams SUMMER than a Kamado Joe, homemade guacamole, fresh cherries, good friends & a cool breeze after the sun goes down.

I've said this before & I'll say it again - the Pearce's always know how to throw down when it comes to hosting dinners. 

Here are a few pictures attending our 1st Summer BBQ

The boys favorite game, cornhole! 

Mrs. Sills always getting in some loving from Jake. He really enjoys being in her arms. 

One of the first times I hung out with Kelly Pearce she was munching on fresh cherries by the pool. 

Fresh cherries always remind me of her! 

Jared & I 

I wish I was still there.....

Allison, Jill, Kelly, me, Jenn-Jo & Jake

Kindermusik Summer Camp

June began my 1st month without keeping my nephew, Sam. I put together a sentimental iMovie just for him. As I put the last touches on his movie I began to reflect back at all I set out to accomplish. I did it! I kept 2 new born babies ( 2 meaning Sam my nephew & Jake my son) all by myself for 10 months! It was bittersweet! I miss seeing Sam on a daily basis! Here is one of my favorite photo's of Sam & I.

So, June began a month just me & my baby! Wow! Just having one baby feels like a breeze - well not a breeze:-) 

I began to think of some fun activities Jake & I could do - just us!

Kindermusik was 1st on our list of "to do's"

There is no doubt that research shows music helps children become better learners.

Jake was able to develop language, motor, social, cognitive, emotional, and music skills. 

It was his 1st Summer Camp Activity to attend with mommy! We had a blast!

I quickly began to notice how independent my child is.....

Here are a few images of our week..

Already checkin' out the ladies....oh lordy!

Jake & William playing with ribbon. William is Jake's playgroup buddy. They will be attending MDO @ Hunter Street together this fall!

Below you might wonder why the babies have on there swimsuits?!? We sang songs about going to the pool so what better way to play the part, right? Behind Jake is Piper - daughter of Lindsay Gornto, a friend of mine

Ms. Jill blowing bubbles to the kiddos

Williams mommy, Bridget! Bridget actually only lives a few houses down from us, so its been nice having her close to have playdates! 

Jake having 1 on 1 time with Ms. Jill

The finale day of Kindermusik Camp ended with Jake playing side by side with Piper on a mega drum! They loved it! 

I couldn't resist a back shot of Piper's oh so cute outfit! 

Happy Kindermusik! We made great friends and will definitely be back this fall! 

Memorial Day Celebration

The Clark's hosted a fun Memorial Day pool side Bar B Q. 

This was Jake's 1st time in the pool.

Let's just say he might be on the swim team! 

He loves the water!

Uncle Dex getting some Jake time....

The newlywed,  Mrs. Jill Sills, drove over to enjoy the sun with Jake too!

Jake & dada having fun in the water! 

Happy Memorial Day 2010!

Sims Visit

Jared, Jake & I took a visit to see my Dad's family in Hokes Bluff. We don't get enough time these days to visit with our family as much as we need to so it was SO nice to see my Papaw Sam, Joy & my Papaw Sam's brothers and sisters.....its always nice going back to my true roots of an old country girl. My Papaw Sam & Joy put together an old home grown country meal for us too! Jake even got his hands on some homemade mashed potatoes & loved every minute of it! 

Thank you to my family for hosting us & loving on sweet Jake! 

Home is never home without our 1st stop to seeing Nonna! 

The rocking chair Jake is sitting in was passed down to my mother...

I couldn't resist this one.....

From L to R - Roy Sims, Becky Sims, Jake & Ricky Sims - all brothers & sister of my Papaw Sam

We even got a surprise visit from Maggie Sims, Ricky's daughter, who is now 16 & driving!!!!!

Everyone in the family tells me Maggie is a lot like me....

I knew she enjoyed Jake's company when she took a photo of just them two with her cell phone:-)

Ricky enjoying Jake's 1st time to eat mashed potatoes!

Believe it or not, Ricky is great with babies! He even wanted to change Jake's diaper! 

I couldn't resist getting a shot with my main man....

I think Jake definitely has the Sims in him!