We had lots of fun and Ashley enjoyed meeting them.  She had her moments, but I think that’s because her top teeth must be cutting.  Teething makes for a cranky and clingy baby!  But for the most part, she was her usual happy self.  We went out to eat, walked on the beach, and relaxed by the pool.

The boys had a blast!  Pat and Ritt have a yellow lab at home, so they are also lab lovers.  Ritt played and played and played with them.  He swam with them in the pool, threw ball for them on the beach, and gave them lots of attention.  They soaked it all up!  They were so tired when we left that they ended up sleeping the whole way home.

Yesterday was Blake’s 4th birthday!  My little pup is growing up (sniff sniff).  This was the first year that we didn’t celebrate on his birthday.  We are celebrating today, the day after, because I forgot to order his cake!  When I called yesterday to place my order, it was too late to get it so they are making it for pick up today.  I swear I still have baby brain!  I remembered his birthday, but not the cake…humph.

We always get the boys a cake from Gourmutt’s Bakery for their birthday.  They LOVE their cakes.  Pies and cookies too for that matter!  It’s a fun place to get them something special.  And yes, the boys do have to share their cake with each other on their birthday

Happy Birthday Blake, aka Noodles!  You are rambunctious, lovable, and a giant cuddlebug.  Our family wouldn’t be the same without you.  We love you buddy!

Meanwhile, Van and I took the boys to the beach.  Since it was getting dark, my pictures didn’t turn out very good.  But the boys had a great time!  We threw their bumper in the ocean for them to fetch.  They love jumping through the waves!  It makes me so happy to see them having fun.  I love my boys

On a sad note though, there is a lady here on vacation who lost her dog.  She is from Atlanta.  Her dog got spooked by fireworks and ran away.  It’s a Bernese Mountain dog.  So she has posted fliers everywhere and people have been searching for him.  Someone came up to us last night as we were walking to see if we had seen her dog.  I feel so bad for her.  Since I almost lost Blake 2 years ago in the same circumstance, I know that lump in your throat feeling.  It just breaks my heart.  I really hope her doggie  finds his way back home!

And I’m not the only one who has problems with fireworks.  Toby can’t stand them.  He barks, pants, and runs around the yard in circles. He gets all worked up.  There is no rationalizing with him.  It’s like he is in a trance, another state of mind. This year we locked Toby and Blake up in the garage under the house.  A few of you may remember the story a couple years ago when Toby was going bizerk at the fireworks so Blake thought he would “stop” the fireworks for him.  Blake proceeded to jump in the waterway, during the pitch black night, and swim up the waterway towards the fireworks.  Long story short, we barely got him back, and it was a nightmare I will never forget.  So tonight, Toby is on anti-anxiety medication and they are both locked up downstairs.

Anyways, it was a pretty chill day.  We really didn’t do much.  Perfect for a vacation huh?  Played ball with the boys, they swam, and I read a book sitting by the pool (I’m just now getting in on the Twilight craze!).  Played with Ashley and gave her some watermelon.  Van relaxed and enjoyed himself.  I don’t think I saw him open his laptop until tonight – which is a first!  And even then, it was just to download pictures.  We watched the fireworks from the waterway.  Very pretty.  And Ashley did good.  The noise didn’t bother her and she really didn’t show much of a reaction.  She was pretty indifferent to the whole thing.  Well, until you tried to put her to bed.  But overall, a wonderful holiday!

Here are some pictures from July 4th 2010…

We left today and I’m planning on blogging every day about our little adventures.  It’s Ashley’s first vacation, so you know there will be lots of pictures to post!  We had a good trip down here, which was nice for a change.  The past few times we’ve made the road trip, Ashley has only slept the first 2 hours and then the last hour we have had to listen to her cry the rest of the way.  This time, she made it 2 hours, we stopped for a late lunch, fed her, changed her diaper, and then made it the last hour – with no crying – yay!  She even fell back asleep after our lunch break.  It really took us 4 hours to get here because of all the traffic getting on the island.  But Ashley did great despite being stuck in the car for an additional hour.

We arrived late afternoon and just relaxed a bit.  Aunt Jenn and Uncle Nathan are here so Ashley hammed it up for them.  We also got to see Uncle Eddie, Aunt Sibyl, and cousins Leslie, Blair and Hunter.  We all enjoyed a yummy steak dinner on the grill and chatted it up.  It was a nice start to our vacation.  Can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store!

As for Miss Ashley, she is growing like a weed.  Well, more like a beautiful flower, but you know what I mean   She will be 7 months old tomorrow and her development is really picking up lately. She has 2 little teeth buds on her lower gums.  She’s been teething for a while, but you can just now see the teeth that are about to come through.  You can feel them too!  It’s so neat.  The past few days the amount of drool she puts out has really increased.  So between the dogs and a teething baby, I’ve got drool coming out of my ears!  I can’t imagine my baby with teeth.  I’m going to miss that gummy smile of hers!  She is also on the verge of crawling.  If she’s sitting up, she’ll flip foward on her tummy and reach out for things.  You can tell she wants to move but doesn’t know how just yet.  It won’t be long now.  She also does it if you are holding her.  She’ll bend down like she wants to be put down to crawl.  I feel like she just mastered sitting up, so I hope I can enjoy this little milestone before she goes to the next.  But whatever she wants to do is fine by me!  She also has this fascination with the tags on her toys.  Not sure if this is a baby thing or Ashley thing.  But she loves messing with the tags on her stuffed animals.  It’s like she’s trying to figure out what they are.  She looks at them real methodical like and concentrates on them.

Anyway, so much for a short post.  I’m listening to Bob Marley and I guess he’s making me ramble.  Enjoy the picture show!

Here is a short video of Ashley and Blake.  For those of you who remember Blake as the rough and wild puppy, check out the gentle giant that he has become!  He clearly loves Ashley, and she loves him right back!!