Hilton Head

After Cincinnati, the Miller van rolled onto to Hilton Head.

Clare was a trooper on the car ride to Hilton Head. I was less than a trooper. I had a migraine and an attitude about said migraine. So, Chris put a movie in the van dvd player for me (Clare is still rear-facing, so it sucks to be her....she has to suffer and watch her movies on the portable dvd player attached to her head rest on her seat:) and put the satellite radio on for him. This allowed quite time. Quite time=no fights.

After we arrived, Clare was off and running. Nana and Pop Pop have a great place. The floor plan is really open so it took some strategic furniture placement to ensure that Clare could only climb the coffee table and bang on the big screen. Her life long goal became an electrical outlet on the wall in the dining room. She spent a large percentage of her time figuring out how to get to said outlet. She plotted and manipulated. We've tried a multitude of ways off saying "no". Quietly, loudly, sternly. Once, Nana mentioned that Clare really seemed to respond to a "loud" no. So, I came up to her and very closely to her face, yelled "No". Clare leaned in (as if to kiss me) and started hysterically laughing. Like belly busting, falling out on the floor laughing. It may have been the funniest thing she has ever seen. Delightful.

Nana taught Clare a really great game: unrolling the TP. That was not so great. She also showed her where to find the pans, which Clare put promptly on the to due list for each day. She would go to the same cabinet each morning and drag "her" pan out to run around with. Nana and Clare also shared some very yummy soft serve. Clare was very, very excited about this discovery. She helped everyone finish theirs. Willing or not.

In Hilton Head, we went to beach almost every day, which Clare loved! She found her shadow (which was super cute). She also loved to stick her finger in every, single, solitary hole that the waves make. I thought the holes were where crabs lived. I, was wrong. My excuse is that I'm from the mid-west. She played in the water and loved to play in the sand. It was all very cute.

We also went lots of yummy places for dinner. Clare loved the Oyster Factory, where we went on her birthday. She screamed through most of dinner. It was embarrassing to me and super funny to her. We also went to the Salty Dog Cafe, which she also liked. Hush Puppies were a hit. We went to a Hitachi restaurant. Clare was more fascinated with the teenage girls at the next table over than she was the chef. Chris was scared of his delightful insight into the future. It was 10 girls, about 14 years old and they were typical girls. Loud.

All and all it was so much fun. We relaxed at the pool (Clare flippin' loved:) or the beach. We had lots of yummy food and a really great relaxing time. I hope everyone is doing well. Tomorrow is the last of the Birthday parties so I'll be sure to update with new pics/videos next week.

In current events, Clare's hair was in pig tails for 5 hours today! So exciting (for me:)!

Good luck to my pregnant mommies out there. Most of you are due (or past due). I'm thinking of you!

ps. ignore my spelling/grammar errors, i'll edit later:)

Cincinnati

After Cleveland it was on to Cincinnati. I'm going to put all the birthday stuff in a separate post:)

In Cincy, Clare had her very first bite of ice cream. If you've visited us this summer you know that it was the food we didn't feed Clare until her actual birthday trip. We reserved that honor for my Mom, who questioned us on a regular basis to determine if other's had in fact allowed Clare a taste of their ice cream. Several people tried. Uncle JR nearly lost an arm in the process when Aunt Erin karate chopped it to prevent Clare from enjoying a little taste on the boardwalk. So, Clare had her first taste, which was of course, Graeter's ice cream, vanilla and chocolate. As Becky pointed out, this may not be the best way to introduce ice cream. Poor Clare will now go through life comparing everything to her first taste. She seemed a littler perplexed (I think it was because of how cold it was and the fact that we hadn't been in my parents house 5 minutes before she was being given yummy stuff).

We also went and visited Anna and her adorable kids. Sophie, the cutest goddaughter in the world, is in kindergarten this year (not sure who let her grow up). Clare, Sophie, Susie and Wyatt all played for quite awhile. Wyatt's a month older than Clare, about 100 inches taller and has a toddler's mouth full of teeth. Clare was a bit of bully and was unwilling to share her sippy cup with Wyatt. She had no problem taking his and hers. She also stole his toys. It looks like a promising relationship in the future:)

Next on the list was a visit to my friend Beth's house. She's due any day now (I was really pulling for her to have the baby before I left; she selfish declined to do so). Her son's nursery is very cute. My other friend Jules was there with her adorable son, Landon. So stinkin' cute. Clare was unwilling to not cause trouble, so I was only able to steal Landon away for a few minutes. I told Jules that at the next visit, I was leaving Clare with Grandma and Grandpa to enjoy more baby holding time. Clare helped demonstrate the difference between a nearly 3 month old and a nearly one year old. Jules's son slept right through dinner, only waking to coo and make cute faces. Clare terrorized the house, opening every cabinet, climbing every surface and attempting to eat/break all of Beth's nice window treatments.

We also saw all of the great grandparents while we were home. Great Grandma Gail brought us yummy lunch! We went to see Great Grandma/pa Richardson, where Clare tried to dive head first into their pond. She also found the tree branches exceptionally amusing. Her and Great Grandpa Richardson ran around the yard. I think Clare was a little surprised to see someone jump as high as he can.

Grandmama and I took Clare to the zoo. So, per usual with me, it was entertaining. We arrived at the zoo about 15 minutes before they open. FYI, the Cincy Zoo on a Thursday in September is filled with one adult per every 2 stroller aged children. There was even one mom with triplets, each in their own wagon that hooked together like a train. So, off we go to see the Cincinnati zoo.
About 30 minutes into the trip, my flip flop breaks. The part the runs between the toes comes right out of the base. Now, these aren't Old Navy flip flops, which everyone knows this happens to eventually. They weren't Old Navy flip flops, because despite me having a pair that matched my shirt better, I decided against them because of this potential issue (ahh, thinking ahead). No, these were my fancy flip-flops (because, there is such a thing as fancy flip flops). I wore them every day in Rome. I walked miles in these shoes.

However, 30 minutes into our day and they break. Lovely. So, I have one functioning shoe and we're stuck in the middle of zoo. I had my Mom run over to the gift shop, because surely they carry shoes? Not so much. Then I 411 the other Zoo gift shop to check if they carry shoes. That was a fat waste of $1.25 on my cell. So, I leave my Mom in the petting zoo in her bare socks (which seriously didn't embarrass her for even a second) and use our only working pair of shoes to walk to the nearest gift shop. I start by explaining myself to the associate. I preface the question I'm about to ask with, "I know this is really, really gross. And I'm sorry. And if you say no, I will completely understand. But can I please use a stapler to staple my dirty flip flop that was on my dirty foot? And some scotch tape to cover the staples, cause I'm cheap, I just got here and I'm not willing to leave yet?" She was not even surprised. She said sure, it happens all the time, yada yada yada. I was disgusted and it wasn't even my stapler. However, as I walked away with my fancy 42 staples and scotch tape shoe (which worked perfectly) I realized she works at the Zoo. So, I'm sure her "gross meter" is a little different than mine.

The best part of this story is that as we left the Zoo a few hours later, THE OTHER FLIPPIN SHOE BROKE. Clearly this is the limit on these shoes.

So, all and all it was a great visit in Cincy. Clare learned lots of new games, a favorite being hide-and-seek. Her and Grandpa played for hours. Clare thinks it's so funny, she falls down from laughing too hard. As promised, I will put all of the Birthday pics/stories in a separate post. Next post is Hilton Head.

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Chris is recovering well. He was able to be released Saturday evening. He slept well last night and has been moving around the house. Although, begrudgingly. I think it's time for me to go digging in the basement for my whistle and clip board. I might even have a polo or two I could get my hands on....